Amazon Cognito
Managed authentication and user management service in AWS
Guides · How to Choose
How to Choose a Auth Tool
Authentication is infrastructure. Getting it wrong means security incidents, user frustration, and painful migrations. The choice between self-hosted and managed auth affects your compliance posture, developer velocity, and long-term maintenance burden.
Key questions to ask
- ? Build vs buy — does your team have the security expertise to self-host safely?
- ? Compliance requirements — do you need SOC 2, GDPR, or HIPAA out of the box?
- ? Social and SSO providers — which OAuth and SAML integrations do you need?
- ? Pricing model — per monthly active user vs flat rate at your expected scale?
Compare 9 auth options
| Tool | Pricing | Learning Curve | Best For |
|---|---|---|---|
| Amazon Cognito | Pay-as-you-go | AWS-native apps, user pools, federated identity | |
| Auth.js | Free / Open Source | Next.js, SvelteKit, Express, and other JS frameworks needing self-hosted auth | |
 Auth0 | Freemium — 7.5k MAU free, paid from $35/mo | Enterprise apps, complex auth flows, compliance | |
| Better Auth | Free / Open Source | TypeScript projects wanting full auth ownership with enterprise features, Drizzle or Prisma | |
 Clerk | Freemium — 10k MAU free, from $25/mo | SaaS apps, fast auth setup, user management UI | |
 Firebase Auth | Free (included with Firebase) | Mobile apps, Google ecosystem, quick setup | |
 Keycloak | Free / Open Source (managed via Red Hat SSO) | Self-hosted enterprise auth, multi-tenant SSO, organizations needing full data ownership | |
 Supabase Auth | Included with Supabase plans | Postgres-backed apps, SaaS auth, rapid full-stack development | |
| WorkOS | Freemium — free up to 1M MAU; enterprise features paid | B2B SaaS products that need enterprise SSO, SAML, SCIM, and compliance-grade audit logs |
All Auth tools
Auth.js
Authentication library for JS frameworks (formerly NextAuth.js) — now part of the Better Auth project
Auth0
Enterprise identity platform with universal login and extensive integrations
Better Auth
TypeScript-first open-source authentication library with 40+ social providers, SSO/SAML, multi-tenancy, and 50+ plugins. All user data stays in your own database.
Clerk
Drop-in authentication with pre-built UI components and user management
Firebase Auth
Google's auth service with social login, phone auth, and anonymous auth
Keycloak
Open-source identity and access management with SSO, OAuth2, OIDC, and SAML support
Supabase Auth
Authentication service by Supabase with email, OAuth, magic links, and row-level security integration
WorkOS
Developer platform for enterprise auth features including SSO, SCIM directory sync, and audit logs