Amazon Cognito vs. AWS Identity & Access Management

Well Suited

1. B2C mobile and web apps with a high number of users.
2. Cheaper and cost-effective.
3. If the other pieces of the infra are already using AWS services like Lambda, S3, Pinpoint, etc.

Not Suited For:

1. Advanced use-cases (Biometrics based authentication) Email, and other MFA channels.
2. For any use-cases needing SCIM.
3. Customized flows of SSO, and MFA will need a layer on Lambda and other AWS services.

Incentivized

AWS Identity & Access Management is well suited to managing AWS application access between services. Very helpful for both third-party products and in-house developed software. Very happy with how easy it is to create access keys and then share them in our environment. AWS IAM can also be used to manage individual users, but I highly recommend using AWS SSO for that purpose instead. Much easier to deploy for console access and from a security side easier to turn off in one click from your SSO provider.

Incentivized

• Strong integration with React.js and client-side applications
• Easy to bridge Cognito identities with the rest of the AWS ecosystem
• Easy to store user profile data directly in Cognito rather than having to build additional services/endpoints
• Easy integration with AWS Lambda to extend and add sophistication to the service

Incentivized

• Customized access per key to limit scope
• Safely distributes access keys
• Provides access audits

Incentivized

• Amazon Cognito has a bit of a learning curve. You need to learn its concepts and terminology. The documentation does not describe some topics comprehensively.
• Some Console screens would benefit from improved search and filtering options.
• When another AWS product (e.g., SageMaker) configures Cognito on your behalf, it is not clear what you're getting. For example, the expiration of a temporary password was configured but never communicated.

Incentivized

• Better integration with roles and policies so you don't need three windows open to create a new IAM user
• Display recommended configurations based on services being used
• Easier options to base config on existing users

Incentivized

We would be unable to manage the interconnected nature of our AWS services without AWS IAM.

Incentivized

All the features AWS Cognito offers gives the user the options they need without making it too complicated. Your customers will be happy. On the administration site usability is also great. After a small learning curve, you can setup Cognito for your usage

Incentivized

AWS Support overall is poor. Your main resources are trainings and the docs, and the docs can be very confusing. Using Cognito well involves having a developer learn it deeply and help support your team in understanding it. That said, Cognito's competitors also have dismal support and even worse documentation, so while this isn't a strength for Cognito it may still be the frontrunner here.

Incentivized

They are ideal tools to create a secure and unique login experience for our applications. Thanks to its API authorization, Amazon Cognito ensures connections to applications that are secure.It is easy to use and provides easy access to files and applications that you need to complete your goal.

Incentivized

While we do not use Microsoft Azure for our servers and other customer-facing services. If we did, we would have to use Microsoft Azure Active Directory to manage access to services appropriately. It's difficult to quantify the differences between the services as they are truly different. I would recommend choosing AWS or Azure, then using the identity management provided by the same vendor.

Incentivized

• ROI is great for Amazon Cognito Overall.
• It is included in the AWS Free Tier so you can use it for a good amount without paying, so the software can be tested beforehand.
• The paid pricing is also affordable, so a positive impact on ROI.

Incentivized

• Without IAM, it would be difficult to use AWS across services. Increased ROI

Incentivized