Google IAP Alternative: A Simpler Approach to Private Application Access

Looking for a Google IAP alternative? Start with the applications, users, and authentication flows you need to support. The right choice should make access easier to manage across your portfolio—not turn each application into a separate identity project.

Datawiza Access Proxy adds single sign-on (SSO), multi-factor authentication (MFA), and granular access policies in front of HTTP/HTTPS applications without changing application code. Deploy proxies in your infrastructure and manage access centrally across on-premises and cloud environments.

Keep existing application credentials and add Datawiza's built-in MFA without Active Directory, LDAP, or an external identity provider. Or connect a supported provider, such as Microsoft Entra ID, Okta, or Cisco Duo, for SSO and MFA.

For a concise side-by-side overview, see our Google IAP comparison. This guide explains the identity and deployment choices behind that comparison.

First, understand the Google IAP options

Google Identity-Aware Proxy is not limited to Google accounts or Google-hosted applications. An Identity-Aware Proxy alternative should be evaluated against the configuration you would actually use.

Google provides distinct external-identity approaches:

• Workforce Identity Federation: Connect a supported external IdP, including Entra ID, Okta, or another OIDC/SAML provider. Google documents IAM-based authorization for this mode. IAP with Workforce Identity Federation.
• Identity Platform external identities: Support external sign-in methods such as email/password, SAML, OIDC, and custom authentication. In this separate mode, Google's documentation says IAM does not manage user access; applications can authorize using claims in the IAP token. IAP external identities.

Google also supports enabling IAP directly on Cloud Run without provisioning a load balancer. That integration protects the service's default endpoint and traffic through a load balancer when one is used. Direct Cloud Run integration.

These are meaningful capabilities. If your applications and operations already fit Google's supported approach, IAP may be practical. The decision is about your required workflow, not an assumption that Google lacks external identity or straightforward deployment options.

Check the required security signals for each identity mode. For example, Google's Workforce Identity Federation guidance supports request-context conditions but excludes device-information access levels for that mode. Confirm the controls your users and applications need before choosing an integration.

When to consider a Google Cloud IAP alternative

Datawiza is worth evaluating when you want a common access-management approach across applications with different hosting locations and account systems.

For example, employees might use Entra ID for an ERP application, partners might retain accounts in an existing portal, and internal tools might require different administrative-path restrictions. Datawiza can apply the appropriate authentication and policy configuration to each application without requiring one identity migration strategy for the entire portfolio.

This can support a wider private-access rollout across teams and user populations. It is not limited to a handful of legacy applications. Custom, packaged, and newer web applications can use the same proxy-based approach. Datawiza Access Proxy.

Evaluate simplicity through recurring tasks: onboarding applications, changing policies, investigating denied access, and maintaining the deployment. Compare the components you already operate and the responsibilities each option adds.

How the Datawiza approach works

Datawiza Access Proxy sits between browser users and protected web applications. Configure the appropriate authentication flow, apply access policies, and forward allowed requests to the application. Users do not need a Datawiza endpoint client for browser access.

With customer-hosted deployment, the proxy runs in your infrastructure. Datawiza Cloud Management Console provides centralized configuration and visibility; it is separate from the application traffic path. Datawiza architecture.

The two authentication paths are alternatives. The diagram's identity-provider path represents an integration; it does not mean the external provider runs inside Datawiza Access Proxy.

Keep existing credentials and add built-in MFA

An application may already manage its own users and passwords. Datawiza can preserve those credentials while adding a second-factor requirement, without introducing AD, LDAP, or an external IdP.

Validate how the MFA check is associated with the application's authenticated user and session. Include enrollment, account recovery, logout, and account removal in the evaluation. See MFA with existing application credentials.

The question is whether the complete existing-account workflow fits—not whether Google supports non-Google identities. Demonstrate the intended sign-in experience with the actual application.

Google also documents IAP second-factor reauthentication for supported Google-identity browser flows and separate Identity Platform TOTP MFA. These are different configurations, not one universally available MFA workflow. Confirm factor support and enrollment requirements for the identity model you select.

Connect your identity provider for SSO and MFA

Where centralized workforce identity is the goal, connect a supported provider such as Entra ID, Okta, Cisco Duo, or Ping.

