Why Prefect Chose WorkOS for Enterprise Auth

In the summer of 2022, Prefect faced a pivotal decision about enterprise authentication for its SaaS product, Prefect Cloud, ultimately choosing WorkOS as their partner for authentication and single sign-on (SSO) solutions. This decision, repeated for their later innovation FastMCP Cloud in 2025, was driven by the need to avoid the complexities of enterprise authentication, which includes supporting various identity providers like Okta and Azure AD, ensuring compliance with security standards, and managing user provisioning. By partnering with WorkOS, Prefect streamlined enterprise onboarding, reduced engineering involvement in SSO setup, and increased team velocity, allowing engineers to focus on enhancing their core product rather than authentication intricacies. The integration of WorkOS not only simplified internal processes but also saved significant developer time, which could be reinvested into improving data orchestration features like workflow observability and Kubernetes support. This strategic choice reflects Prefect's philosophy of building what differentiates them while outsourcing non-core functions, thus enhancing the overall value delivered to their enterprise customers.

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