# How Okta and Junify differ, and when Okta's SWA is enough for shared accounts If everyone who uses a shared account has an Okta account and you don't need control after sign-in, Okta's SWA is enough. Junify covers the other cases. Updated: October 16, 2026 Suppose everyone who uses your shared accounts, staff and outside helpers alike, has an Okta account. If you also don't need to control what happens after sign-in, Okta covers it. Apps that support SAML (a standard way for an app to accept Okta's sign-in) connect through single sign-on (SSO): one Okta sign-in opens many apps. Apps that only take a username and password can use Okta's Secure Web Authentication (SWA), which fills in a shared password without showing it. Junify covers two other cases. One is shared accounts used by people who have no Okta account. The other is accounts where you want to block downloads, record the screen, or close the window on someone's computer after sign-in. ## What Okta does Okta is an [identity provider](/guides/access-basics/what-is-idp): a service that holds each person's account and signs them in to the apps connected to it. Okta says its integration network has more than 8,000 pre-built integrations. Apps connect through standards such as SAML and OpenID Connect. Okta's product page says that when you deactivate a user, their access to every app connected through SSO is revoked right away. To check who used an app, the Application Usage report lists who signed in to it during a period you choose. The Application Access query in the system log shows when users accessed each app. ## How SWA handles a shared account SWA is for web apps that don't support SAML or a similar standard. The person clicks the app on their Okta dashboard. On the app's sign-in page, the Okta Browser Plugin enters the username and password. Okta keeps those logins in an encrypted store. Okta offers five ways to set the username and password for an SWA app. One is "Users share a single username and password set by administrator." With that option, Okta's help center says end users can't reveal the shared password. Only super admins and app admins can see or change it. The plugin can also stop the browser from saving sign-in details for Okta and the apps people open from the dashboard. ## What we checked in Okta's documentation ### People without an Okta account SWA starts from the person's Okta dashboard, so each person who uses the shared account needs an Okta account. For an outside helper, that means adding them to Okta and removing them when the work ends. ### Activity after sign-in, and two-step codes The SWA and plugin pages we read don't describe blocking downloads after sign-in, flagging uploads, recording a web app's screen, or entering an authenticator-app code. ### Okta Privileged Access for shared SaaS accounts Okta Privileged Access, a separate product, can manage shared accounts on supported SaaS apps. For apps with a supported connector, it changes the password on a schedule or after use. In its user guide, the person clicks "Show credentials" to view the password. Privileged Access also has session recording, but its help center describes it for connections to servers (SSH and Remote Desktop). ### Staying signed in after someone is removed Okta's developer guide says that deactivating someone in Okta "doesn't affect a user's existing sessions or tokens within an app." Universal Logout is Okta's way to reach the app. Okta asks a supported app to sign the person out, and the app then tries to end their sign-ins, fully or partly depending on the app. Okta lists full support for Box, Google Workspace, Salesforce, Slack (Enterprise), Zoom, and others. Microsoft 365 and other Microsoft apps get partial support: the person stays signed in until their current access expires or they sign out. Each app has to be set up for Universal Logout first. Running it automatically takes Identity Threat Protection; with Adaptive MFA alone, an admin starts it by hand for one user at a time. Identity Threat Protection can also clear cookies in company-managed Chrome profiles, though not in personal ones. We found nothing saying Universal Logout works for SWA apps. ## What Junify does In Junify, an admin adds the shared account and picks who may use it. People verify on their own phone with the Junify app, so someone without an Okta account can use it too. The Junify Chrome extension fills in the password, and the person never sees it. If people know the password today, you change it when you move the account, and only Junify holds the new one. After that, once you remove someone's access in Junify, they can't open the account through Junify again. Nobody has to change and resend the password each time someone leaves. Junify