How we make this list: we compare pricing pages, product documentation and public user reviews. Ratings come from G2, Capterra or Trustpilot, with the date we checked them.
Key takeaways
- This is a methods list, stated plainly: the entries are the main routes to multi factor authentication for a company, each tied to the provider most companies use to deliver it.
- The ranking principle is phishing resistance. Passkeys and hardware security keys cannot be phished in the way codes can, authenticator app codes are a strong middle, and SMS codes are the weakest factor still in common use.
- If your company lives in Microsoft 365 or Google Workspace, the best MFA is usually already in your subscription: Entra ID and Google's built in factors should be switched on before anything new is bought.
- Rollout, not technology, is where MFA projects fail. Enrol in waves, keep help desk recovery strict, and never leave an executive exception open, because attackers shop for exactly that door.
Quick comparison
| Tool | Best for | Starting price | Free plan |
|---|
 Microsoft Entra ID | Microsoft 365 companies, passkeys built in | See website | Yes |
 Okta | Cross platform identity across many apps | See website | No |
 Cisco Duo | Fastest friendly rollout for mixed estates | See website | No |
 Google Workspace | Google based companies and passkeys | See website | Yes |
 YubiKey by Yubico | Hardware keys for high risk roles | See website | No |
 1Password | Passkeys and MFA for smaller teams | See website | No |
 JumpCloud | Directory and MFA for mixed device fleets | See website | Yes |
 OneLogin | Mid market single sign on with MFA | See website | No |
Is your product missing or out of date?
We review this list regularly. Vendors can request a listing, send updated pricing or ask about featured placement.
The best ways to add MFA to company logins in 2026
#1Microsoft Entra ID
Best for: Microsoft 365 companies, passkeys built in4.5/5 on
G2 (915 reviews, checked Oct 2026)
Visit microsoft.com
Starting priceSee website
Free planYes
For the majority of US companies, the best way to add MFA is to switch on the one they already own. Entra ID, the identity service inside Microsoft 365, supports the full modern ladder: Authenticator with number matching, FIDO2 security keys and passkeys, and conditional access rules that ask for the strong factor exactly when the login looks risky. The work is configuration and enrolment, not procurement. A company that finishes that work, with no legacy exceptions left open, has closed the door most breaches walk through.
What we like- Sits inside the Microsoft 365 subscriptions most companies already pay for, with authenticator app, passkey and security key factors, conditional access policies target protection by risk: stricter factors for admins, finance and remote logins, Microsoft Authenticator's number matching defeats push fatigue attacks, the free tier covers basic MFA for many small companies
Watch out for- Full conditional access and identity protection need higher tier licences, and the licensing map is genuinely confusing, the admin experience sprawls across portals, number matching and passkeys still need an enrolment campaign to reach every employee
#2Okta
Best for: Cross platform identity across many apps4.5/5 on
G2 (1,428 reviews, checked Oct 2026)
Visit okta.com
Starting priceSee website
Free planNo
Okta is the answer when the estate is plural: several clouds, many SaaS apps, perhaps two companies merged and never unified. It centralises MFA policy so an employee gets one consistent challenge everywhere and an admin gets one place to enforce it. That convenience is bought with a subscription and with trust; Okta's own security incidents were in its support systems rather than its authentication core, but a security buyer should ask the question and judge the answer. For cross platform estates, nothing else combines its integration breadth with its policy maturity.
What we like- The independent identity leader: one MFA and single sign on layer across Microsoft, Google, Salesforce and everything else, Okta Verify supports push with number matching and passkeys, strong policies and a vast integration catalogue, the natural choice when no single platform owns your estate
Watch out for- Priced per user per month on top of the platforms you already pay for, high profile breaches at Okta itself in recent years make its support security a fair diligence question, depth of features means real admin effort to configure well
#3Cisco Duo
Best for: Fastest friendly rollout for mixed estates4.5/5 on
G2 (590 reviews, checked Oct 2026)
Visit duo.com
Starting priceSee website
Free planNo
Duo built its name on a rollout insight: MFA fails socially before it fails technically, and a factor employees tolerate gets enrolled everywhere. Its push to a phone, backed by number matching, plus unusually wide coverage of the old systems companies actually run, VPN concentrators, servers, remote access, make it the pragmatist's choice for mixed estates with legacy corners. If your environment is modern cloud only, the platform built in options above may cover you for less; if it is the usual archaeology of old and new, Duo reaches the corners.
