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ForgeRock vs Salesforce Identity comparison

 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive SummaryUpdated on Jan 27, 2025

Review summaries and opinions

We asked business professionals to review the solutions they use. Here are some excerpts of what they said:
 

Categories and Ranking

ForgeRock
Ranking in Customer Identity and Access Management (CIAM)
4th
Average Rating
8.0
Reviews Sentiment
6.5
Number of Reviews
38
Ranking in other categories
Identity Management (IM) (5th), Access Management (7th)
Salesforce Identity
Ranking in Customer Identity and Access Management (CIAM)
9th
Average Rating
8.0
Reviews Sentiment
5.0
Number of Reviews
6
Ranking in other categories
Mobile Identity (2nd)
 

Mindshare comparison

As of March 2026, in the Customer Identity and Access Management (CIAM) category, the mindshare of ForgeRock is 8.1%, down from 11.6% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Salesforce Identity is 2.5%, down from 3.7% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Customer Identity and Access Management (CIAM) Mindshare Distribution
ProductMindshare (%)
ForgeRock8.1%
Salesforce Identity2.5%
Other89.4%
Customer Identity and Access Management (CIAM)
 

Featured Reviews

SR
Software Engineer at a financial services firm with 10,001+ employees
Centralized access control has improved secure onboarding and supports strict compliance
I wish we had used ForgeRock's adaptive risk-based authentication, which allows dynamic adjustment of authentication requirements based on user behavior. This could have helped us further strengthen our security. Another hidden gem is the built-in support for custom authentication modules and scripting, which gives a great deal of flexibility to tailor authentication flows. The self-service capabilities for password resets and account recovery have been very helpful in reducing support overhead and improving user experience. Discovering and utilizing these features would have definitely made our integration even smoother and would have provided additional value for both our users and our security team. One area of improvement would be the user interface for policy and workflow configuration, which can become complex and sometimes unintuitive, especially for new administrators. A more streamlined and user-friendly UI would help reduce the learning curve. Enhanced out-of-the-box analytics and reporting would also be valuable, as our current options often require custom development or integration with external tools. While extensibility is a strength, documentation for advanced customizations and integrations could be more comprehensive and easier to follow. Improved support for seamless upgrades and backward compatibility would also help minimize downtime. In terms of performance, optimizing the platform for high concurrency environments would be beneficial, especially for organizations with large user bases or peak usage periods. Enhanced scalability features such as more granular or horizontal scaling options would provide better support for distributed deployments. For integrations, having more pre-built connectors and easy integration with modern cloud-native services would accelerate adoption. Improved monitoring and real-time health dashboards would help proactively identify and resolve performance bottlenecks.
NavinJacob - PeerSpot reviewer
Chief Digital Officer at Cipher7
Structured operations and analytics have transformed how my teams manage customers and sales
I see room for improvement regarding financial operations and FinOps. If they are not being controlled correctly, Salesforce billings can get huge. They charge for everything: license costs, storage costs, and transaction costs, and it can really end up blowing budgets if it is not controlled. Those controls should be something that is easy to manage. With Salesforce, it is pretty difficult to manage unless you are a very advanced user. Normal regular users may not be able to keep the costs in control. This ends up resulting in bill shocks where you suddenly receive a bill which you may not be expecting.

Quotes from Members

We asked business professionals to review the solutions they use. Here are some excerpts of what they said:
 

Pros

"ForgeRock provides a complete solution for authentication and authorization, which is excellent."
"ForgeRock has had a very positive impact on my organization, especially in terms of standardization, security posture, and operational efficiency."
"ForgeRock offers a very scalable solution, which is one of its best features, and ForgeRock positively impacts our organization as we manage a large number of users with ease, providing a standard IAM solution that simplifies our processes."
"The support is good and prompt."
"Installation and configuration are pretty easy for ForgeRock OpenIDM."
"Better Access Management."
"Automated provisioning and deprovisioning of users and customers, and integration into our portals for self-service, with lots of customizations possible due to the powerful API."
"ForgeRock is an extensive product with many functionalities and capabilities, much more than many other tools combined."
"The best features of Salesforce Platform that I appreciate are that it is very configurable and easy for both developers as well as customers to use."
"The solution is very easy to understand."
"The user experience was great because it had all the features that the client needed. It was fully customized for the client, and it was very simple. It was the best solution at that time."
"The single sign-on feature of Salesforce Identity enhances our organization's security posture overall."
"Salesforce Identity is a very user-friendly solution."
"The most valuable features are the pipeline management, being able to track the pipeline anytime, and the ability to get in touch with our high management team or board members."
 

