Amazon Cognito vs Firebase Authentication.
Last verified 2026-05-07
When Amazon Cognito wins
- Amazon Cognito has passkey support; Firebase Authentication does partially
- Amazon Cognito has enterprise federation breadth; Firebase Authentication does partially
- Amazon Cognito has HIPAA; Firebase Authentication does partially
- Amazon Cognito has auth: hardware keys; Firebase Authentication does partially
- Amazon Cognito has SAML SSO; Firebase Authentication does partially
- Amazon Cognito has OIDC SSO; Firebase Authentication does partially
When Firebase Authentication wins
- Firebase Authentication has auth: magic links; Amazon Cognito does not
- Firebase Authentication has auth: passwordless only flows; Amazon Cognito does partially
- Firebase Authentication has local emulator for development; Amazon Cognito does partially
Both win
- Both support social login at scale
- Both have SOC 2 Type II
Pricing comparison
| MAU band | Amazon Cognito | Firebase Authentication |
|---|---|---|
| 10,000 MAU | $0/mo | $0/mo |
| 100,000 MAU | $275/mo | $250/mo |
| 500,000 MAU | $2,475/mo | $2,300/mo |
| 1,000,000 MAU | $5,225/mo | $4,800/mo |
Side-by-side capability matrix
| Capability | Amazon Cognito | Firebase Authentication |
|---|---|---|
| Password authentication | ✓ Yes | ✓ Yes |
| Social login | ✓ Yes | ✓ Yes |
| Magic links | ✕ No | ✓ Yes |
| SMS OTP | ✓ Yes | ✓ Yes |
| Email OTP | ✓ Yes | ✓ Yes |
| TOTP (authenticator app) | ✓ Yes | ✓ Yes |
| Push MFA | ✕ No | ✕ No |
| WebAuthn / passkeys | ✓ Yes | ~ Partial |
| Biometric | ✓ Yes | ✓ Yes |
| Hardware security keys | ✓ Yes | ~ Partial |
| SAML SSO | ✓ Yes | ~ Partial |
| OIDC SSO | ✓ Yes | ~ Partial |
| OAuth 2.0 SSO | ✓ Yes | ✓ Yes |
| Enterprise federation | ✓ Yes | ~ Partial |
| Passwordless-only flows | ~ Partial | ✓ Yes |
| Adaptive MFA | ✓ Yes | ✕ No |
| Step-up auth | ~ Partial | ~ Partial |
| Capability | Amazon Cognito | Firebase Authentication |
|---|---|---|
| RBAC | ~ Partial | ~ Partial |
| ABAC | ✓ Yes | ✕ No |
| ReBAC | ✕ No | ✕ No |
| FGA engine | ✕ No | ✕ No |
| API authorization | ✓ Yes | ✓ Yes |
| Fine-grained permissions | ~ Partial | ~ Partial |
| Capability | Amazon Cognito | Firebase Authentication |
|---|---|---|
| Self-service registration | ✓ Yes | ✓ Yes |
| Progressive profiling | ✕ No | ✕ No |
| Self-service account | ✓ Yes | ~ Partial |
| Bulk user import | ✓ Yes | ✓ Yes |
| Admin user search | ✓ Yes | ✓ Yes |
| Custom user metadata | ✓ Yes | ✓ Yes |
| Organizations / tenants | ✕ No | ✕ No |
| Multi-tenancy | ~ Partial | ~ Partial |
| Capability | Amazon Cognito | Firebase Authentication |
|---|---|---|
| REST API | ✓ Yes | ✓ Yes |
| GraphQL API | ✕ No | ✕ No |
| SDKs | 12 listed | 13 listed |
| CLI | ✓ Yes | ✓ Yes |
| Terraform provider | ✓ Yes | ✓ Yes |
| Local emulator | ~ Partial | ✓ Yes |
| Extension model | Lambda triggers (pre-sign-up, post-confirmation, custom auth challenge) | Cloud Functions for Firebase + Auth Triggers |
| Capability | Amazon Cognito | Firebase Authentication |
|---|---|---|
| Bot detection | ✓ Yes | ✕ No |
| Breached password detection | ✓ Yes | ✕ No |
| Brute-force protection | ✓ Yes | ✓ Yes |
| Anomaly detection | ✓ Yes | ~ Partial |
| Log streams | ✓ Yes | ✓ Yes |
| Audit logs | ✓ Yes | ✓ Yes |
| GDPR data export | ✓ Yes | ✓ Yes |
| PII minimization | ~ Partial | ~ Partial |
| Post-quantum roadmap | ~ Partial | ~ Partial |
| Capability | Amazon Cognito | Firebase Authentication |
|---|---|---|
| MCP support | ✕ No | ✕ No |
| OAuth 2.1 | ~ Partial | ~ Partial |
| Dynamic client registration | ✕ No | ✕ No |
| Agent vs human token separation | ✕ No | ✕ No |
| Web Bot Auth | ✕ No | ✕ No |
| Capability | Amazon Cognito | Firebase Authentication |
|---|---|---|
| SOC 2 Type II | ✓ Yes | ✓ Yes |
| ISO 27001 | ✓ Yes | ✓ Yes |
| ISO 27018 | ✓ Yes | ✓ Yes |
| HIPAA | ✓ Yes | ~ Partial |
| PCI DSS | Level 1 | ~ Partial |
| GDPR | ✓ Yes | ✓ Yes |
| CCPA | ✓ Yes | ✓ Yes |
| FedRAMP | High | ~ Partial |
| EU data residency | ✓ Yes | ✓ Yes |
| Capability | Amazon Cognito | Firebase Authentication |
|---|---|---|
| Consent management | ✕ No | ✕ No |
| Preference center | ✕ No | ✕ No |
| Purpose-specific consent | ✕ No | ✕ No |
| Integrates with CMPs | n/a | n/a |
FAQ
- How does Amazon Cognito compare to Firebase Authentication on pricing?
- Amazon Cognito prices on tiered-mau; Firebase Authentication prices on tiered-mau. See the pricing comparison table on this page for our editorial estimates at 10k / 100k / 500k / 1M MAU using the standard methodology assumptions.
- Should I switch from Amazon Cognito to Firebase Authentication?
- Switching is a 60–90 day exercise in either direction once SDK rewrites and hooks/Actions migration are accounted for. If your team is hitting cost or feature ceilings on Amazon Cognito, evaluate Firebase Authentication on the specific axes flagged in the "When Firebase Authentication wins" list. If you're operating well within Amazon Cognito, the switching cost rarely pays back.
- Do Amazon Cognito and Firebase Authentication both support passkeys?
- Both Amazon Cognito and Firebase Authentication support WebAuthn passkeys natively per public documentation. Adoption rates depend on orchestration quality (device-aware prompting, conditional UI), not raw protocol support, see the passwordless guide for the orchestration question.
This comparison is auto-generated from the underlying capability matrix and pricing data on each vendor's profile. Editorial verdict lists below are seeded heuristically from the matrix diff; a maintainer review refines them before the page goes public.