Confirm that the application recognizes the correct user after authentication. Datawiza supports configured identity-attribute mappings and handoffs to upstream applications. Account mapping and session behavior still need validation. Passing user attributes.

Built-in MFA alone does not create SSO across unrelated application accounts. Choose the sign-in model that fits each application's users.

Apply granular access policies

Datawiza can evaluate application paths, HTTP methods, available user attributes or groups, IP addresses, and time conditions. For example, limit an administrative path to an authorized group while allowing other users into ordinary application pages. Datawiza access-control rules.

Google IAP also supports conditional controls, including host- and path-based access rules. Granular authorization is not exclusive to Datawiza. Compare the available identity signals and policy behavior in your selected mode. Google IAP contextual access.

With either approach, proxy policies complement application permissions. They do not replace business logic or record-level authorization inside the application.

Compare deployment paths, not cloud labels

Google documents IAP-enabled external Application Load Balancers with Internet network endpoint groups for external origins and Hybrid Connectivity network endpoint groups for on-premises or other-cloud backends. Those applications do not have to move into Google Cloud, but the selected load-balancing and connectivity setup remains part of the design. IAP load balancer and backend options.

With customer-hosted Datawiza, application payloads do not require a Datawiza-hosted cloud relay. You choose where to place proxies relative to applications and users.

That does not make Datawiza an offline product. Plan management and logging connections, relevant identity-provider connectivity, certificates, availability, and origin restrictions that prevent bypassing the proxy. Datawiza deployment prerequisites.

A locally placed proxy is not automatically faster, and a cloud-hosted access layer is not inherently insecure. Measure real workflows and document traffic, identity, configuration, and log flows separately.

Datawiza vs. Google IAP

The table summarizes choices, not complete feature equivalence. Evaluate non-web connectivity, TCP tunneling, and desktop delivery separately. This comparison does not position Datawiza as a replacement for every Google IAP capability.

Test a representative rollout

Use a pilot to establish an operating model you can repeat across the portfolio:

1. Inventory applications and users. Record hosting locations, protocols, account ownership, and required access controls. Include employee systems and external portals.
2. Demonstrate authentication. Test existing-credential MFA or IdP SSO/MFA as appropriate. Verify account mapping, enrollment, recovery, and offboarding.
3. Exercise application behavior. Check deep links, redirects, cookies, uploads, downloads, browser API requests, logout, and session expiry.
4. Test authorization and resilience. Verify allowed and denied paths, origin restrictions, normal routing, and failover. Use the attributes the selected integration actually provides.
5. Compare ongoing responsibilities. Include licensing, infrastructure, onboarding, policy changes, certificates, upgrades, monitoring, and recovery. Use measured effort rather than assumed savings.

If you already operate IAP successfully for some applications, a mixed deployment may be appropriate. Move applications when the new access model meets their requirements, with a documented rollback plan.

Frequently asked questions

What is a Google IAP alternative for private web applications?

Datawiza Access Proxy provides a no-code authentication and access-policy layer for HTTP/HTTPS applications. It combines customer-hosted enforcement with centrally managed policies and a choice of built-in MFA or identity-provider SSO/MFA.

Can users keep existing credentials without Active Directory?

Yes. Datawiza's built-in MFA mode can preserve existing application credentials without requiring AD, LDAP, or an external IdP. Validate the application's login, session, and account-recovery workflows during evaluation.

Can Datawiza use Entra ID, Okta, or Cisco Duo?

Yes. Datawiza supports identity-provider integrations for SSO and MFA. Confirm the supported integration, account mapping, and available identity attributes needed by the application and its access policies.

Is Google IAP limited to Google accounts and Google-hosted applications?

No. Google documents external identities through Identity Platform, a separate Workforce Identity Federation option, and hybrid access to on-premises HTTP applications. Identity and authorization behavior depend on the chosen configuration.

Can Datawiza support a broader private-access project?

Yes, across a portfolio of HTTP/HTTPS applications, teams, and hosting environments. Plan capacity, availability, and policy ownership for that rollout; assess non-web networking or desktop requirements separately.

Plan a simpler private-access approach

Bring your application inventory, existing identity systems, and required policies. We can evaluate both authentication models and a phased rollout across your environments.

Book a demo to evaluate Datawiza as your Google IAP alternative. Comparing several vendors? Explore our ZTNA alternatives hub.