What we like- Famous for the least painful enrolment and daily use in the industry, which is why rollout completion rates lead, protects VPNs, remote desktop and legacy systems that the cloud identity providers reach awkwardly, device health checks add context: is this laptop patched and encrypted, tiered pricing with a free tier for very small teams historically offered
Watch out for- Now part of Cisco, with the roadmap and bundling that implies, per user pricing adds up across a whole company, its push model needs number matching enabled to resist fatigue attacks
#4Google Workspace
Best for: Google based companies and passkeys4.6/5 on
G2 (48,175 reviews, checked Oct 2026)
Visit google.com
Starting priceSee website
Free planYes
Google shops have the same happy position as Microsoft shops: the strong factors are already in the building. Turn on two step verification with an enforced date, prefer passkeys and security keys, use the built in prompts rather than SMS, and the estate's largest hole closes with no new contract. Google's passkey support across devices makes the top rung of the strength ladder unusually reachable for ordinary employees. The diligence point is the same as everywhere: recovery flows and legacy app passwords are where enforced estates quietly reopen.
What we like- Two step verification built into every Workspace account, with passkeys and security keys as first class factors, Google's own Titan and platform passkeys make the strongest factors easy for a Google estate, context aware access adds device and location conditions on higher tiers, no extra vendor to buy for the core job
Watch out for- Strength depends on edition: advanced controls sit in higher tiers, companies straddling Google and Microsoft estates need one of the cross platform entries, account recovery discipline is on your admins, and consumer style recovery habits are the risk
#5
YubiKey by Yubico
Best for: Hardware keys for high risk roles
Visit yubico.com
Starting priceSee website
Free planNo
Hardware keys are not a platform; they are the strongest factor, delivered as an object. The standard deployment is targeted: every admin, executive, payroll and developer account gets keys registered alongside the company's chosen provider above, because those are the accounts whose compromise ends companies. Yubico's keys are the market's reference implementation, supported everywhere that matters. Budget for spares, register backup keys at enrolment, and treat the recovery process for a lost key with the suspicion it deserves: that process, not the key, is what an attacker will test.
What we like- The reference hardware security key: a physical FIDO2 and WebAuthn token that cannot be phished, because it checks the site's identity itself, the right factor for executives, admins, finance staff and anyone an attacker would name, works across Entra, Okta, Google and Duo, so it layers onto whichever route you chose above, durable, battery free and cheap per protected identity
Watch out for- Physical logistics are real: issue two per person, because a lost only key plus strict recovery equals a locked out executive, per key cost multiplies across a whole company, so target the roles that need it, employees will lose them, and the help desk process for that day decides your security
Starting priceSee website
Free planNo
For a twenty person company with no IT hire, 1Password is often the realistic best way: it fixes passwords and adds a second factor in one rollout, on every site the team uses, without an identity project. The honest caveat is architectural: a one time code in the same vault as the password is one compromise away from being no factor at all, which is why the platforms above remain the answer for email and core systems. Use 1Password to lift everything else, the long tail of tools no SSO covers, and its passkey support points the right way up the strength ladder.
What we like- A business password manager that stores passkeys and one time codes in the company vault, so the second factor lives where the password already does, excellent for small teams without an identity department: rollout is an app install and vault sharing rules, raises the whole estate's floor: strong unique passwords plus a second factor everywhere, good admin reporting on who has not set up their factors
Watch out for- A code stored beside the password in one vault is a weaker design than a separate device factor, and security purists will say so, it complements rather than replaces platform MFA on your core systems, per user pricing joins your other subscriptions
#7JumpCloud
Best for: Directory and MFA for mixed device fleets4.5/5 on
G2 (4,104 reviews, checked Oct 2026)
Visit jumpcloud.com
Starting priceSee website
Free planYes
JumpCloud serves the company that grew past shared passwords without ever building an identity foundation: laptops in three operating systems, a pile of SaaS, no directory at all. Its MFA arrives as part of becoming that foundation, one identity per person across devices and apps, with device trust policies attached. If your estate already has Entra or Google identity settled, JumpCloud duplicates more than it adds. If it has none, this is the quickest route from chaos to enforced, factored logins everywhere.
What we like- A cloud directory that binds Windows, Mac and Linux devices and web apps into one MFA enforced identity, built for companies that never had a traditional directory, device management policies ride along: disk encryption and patching beside the login rules, a free tier for tiny teams makes starting cheap
Watch out for- Another platform to run: its value shows when you adopt its directory, not as a bolt on, smaller integration catalogue than Okta's, switching directory is a real migration, so it suits young estates better than settled ones
#8OneLogin
Best for: Mid market single sign on with MFA4.4/5 on
G2 (291 reviews, checked Oct 2026)
Visit onelogin.com
Starting priceSee website
Free planNo
OneLogin closes the list as the established alternative in cross platform identity: SSO and MFA for the company whose estate outgrew the built in tools but whose team is smaller than an Okta deployment usually assumes. Its adaptive authentication, stepping up factors when signals look wrong, is the direction the whole category is travelling. Diligence its incident history and current ownership as you would any identity vendor; identity is the keys to the building, and the vendor's own security is part of the purchase wherever you land.
