Amazon Cognito vs. Google Cloud Identity

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

For example, if the system you are building is a general application service that does not primarily focus on ID management, it would be wise to use a service like Google's rather than developing your own IDaaS. While there may be cases where an IDaaS other than Google's is acceptable, Google is likely one of the best solutions when considering user recognition and ease of use. On the other hand, Gmail addresses are commonly used for other purposes, and users may not pay much attention to password management, so you should avoid using them for systems that require security. To strengthen security, you should consider making multi-factor authentication mandatory, etc.

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

• Two-factor authentication available.
• The Google authentication method is familiar to many users.
• It is expected that it will also support authentication methods that will become common in the future.

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

• This time, I investigated it in advance, and it worked as expected, so I don't have any specific ideas for improvement.
• Additionally, if we were using another IDAAS, it would have been beneficial to have knowledge on how to integrate it with Google tools, along with some relevant case studies.

Incentivized

Amazon Cognito is easy to use and implement if you don't need to implement custom policies. But if your security team requires something outside the box, then implementation becomes complicated and you risk wasting time. There is no option for customizable regex for passwords, which is a major deficiency. The standard password policy, allow to choose the length of the password, if it should contains at least one number, one special character, one uppercase letter and one lowercase letter.

Incentivized

I chose Google because I thought it would be the best fit, but I didn't fully consider other cloud platforms (Azure, AWS, etc.), so I rated it 8. We assume that current Japanese users are familiar with Google, because we feel that there are far more people with Google email addresses than those with IDs on other cloud services.

Incentivized

Community support is excellent, many times even better and quicker then the offical AWS support. I really cannot recommend community support enough! Apart from that the service is relativily easy to use and does not have a huge learning curve. Examples are easy to follow and will help you start using the service.

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

We adopted Google Cloud Identity as an additional feature because it allowed us to integrate with it using multi-factor authentication. The IBM Cloud platform remains valid, and we have no plans to discontinue its use for identity management. From the user's perspective, we simply added more authentication options. This also ensures we are prepared for future use when multi-factor authentication becomes available for user apps on the IBM Cloud.

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

• From a business perspective, there were two steps.
• First, we switched from our in-house ID management system to a cloud service. This allowed us to focus our development resources on application development.
• At the same time, we were able to localize the handling of personal information, which resulted in increased efficiency in management aspects, including handling external inquiries, and in the development of encryption.
• The second step was adding Google Cloud Identity as an option.
• This allows more users to easily use our services. It can be said that this has improved user convenience.
• I expect Google to accommodate future changes in authentication requirements, such as biometric authentication.

Incentivized