C1
Identity platform for the AI era: govern human, non-human, and AI agent identities, enforce agent guardrails, and automate cross-system work.
By C1.ai · HQ San Francisco, US · 4.3/5 Value-Position score (estimate)
Positioning guardrails
Best for
- Large enterprises consolidating identity governance for human, non-human, and AI agent identities on one platform
- Security teams moving privileged access to automated, policy-based just-in-time access
- Organizations rolling out AI agents that need runtime guardrails, MCP governance, and human approval for sensitive changes
- Enterprises with legacy or on-prem systems that need 400+ prebuilt connectors plus a custom connector builder
Ideal size: 1,000+ employees people · Enterprise with a dedicated identity and security team
Not for
- Small teams wanting a low-cost, self-serve SSO or password manager
- Buyers who need published list pricing and instant self-serve signup
- Companies that only need basic single sign-on, with no access reviews, evidence, or agent controls
Value metrics scorecard
Time-to-Value
Weeks-scale, not months (connector-driven)
~30 days to first production value
Total Cost of Ownership
On request
Two models: SKU-based Platform pricing (scoped by managed identities and product modules) or usage-based Flex pricing billed in C1 Tokens; exact pricing quoted per deal, no published list price.
Implementation Friction
3/5
Engineering + admin effort required
Value-Position score
out of 5 · model estimate
Full cost breakdown
Mandatory implementation fee
None
Seat tiers
Priced by managed identities (slider shows 100–20,000) and platform level (Pro or Advanced); no seat tiers published.
Add-on costs
- Flex pricing bills monthly by consumption: billable events draw down C1 Tokens.
- Platform pricing covers selected product modules (Identity Governance, AI Gateway, Vault, Agents) and requires a scoped quote.
Company & support
Who is behind C1, and how your team gets help once it is live.
Company
- Founded
- Not recorded
- Headquarters
- San Francisco, US
How you get support
- PhoneNot listed
- EmailNot listed
- Live chatNot listed
- Support portal / ticketsNot listed
- Community forumNot listed
- Help centre / docsPlan not stated
- Dedicated account managerNot listed
- In person / on-siteNot listed
- Hours
- Not recorded
- Response time
- Not stated
Contact page routes existing customers to the support channel established for their C1.ai tenant. Public product and developer documentation is available. [email protected] is for vulnerability reports, not product support.
“Not listed” means the vendor’s public pages don’t mention that channel, not that it is unavailable. Ask about it during evaluation.
Market position
Where C1 sits against its closest alternatives. Pick any two of cost, speed, friction and buyer score, and up to 9 companies to compare.
Quadrant view
Typical annual cost × Time-to-value
The lines cross at the median of the solutions shown, so about half sit on each side of each line.
Companies on the chart 6 / 10
- C1
- Monte Carlo
- Living Security
- Bitsight
- Scytale
- Everlaw
Add or change companies
Up to 10 companies including C1. Listed closest first.
Stack fit signal
Compatibility with standard B2B ecosystems.
Ships an official MCP server. Connects to Claude Code, Claude Desktop, ChatGPT connectors and Cursor out of the box.
AI & MCP readiness
What C1 ships in AI, and what it asks of your ecosystem.
AI features shipped
Homepage describes AI-driven lifecycle, access request, review and compliance automation, C1 Agents that complete multi-step jobs with human approval, a guardrailed MCP gateway, and shadow-AI discovery. No vendor page states which models power C1 or whether customer data is used for training.
Your data & models
- Trains on your data
- Not recorded — ask the vendor
- Runs on
- Not recorded
- AI pricing
- Billed by usage or credits
In your ecosystem
- AI connection
- Official MCP server
- Model key
- Not recorded
- AI usage audit
- Not recorded
Compliance attestations
* IAPP AIGP certifies individuals, not products. It means named staff hold the credential — not that the platform does.
Bottom line
C1.ai is an enterprise identity governance and security platform built for the AI era. It governs human, non-human, and AI agent identities from one control plane: lifecycle and access management, access reviews and compliance evidence, just-in-time privileged access, credential vaulting, and shadow-AI discovery. C1 Agents automate multi-step work across connected systems with human approval for sensitive changes, and the MCP Gateway enforces policy on MCP. 400+ prebuilt connectors, REST API, SDKs, and Terraform. SOC 2 Type II audited; pricing quoted per deal.
Frequently asked questions
What does C1.ai actually do?
C1.ai is an identity governance and security platform. It manages lifecycle, access requests, reviews, and compliance evidence for people, non-human identities, and AI agents; enforces runtime guardrails for agents; vaults credentials; discovers shadow AI, agents, and MCP servers; and runs C1 Agents that complete multi-step work across connected systems with human approval for sensitive changes.
How is C1.ai priced?
C1.ai offers two models: Platform pricing, which is SKU-based and scoped by number of managed identities (100–20,000 shown) and selected product modules, and Flex pricing, a usage model where billable events consume C1 Tokens and billing is monthly. Exact prices are not published; the company scopes them with each buyer. Hosting paths include commercial, regional, and federal.
How long does implementation take?
C1.ai ships 400+ prebuilt connectors and lets teams build custom connectors with AI for APIs, databases, or CSV exports, aiming for complete coverage in days or weeks rather than months. Published customer results include onboarding new employees in under an hour and adding 400 entitlements in two days. Enterprise scope, on-prem systems, and governance design still drive the real timeline.
Is C1.ai secure and compliant?
C1.ai's security page states its control domains are reviewed in an annual SOC 2 Type II audit, with TLS 1.2+ in transit, mutual TLS internally, per-tenant encryption and isolation, AWS multi-region redundancy, and annual disaster-recovery dry runs. SOC 2 reports, penetration test results, and subprocessors live in the vendor's Trust Center. The site does not claim ISO 27001 or FedRAMP for the vendor itself.
Does C1.ai support AI agents and MCP?
Yes. C1.ai documents MCP support: C1 MCP Gateway applies identity-aware policy and guardrails to MCP, C1 Agents run multi-step workflows with human approval for sensitive changes, and the platform discovers unsanctioned AI tools, agents, MCP servers, and credentials. Documentation covers using AI tools and MCP clients as an end user.
How do customers get support?
C1.ai's contact page directs existing customers to the support channel established for their C1.ai tenant, so the team can verify organization and account context. Product and developer documentation is public. Security issues go to [email protected]. The site does not publish support hours or a response-time SLA.