opens the account in a Chrome incognito window that its extension manages, so the app's cookies stay out of the person's everyday Chrome. An admin can close Junify's windows on that computer remotely, which removes the login from that computer. If someone leaves an allowed location or IP address, Junify closes that account's tabs and deletes that app's cookies. None of this needs SAML or a company-managed Chrome profile. Downloads can be allowed or blocked per account, and uploads send an alert to the admin. Recording, with AI summaries, can be turned on for the accounts that need it. Junify records who used which account and when, person by person. For two-step verification through an authenticator app, Junify enters the code. Text and email codes aren't covered. ## Using Okta and Junify together Keep employee accounts and SAML apps in Okta. Shared accounts used only by people who are in Okta, where a record of who signed in is enough, can stay on SWA. Move to Junify the accounts that people outside Okta use, and the ones that need download control, recording, remote window closing, or authenticator codes. [How to get SSO-like sign-in for SaaS apps without SAML](/guides/access-basics/sso-like-operation-for-non-saml-saas) lays out every option for apps that SAML doesn't reach. ## Which one fits Everything in the Okta column comes from Okta's help center, developer guide, and product pages. "Not found" means only that we didn't find it there, not that Okta can't do it. | Point | Okta (SWA and Okta Browser Plugin) | Junify | | --- | --- | --- | | Apps that support SAML | Single sign-on | Leave them with Okta | | Username-and-password apps | The plugin fills in the login | The extension fills in the login | | Shared password | Hidden from users with the shared option | Never shown | | Who can use it | People with an Okta account | People who verify with the Junify phone app | | Removing someone | Deactivate them, or remove the app or group assignment, and they can't open it again | Remove their access, and they can't open the account through Junify again | | Still signed in after removal | Universal Logout, in supported apps (nothing found for SWA apps) | Admin closes Junify's windows on that computer; leaving an allowed location or IP closes the tabs and deletes the cookies | | Record | Who signed in to which app, and when | Who used which account, and when, by person | | Downloads after sign-in | Not found | Allowed or blocked per account | | Upload alerts | Not found | Sent to the admin | | Recording a web app's screen | Not found (Privileged Access records server connections) | Can be turned on per account | | Authenticator-app codes | Not found | Entered by Junify | | What each person needs | The plugin in Chrome, Edge, Firefox, or Safari | The Chrome extension and the Junify phone app | Okta alone is the better choice when everyone who uses a shared account is an Okta user and a record of sign-ins is enough. It's also the one to pick when people need to work in Edge, Firefox, or Safari. If you want passwords changed on a schedule or after each use, Okta Privileged Access does that for apps with a supported connector. And if every app supports SAML and you can give each person their own account, you don't need Junify at all. Junify fits best when several needs meet in one account: people without Okta accounts use it, the password must stay hidden, and you need a record by person. The case is stronger when the account also uses an authenticator-app code or needs downloads blocked, the screen recorded, or the window closed remotely. ## Frequently asked questions **Do we need Junify if we already have Okta?** Not if everyone who uses your shared accounts has an Okta account and you don't need control after sign-in. Junify covers shared accounts used by people outside Okta, and accounts that need download control or recording. **Can Okta's SWA share a password without showing it?** Yes. With the option where an admin sets one username and password for everyone assigned, users can't reveal it and the Okta Browser Plugin fills it in. Only super admins and app admins can see it. **How does Okta Privileged Access handle shared accounts?** It can change the password of a supported SaaS account on a schedule or after each use. In its user guide, people click Show credentials to view the password. Junify fills the password in without showing it. **Can we use Okta and Junify together?