What we like- A mature single sign on and MFA platform aimed at the mid market, with adaptive policies by risk, its SmartFactor authentication weighs signals like device, network and behaviour, broad application catalogue and directory integrations, now part of One Identity, with the enterprise security backing that brings
Watch out for- Less mindshare than Okta in the US mid market, so peer references take more asking, suffered a serious breach in its past under previous ownership, which diligence should cover, feature depth varies by plan tier
How we chose
We wrote this article as what it is: a methods list. The entries are the routes a US company actually takes to multi factor logins in 2026, ordered by the strength of the factors they deliver and how completely they cover a real estate: the two platform built ins most companies already own, the independent identity providers, the hardware factor for high risk roles, and the pragmatic lifts for small and unsettled estates. We described factor types and fit rather than printing per user prices, because identity pricing depends on editions and headcount in ways that make any single figure a lie. We never claim hands on testing; the strength ladder, passkeys above app codes above SMS, reflects published guidance from CISA and NIST, which every entry's documentation follows.
How to roll out MFA without an uprising or a back door
Start with the accounts attackers want. Admins, executives, finance and remote access get MFA in week one, on the strongest factor available, before any company wide announcement. This ordering means the rollout's learning pains happen where protection matters most, and it removes the most dangerous accounts from the password only world immediately.
Enrol in waves with a deadline and a human to call. Announce the why in one honest paragraph, most breaches start with a stolen password, then enrol department by department with floor support in the first days. Publish the recovery process at the same time: how a locked out employee proves who they are, who can approve a reset, and the rule that no factor is ever disabled by phone request alone. More MFA estates are breached through helpful recovery than through broken cryptography.
Close the legacy doors as you go. Old protocols that cannot do MFA, basic authentication for email, app passwords created and forgotten, service accounts with human passwords, are the exceptions attackers enumerate. Your project plan should list every exception with an owner and a closing date, and the finished state is zero standing exceptions, with break glass admin accounts protected by hardware keys and alarms.
Measure the estate, not the announcement. Report weekly: percentage of accounts with a phishing resistant factor, percentage with any factor, exceptions open, and help desk resets by cause. When the numbers stall, the cause is almost always a workflow, a shared mailbox, a scanner that emails invoices, and solving those one by one is the unglamorous work that decides whether your company actually has MFA or merely announced it.
Frequently asked questions
What is the strongest type of MFA?
Passkeys and FIDO2 hardware security keys. They bind the login to the real site's identity, so a phishing page cannot relay them, which is the failure that defeats codes. CISA's guidance places phishing resistant factors at the top of the ladder, authenticator apps in the middle, and SMS codes at the bottom, still better than a password alone but vulnerable to SIM swap and real time phishing.
Is SMS two factor good enough?
It is far better than nothing and no longer good enough as a target state. Attackers swap SIMs and phish codes in real time as routine business. Keep SMS only where a service offers nothing else, move company systems to authenticator apps at minimum, and put passkeys or keys on the accounts that matter. NIST has discouraged SMS as a factor for years; the direction of travel is one way.
How do we handle employees without smartphones?
Do not exempt them; equip them. Hardware security keys exist precisely for this case and cost less than one hour of breach response. Shared workstations and gloves on factory floors are solved the same way, with keys or managed devices. An exemption list is an attacker shopping list, and every mature rollout replaces exemptions with equipment.
What does company wide MFA cost?
Often nothing new. Microsoft 365 and Google Workspace include MFA in subscriptions most companies already hold, with stronger policy tiers costing more per user. Dedicated providers like Okta, Duo and OneLogin charge per user monthly fees that scale with headcount, and hardware keys are a one off cost per person. The dominant cost is the rollout project itself: configuration, enrolment support and closing legacy exceptions.
What is the biggest mistake companies make with MFA?
Leaving the back doors: legacy email protocols that bypass MFA, app passwords nobody inventoried, a help desk that resets factors on a phone call, and an executive who opted out. Attackers do not break MFA; they walk around it through exactly these. The fix is an exceptions list with owners and closing dates, audited until it reads zero.
Sources we checked (0)
Is your product missing or out of date?
We review this list regularly. Vendors can request a listing, send updated pricing or ask about featured placement.
Shihab Mia · Founder, Rankite
Shihab has 5+ years in B2B and SaaS SEO. He writes Rankite's software buying guides from pricing pages, documentation and public user reviews. More about Shihab.