# What is single sign-on (SSO)? > Single sign-on lets one work login open many apps. Learn how SSO works, why IT teams want it for AI tools, and how it differs from connecting an app. Source: https://learn.ynteractive.com/content/glossary/single-sign-on · Updated 2026-10-06 · Free from Stepthrough (https://learn.ynteractive.com) [Business](https://learn.ynteractive.com/content/glossary#topic-business) · [AI glossary](https://learn.ynteractive.com/content/glossary) Quick answer Single sign-on, or SSO, lets you log in once with one work account, usually run by your company's identity provider such as Google Workspace or Microsoft, and then open many other apps without a separate password for each one. Last updated October 6, 2026 Updated October 6, 2026 · By [Robert Breen](https://learn.ynteractive.com/content/about) ## Why it matters for a small business Every separate password is one more thing to forget, reuse or leak. With SSO, people sign in to the identity provider once, and the other apps trust that login. Fewer passwords means fewer weak ones, and the security rules your company sets, like requiring [multi-factor authentication](https://learn.ynteractive.com/content/glossary/multi-factor-authentication), apply everywhere at once. The bigger payoff shows up when someone leaves. If every tool runs through SSO, IT turns off one account and the person loses access to all of them the same day. Without it, someone has to remember every AI tool, scheduling app and shared login that person ever created. That is why many companies ask whether a new tool supports SSO before anyone signs up. ## In a real lesson: n8n AI Agent Tutorial: Save Social Media Ideas to Google Sheets The [AI Social Media Idea Agent lesson](https://learn.ynteractive.com/content/n8n-ai-agent-tutorial-google-sheets) is set at BrightPath Marketing, a made-up digital marketing agency. It does not set up company SSO, but it shows the button that most people meet first: **Sign in with Google**. To let the agent save post ideas to a sheet, you create a new credential in n8n, click that button, choose the Google account that owns the spreadsheet and check the permission boxes, starting with "See, edit, create, and delete all your Google Sheets spreadsheets." That step is closer to [OAuth](https://learn.ynteractive.com/content/glossary/oauth) than to SSO. You are not logging in to n8n with Google. You are giving n8n permission to act on your Google account, and n8n saves the result as a credential called BrightPath Google. Signing in to an app with your work account and granting an app access to your data use the same Google screens, which is why people mix them up. The lesson's earlier sign-up step is the other half of the picture: n8n emails a code, then asks for a name and password. That is a separate login. In a company with SSO, IT might connect that tool to the work account instead, on plans that offer it. Check the vendor's page for which plans include SSO. [Try this lesson free](https://learn.ynteractive.com/modules/n8n-ai-agent) or [read the step-by-step guide](https://learn.ynteractive.com/content/n8n-ai-agent-tutorial-google-sheets). ## Common confusions ### SSO vs OAuth SSO is about logging you in to many apps with one account. [OAuth](https://learn.ynteractive.com/content/glossary/oauth) is about letting one app use another app's data on your behalf, like n8n writing to Google Sheets. Many "Sign in with" buttons are built on OAuth, but the goals differ. ### SSO vs a password manager A password manager stores a different password for each app and fills it in. SSO removes the separate passwords, because each app trusts your one work login. Many companies use both. ## Tips - Before you sign up for a new AI tool at work, ask IT whether it should go through the company login. - Use your work account, not a personal one, for business tools. Otherwise the access leaves with you or stays behind when it should not. - Keep a short list of the tools you connected with your work account so offboarding is easy. ## Related terms [Multi-factor authentication (MFA)](https://learn.ynteractive.com/content/glossary/multi-factor-authentication) · [Phishing](https://learn.ynteractive.com/content/glossary/phishing) · [OAuth](https://learn.ynteractive.com/content/glossary/oauth) · [Credential](https://learn.ynteractive.com/content/glossary/credential) · [Employee onboarding](https://learn.ynteractive.com/content/glossary/employee-onboarding) ## More Business terms [SOC 2 report](https://learn.ynteractive.com/content/glossary/soc-2-report) · [Source of truth](https://learn.ynteractive.com/content/glossary/source-of-truth) · [Speed to lead](https://learn.ynteractive.com/content/glossary/speed-to-lead) · [Standard operating procedure (SOP)](https://learn.ynteractive.com/content/glossary/sop) ## Where you use it: free lessons - [n8n AI Agent Tutorial: Save Social Media Ideas to Google Sheets](https://learn.ynteractive.com/content/n8n-ai-agent-tutorial-google-sheets) (n8n, 12 min) - [AI Email Responder: Draft Gmail Replies Automatically with n8n](https://learn.ynteractive.com/content/ai-email-responder-gmail-drafts-n8n) (n8n, 12 min) ## Prompt templates that use it [Software tool evaluation scorecard prompt](https://learn.ynteractive.com/content/prompts/software-tool-evaluation-scorecard-prompt) ## Frequently asked questions **Is single sign-on less secure, since one login opens everything?** It concentrates risk in one account, so that account needs strong protection, usually multi-factor authentication. In return, IT can watch one login and switch it off in one place, which is usually a better trade than dozens of separate passwords. **Does a small business need SSO?** Not always. If everyone already uses Google Workspace or Microsoft 365, signing in to other tools with that work account gets you much of the benefit. Formal SSO setups tend to matter more as headcount and the number of tools grow. [All AI glossary terms, A to Z](https://learn.ynteractive.com/content/glossary) · [Free prompt templates](https://learn.ynteractive.com/content/prompts)