Auth0 vs Amazon Cognito.
Last verified 2026-05-07
When Auth0 wins
- Auth0 has fine-grained authorization (Zanzibar-style); Amazon Cognito does not
- Auth0 has auth: magic links; Amazon Cognito does not
- Auth0 has auth: push mfa; Amazon Cognito does not
- Auth0 has auth: passwordless only flows; Amazon Cognito does partially
- Auth0 has auth: step up auth; Amazon Cognito does partially
- Auth0 has authz: rbac; Amazon Cognito does partially
When Amazon Cognito wins
- Amazon Cognito has authz: abac; Auth0 does partially
Both win
- Both support WebAuthn passkeys natively
- Both support social login at scale
- Both have SOC 2 Type II
Pricing comparison
| MAU band | Auth0 | Amazon Cognito |
|---|---|---|
| 10,000 MAU | $240/mo | $0/mo |
| 100,000 MAU | $1,200/mo | $275/mo |
| 500,000 MAU | $4,500/mo | $2,475/mo |
| 1,000,000 MAU | $9,500/mo | $5,225/mo |
Side-by-side capability matrix
| Capability | Auth0 | Amazon Cognito |
|---|---|---|
| Password authentication | ✓ Yes | ✓ Yes |
| Social login | ✓ Yes | ✓ Yes |
| Magic links | ✓ Yes | ✕ No |
| SMS OTP | ✓ Yes | ✓ Yes |
| Email OTP | ✓ Yes | ✓ Yes |
| TOTP (authenticator app) | ✓ Yes | ✓ Yes |
| Push MFA | ✓ Yes | ✕ No |
| WebAuthn / passkeys | ✓ Yes | ✓ Yes |
| Biometric | ✓ Yes | ✓ Yes |
| Hardware security keys | ✓ Yes | ✓ Yes |
| SAML SSO | ✓ Yes | ✓ Yes |
| OIDC SSO | ✓ Yes | ✓ Yes |
| OAuth 2.0 SSO | ✓ Yes | ✓ Yes |
| Enterprise federation | ✓ Yes | ✓ Yes |
| Passwordless-only flows | ✓ Yes | ~ Partial |
| Adaptive MFA | ✓ Yes | ✓ Yes |
| Step-up auth | ✓ Yes | ~ Partial |
| Capability | Auth0 | Amazon Cognito |
|---|---|---|
| RBAC | ✓ Yes | ~ Partial |
| ABAC | ~ Partial | ✓ Yes |
| ReBAC | ✕ No | ✕ No |
| FGA engine | ✓ Yes | ✕ No |
| API authorization | ✓ Yes | ✓ Yes |
| Fine-grained permissions | ✓ Yes | ~ Partial |
| Capability | Auth0 | Amazon Cognito |
|---|---|---|
| Self-service registration | ✓ Yes | ✓ Yes |
| Progressive profiling | ✓ Yes | ✕ No |
| Self-service account | ✓ Yes | ✓ Yes |
| Bulk user import | ✓ Yes | ✓ Yes |
| Admin user search | ✓ Yes | ✓ Yes |
| Custom user metadata | ✓ Yes | ✓ Yes |
| Organizations / tenants | ✓ Yes | ✕ No |
| Multi-tenancy | ✓ Yes | ~ Partial |
| Capability | Auth0 | Amazon Cognito |
|---|---|---|
| REST API | ✓ Yes | ✓ Yes |
| GraphQL API | ✕ No | ✕ No |
| SDKs | 16 listed | 12 listed |
| CLI | ✓ Yes | ✓ Yes |
| Terraform provider | ✓ Yes | ✓ Yes |
| Local emulator | ✕ No | ~ Partial |
| Extension model | Actions (Node.js serverless) | Lambda triggers (pre-sign-up, post-confirmation, custom auth challenge) |
| Capability | Auth0 | Amazon Cognito |
|---|---|---|
| Bot detection | ✓ Yes | ✓ Yes |
| Breached password detection | ✓ Yes | ✓ Yes |
| Brute-force protection | ✓ Yes | ✓ Yes |
| Anomaly detection | ✓ Yes | ✓ Yes |
| Log streams | ✓ Yes | ✓ Yes |
| Audit logs | ✓ Yes | ✓ Yes |
| GDPR data export | ✓ Yes | ✓ Yes |
| PII minimization | ~ Partial | ~ Partial |
| Post-quantum roadmap | ✕ No | ~ Partial |
| Capability | Auth0 | Amazon Cognito |
|---|---|---|
| MCP support | ~ Partial | ✕ No |
| OAuth 2.1 | ✓ Yes | ~ Partial |
| Dynamic client registration | ✓ Yes | ✕ No |
| Agent vs human token separation | ✕ No | ✕ No |
| Web Bot Auth | ✕ No | ✕ No |
| Capability | Auth0 | Amazon Cognito |
|---|---|---|
| SOC 2 Type II | ✓ Yes | ✓ Yes |
| ISO 27001 | ✓ Yes | ✓ Yes |
| ISO 27018 | ✓ Yes | ✓ Yes |
| HIPAA | ✓ Yes | ✓ Yes |
| PCI DSS | Level 1 (with config) | Level 1 |
| GDPR | ✓ Yes | ✓ Yes |
| CCPA | ✓ Yes | ✓ Yes |
| FedRAMP | High (via Okta) | High |
| EU data residency | ✓ Yes | ✓ Yes |
| Capability | Auth0 | Amazon Cognito |
|---|---|---|
| Consent management | ~ Partial | ✕ No |
| Preference center | ~ Partial | ✕ No |
| Purpose-specific consent | ✕ No | ✕ No |
| Integrates with CMPs | 2 listed | n/a |
FAQ
- How does Auth0 compare to Amazon Cognito on pricing?
- Auth0 prices on tiered-mau; Amazon Cognito 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 Auth0 to Amazon Cognito?
- 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 Auth0, evaluate Amazon Cognito on the specific axes flagged in the "When Amazon Cognito wins" list. If you're operating well within Auth0, the switching cost rarely pays back.
- Do Auth0 and Amazon Cognito both support passkeys?
- Both Auth0 and Amazon Cognito 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.