Corma versus C1
Looking for an alternative to C1? C1, formerly ConductorOne, governs access for people and AI agents and is being acquired by Workday. Corma is an independent, identity-first platform for growing IT teams in Europe, so every app, license and euro is tied to a person and their access.
Identity-first SaaS management. Access, compliance, and spend through governance.
Identity security platform. Access reviews, just-in-time access and AI agent governance.
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C1, formerly ConductorOne, is an identity security platform from Portland founded by two former Okta engineers. It governs access for people, machine identities and AI agents across SaaS, cloud and on-prem systems, with access reviews, just-in-time access and an AI gateway for agents and MCP tools. Workday signed an agreement to acquire C1 in October 2026.
Fast-growing companies and large enterprises
2020 in Portland by Alex Bovee and Paul Querna
Comparing Corma and C1? Both automate who gets access to which apps, run access reviews and remove access when people leave. This comparison covers lifecycle automation, access requests, access reviews, just-in-time and infrastructure access, AI agents, license optimization and total cost.
C1 started as ConductorOne in 2020 and took its new name in April 2026, when it extended governance to AI agents and MCP tools. It brings access reviews, self-service and just-in-time access, zero standing privileges for cloud infrastructure and an AI gateway into one identity security platform, with connectors that run in C1's cloud or your own environment. In October 2026 Workday signed a definitive agreement to acquire C1, with closing expected by the end of January 2027.
Corma is identity-first and built in Europe for growing IT teams. It connects to the identity provider and HR system you already run, whichever vendor that is, finds apps through finance data, a browser extension and a Windows agent, and ties every application, license and euro to a person and their access. Provisioning, requests, reviews and license control sit in one product, hosted in the EU and ISO 27001 certified, with a free tier to start.
The difference is security depth versus cost control and independence. C1 goes further into cloud infrastructure, privileged access and AI agents, and will soon belong to an HR software vendor. Corma adds license savings, spend and renewals to access governance, from an independent European vendor. Read the full Corma versus C1 comparison to see which fits your team.
The Comparison
C1 treats access as a security problem: least privilege, just-in-time grants and zero standing privileges, from SaaS down to cloud infrastructure and now AI agents. Corma treats access as both a security and a cost question: lifecycle, requests and reviews driven by your identity provider and HR system, with license usage, spend and renewals on the same record. Both govern who has access to what; they differ in how far into infrastructure they go and what else they put next to it.
Identity-first: every app, license and cost is tied to a person and their access.
Identity security first: governance, just-in-time and privileged access for people, machines and AI agents.
Native provisioning and deprovisioning, driven by your identity provider and HR system.
Lifecycle automation from HR events across SaaS, cloud and on-prem, through cloud-hosted or self-hosted connectors.
Self-service catalog with approval workflows; approved access is provisioned automatically.
Self-service app directory and requests in Slack, with just-in-time grants that expire automatically.
Built-in review campaigns with exportable evidence for ISO 27001, SOC 2 and NIS2.
Automated access reviews; C1 cites 97% less time to prepare them.
Identity provider, finance data, browser extension and Windows agent — sanctioned and unsanctioned apps.
Shadow app detection, plus discovery of unsanctioned AI tools, agents, MCP servers and credentials.
Ungoverned tools surface together with the accounts behind them, so access can be revoked from the same place.
An AI gateway puts AI tools and agents under policy, with human approval and a record of every action.
Unused licenses surface from access data and can be revoked or canceled in one click.
License and spend optimization are not the focus of the identity security platform.
Renewal dates, notice periods and spend forecasts in one view.
Contract and renewal management is not among C1's listed modules.
Connected in minutes, productive within days to weeks, no professional services required.
C1 cites less than a month on average to go live.
Free tier, then per-user plans — you can start without talking to sales.
Priced by managed identities plus separate modules, or usage-based via C1 Tokens; an AWS Marketplace listing shows $100,000 for 12 months.
Growing IT teams and mid-market organizations, roughly 50 to 5,000 employees.
Fast-growing companies and large enterprises such as Instacart, Ramp and Zscaler.
EU-hosted and ISO 27001 certified, with support in English, French and German.
Portland-based, backed by $111M; Workday agreed to acquire C1 in October 2026, with closing expected by January 2027.
Focused on SaaS access, licenses and spend tied to each person.
Zero standing privileges for AWS, GCP, Azure and Snowflake, and governed access for AI agents.
Which platform fits your team?
Corma is best for
Teams that need EU data residency and ISO 27001 as a baseline
IT, security and compliance teams that have to prove who has access to what
Companies that want license savings, spend and renewals next to access governance
Teams that want an independent vendor, whatever HR system they run
C1 is best for
Security teams that want zero standing privileges across cloud infrastructure
Enterprises that govern AI agents and MCP tools like employees
Companies that run Workday as their HR system of record
Engineering-heavy teams comfortable running self-hosted connectors
Setup at a glance
Deployment in days to weeks for SMBs
Identity provider, HR system and core apps connected
Connects to your existing identity provider and HR system
Self-hosted connectors deployed for internal systems where needed
RBAC policies and approval workflows configured
Access policies, approval flows and just-in-time rules defined
Ongoing maintenance mostly automated by the platform
Slack app published for requests and approvals
User training focused on self-service access requests
Access reviews and AI agent governance switched on
Why IT teams rely on Corma
Automation
employees onboarded and offboarded automatically
Time spent
spent less with Corma per week for management
Cost Efficiency
saved monthly by optimizing SaaS licenses
Shadow IT
to detect Shadow IT applications
What IT teams say about Corma
“Corma is very useful and user friendly. It helps us save money and prevent potential security threats.”
Chief Operating Officer, Media
“I like how it’s very easy to see all the apps that have been accessed by our employees.”
Chief Engineering Officer, Healthcare and Biotech
“I think Corma is a really great app that has lots to offer and working with them has been great.”
IT & Security Administrator, Software
An HR-owned identity platform, or an independent one?
C1 is a strong choice for security teams that want zero standing privileges across cloud infrastructure and governed access for AI agents, especially if Workday is already their HR system. Corma suits growing IT teams that want identity-driven lifecycle, reviews and license control from an independent European vendor that works with whichever HR system they run, with EU hosting and a free start. A demo on your own stack shows which fits your team.
Book a demoHow does Corma manage AI agent access?
To reliably interact with web applications, the agent uses a secure, isolated Chrome browser environment. All credentials come from the client’s secure vault (e.g., 1Password, Bitwarden). We do not store credentials on our platform. Depending on the client’s setup, direct integration with the secret manager may be possible. Two-factor authentication (2FA) is supported for various integrations. Every automation run executes inside a dedicated, isolated Chrome session.
How does Corma handle user access requests?
Corma turns access requests into automated self-service workflows. Employees request access in one click, approvals are routed and tracked, access is provisioned automatically, and every step is logged for security and compliance.
How does Corma's IGA solution work?
Corma's IGA solution connects to your SaaS stack to automate provisioning, enforce least-privilege access and run scheduled access reviews. As an EU-native platform, it aligns identity governance with GDPR and NIS2 requirements out of the box.
How does Corma's SaaS management platform work?
Corma discovers every SaaS app through integrations, browser signals and financial data, then centralizes licenses, costs and access. From one dashboard you can reclaim unused licenses, prevent Shadow IT and automate access management.