Cons

"I find that it's quite expensive for just an open-source system. Support is quite expensive."
"Implementation, integration capabilities and support model are still evolving and posing a risk of poor quality."
"In an upcoming release, the solution could improve by limiting the need to do customizations."
"The product's customization is a bit complicated."
"The identity management model needs a bit of improvement."
"ForgeRock can be improved by making it easier to understand the licensing and upgrade protocols."
"ForgeRock is an open source solution and is available to everyone but it is not freeware. If you need support, you need a subscription for ForgeRock. Many of its functionalities need to be built up with the help of a consultant."
"I wish the JavaScript part could be improved, as not everyone is proficient in JavaScript, so automating that or reducing the reliance on it could be beneficial."
"Salesforce could make it more user-friendly and easier to implement. Currently, there's a lot of coding and technical work required. I would appreciate a more plug-and-play approach where you could set it up without needing a dedicated technical person."
"The most wanted feature on such platforms nowadays is artificial intelligence, especially for marketing activities. This is also my area of expertise, so it would be very interesting to see AI in these platforms."
"The product is slow."
"The interface should be simplified and the dashboard has a lot of options but could be improved."
"Salesforce Identity needs more expertise in the application."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"Its licensing is on a yearly basis, but it also depends on the contract that you have with the vendor. They have multiple types of contracts. There are additional costs to the standard licensing fees. If you need some of the features, you have to pay more."
"The pricing of the solution is fair but I do not have the full details."
"ForgeRock's pricing is more competitive than other products."
"The license is purchased annually per user. However, you can negotiate if you are signing for a longer period of time. When comparing this solution to others on the market it is priced fair, it is not at the top of the price range or at the bottom end."
"We have multiple clients we are looking at right now. We are at a very small number, however, the idea and the goal is to grow. We are looking at about $100,000 and $50,000 a minimum a month cost. That'd be minimum maybe in a couple of years."
"It's a bit pricey and could be more competitive."
"Its price is comparable to other products in the market."
"ForgeRock is an expensive solution."
"On a scale of one to ten, where one is a very low price and ten is a very high price, I rate Salesforce Identity's pricing a six out of ten."
"I'd recommend Salesforce for larger products where you really need a robust CRM. It's expensive, so for smaller websites or products, it might not be the most cost-effective solution."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Financial Services Firm
20%
Manufacturing Company
8%
Computer Software Company
7%
Insurance Company
6%
Financial Services Firm
19%
Manufacturing Company
11%
Hospitality Company
7%
Performing Arts
6%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business15
Midsize Enterprise5
Large Enterprise18
No data available
 

Questions from the Community

What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for ForgeRock?
The pricing, setup cost, and licensing are very straightforward, which is a good success. I appreciate that it is very straightforward and helpful.
What needs improvement with ForgeRock?
I wish the JavaScript part could be improved, as not everyone is proficient in JavaScript, so automating that or reducing the reliance on it could be beneficial. Additionally, having only one realm...
What is your primary use case for ForgeRock?
My main use case for ForgeRock is designing user journeys, specifically customer user journeys, and how they interact with the system. A specific example of a user journey I designed using ForgeRoc...
What do you like most about Salesforce Identity?
The single sign-on feature of Salesforce Identity enhances our organization's security posture overall.
What needs improvement with Salesforce Identity?
I see room for improvement regarding financial operations and FinOps. If they are not being controlled correctly, Salesforce billings can get huge. They charge for everything: license costs, storag...
What is your primary use case for Salesforce Identity?
My overall experience in this current field I am working spans different areas. One area is for service management, contact centers, BPOs, and customer relationship management. Others are for sales...
 

Also Known As

ForgeRock Identity Platform, ForgeRock OpenIDM
No data available
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

Geico, Thomson Reuters, Salesforce, McKesson, Trinet, SKY, BNP Paribas, Deloitte, Capgemini, North Western University
SAP, Microsoft, Workday, Servicenow, ADP, Google Apps, box, Oracle
Find out what your peers are saying about ForgeRock vs. Salesforce Identity and other solutions. Updated: March 2026.
884,873 professionals have used our research since 2012.