AWS Cognito is a user authentication service that lets you add access control to your web and mobile apps. Cognito manages sign-up, sign-in, password changes, token refresh, data synchronization, and updates to user account attributes. The service is initially free for AWS users, and the pricing model scales as your user base grows. But Amazon Cognito may not be the best fit for all situations. If you're looking to centralize and secure access to databases, servers, and Kubernetes, you may find other tools to meet your needs. This article will take you through some popular AWS Cognito alternatives, with a brief look at the strengths and weaknesses of each. But first, here are some features you may want to consider.
Unlike AWS Identity and Access Management, which manages access to AWS services and resources, AWS Cognito allows developers to add user authentication and access control to web and mobile apps. With Cognito, your users can sign in using social identity providers (like Facebook, Google, and Amazon) or external identity providers (via SAML 2.0). The service generates ephemeral security credentials to access backend resources behind Amazon API Gateway.
Cognito adds security and convenience for your users, with data synchronization across devices and platforms. It is easy to integrate with your app and provides access management for your AWS resources, a customizable user interface for user sign-in, and security features like multi-factor authentication (MFA).
Delinea is a control plane to manage and monitor access to databases, servers, and Kubernetes. Their zero trust model means instead of distributing access across a combination of VPN, individual database credentials, and SSH keys, Delinea unifies user management in your existing SSO (Google, Onelogin, Duo, Okta, SAML, etc...) and keeps the underlying credentials hidden. Neither credentials nor keys are accessible by end users. Because Delinea deconstructs every protocol, it also logs all database queries, complete SSH and RDP sessions, and kubectl activity.
Google’s Identity-Aware Proxy aims to increase security, allowing admins to establish and enforce access-control policies. The service simplifies access for cloud administrators and remote workers, eliminating the need for a VPN.
IAP provides a zero-trust access model for GCP resources such as Google Compute Engine and Google Kubernetes Engine (GKE) instances, allowing access only to users with the correct identity and access management (IAM) role. Additionally, you can use TCP forwarding to control access to SSH and RDP. With proper configuration, IAP will also authenticate to apps on other clouds and on-premises.
Okta Customer Identity provides identity management for app developers. With Okta, developers can simplify signups, logins, and password management. Users synchronize authentication across all devices and platforms with a single global ID. Whether you’re building a new app, integrating multiple apps, or modernizing a platform, Okta aims to provide security, scalability, and ease for customer identity.