** Yes. Keep employee accounts and SAML apps in Okta. Put shared accounts used by people outside Okta, or accounts that need control after sign-in, in Junify. ## Sources - [Okta: Single Sign-On for your Workforce](https://www.okta.com/products/single-sign-on-workforce-identity/) - [Okta: Okta Integration Network](https://www.okta.com/integrations/) - [Okta Help Center: About Secure Web Authentication](https://help.okta.com/oie/en-us/content/topics/apps/apps-about-swa.htm) - [Okta Help Center: Configure Single Sign-On options](https://help.okta.com/oie/en-us/content/topics/apps/apps_overview_of_managing_apps_and_sso.htm) - [Okta Help Center: Reveal the password of an app integration](https://help.okta.com/oie/en-us/content/topics/apps/apps_revealing_the_password.htm) - [Okta Help Center: Okta Browser Plugin](https://help.okta.com/oie/en-us/content/topics/browser-plugin/browser-plugin-main.htm) - [Okta Help Center: Supported browsers for Okta Browser Plugin](https://help.okta.com/oie/en-us/content/topics/browser-plugin/plugin-browser-os.htm) - [Okta Help Center: Reports](https://help.okta.com/oie/en-us/content/topics/reports/report-types.htm) - [Okta Help Center: Unassign users from applications](https://help.okta.com/oie/en-us/content/topics/users-groups-profiles/usgp-unassign-apps.htm) - [Okta Help Center: SaaS app service accounts (Okta Privileged Access)](https://help.okta.com/oie/en-us/content/topics/privileged-access/pam-saas-apps.htm) - [Okta Help Center: Okta Privileged Access user guide](https://help.okta.com/oie/en-us/content/topics/privileged-access/pam-enduser.htm) - [Okta Help Center: Session recording (Okta Privileged Access)](https://help.okta.com/oie/en-us/content/topics/privileged-access/gateways/pam-session-capture.htm) - [Okta Developer: Build Universal Logout for your app](https://developer.okta.com/docs/guides/oin-universal-logout-overview/) - [Okta Help Center: Universal Logout](https://help.okta.com/oie/en-us/content/topics/itp/universal-logout.htm) - [Okta Help Center: Third-party apps that support Universal Logout](https://help.okta.com/oie/en-us/content/topics/itp/universal-logout-supported-third-party-apps-list.htm) - [Okta Help Center: Configure Universal Logout for supported apps](https://help.okta.com/oie/en-us/content/topics/itp/config-universal-logout.htm) - [Okta Help Center: Configure Universal Logout (orgs with Adaptive MFA)](https://help.okta.com/oie/en-us/content/topics/apps/universal-logout-amfa.htm) - [Okta Help Center: Identity Threat Protection](https://help.okta.com/oie/en-us/content/topics/itp/overview.htm) - [Okta Help Center: Clear managed Chrome profile browsing data](https://help.okta.com/oie/en-us/content/topics/itp/clear-managed-chrome-data.htm) - [16 CFR 14.15, Statement of Policy Regarding Comparative Advertising (Federal Trade Commission)](https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/CFR-2024-title16-vol1/xml/CFR-2024-title16-vol1-sec14-15.xml) - [How Junify works](https://www.junify.com/product) ## How Junify handles this **Doing this by hand** Single sign-on and multi-factor authentication don't reach apps that can't connect to your identity provider, or accounts that stay shared. Those are left to manual work, and you have to track for yourself which accounts the tools cover. **With Junify** To let an outside helper use a shared account, you'd otherwise add them to Okta and remove them later, or tell them the password. With Junify, you change the password once when you add the account, and only Junify holds it. People verify on their own phone and click to sign in. Remove someone's access and they can't open it through Junify again. Downloads and recording are set per account. Junify is an access management service for handing work in your web accounts to employees, contractors and outside teams without giving them the password. Each person verifies on their own phone and clicks a card to sign in. The password is never shown, and Junify records who used which account and when. - [Try the demo](https://www.junify.com/bpo/try?lang=en&scenario=shared-accounts&from=guide&cluster=access-basics&slug=okta-and-junify) - [Book a 30-minute demo](https://www.junify.com/bpo/demo) ## More on this topic - [What's the difference between an audit log and audit evidence?](/guides/access-basics/audit-log-vs-evidence): An audit log is what a system records. Audit evidence is a log you can rely on: tied to a person, protected from change, kept for a set period, and reviewed. - [What a browser extension can and can't control in access management](/guides/access-basics/browser-extension-access-control-scope): An extension works inside the browser it's installed in, on the sites it's allowed to run on. Other apps, other browsers and other devices are out of its reach. - [What work data stays on a personal computer, and how to keep it off](/guides/access-basics/byod-leave-no-business-data): History, cookies, saved passwords, password manager copies and downloads. Pair company browser settings with logins that don't show people the password.