Alternatives
10 best AWS Cognito alternatives
Tools that cover the same task as AWS Cognito (security), ranked by how completely their pricing, free tier and API access are documented. Checked Oct 4, 2026.
- AWS Cognito starts at
- Not listed
- Free plan
- Free plan
- API
- API available
- 01
Pritunl
Pritunl is an open-source enterprise VPN platform for OpenVPN, WireGuard, and IPsec with a web management UI, multi-host clustering over MongoDB, and optional premium features such as SSO and site-to-site links. It targets self-hosted remote access and VPC peering across clouds.
Best for: Infrastructure teams needing self-hosted VPN with horizontal scaling and enterprise authentication options.
- 02
WorkOS
WorkOS helps SaaS companies add enterprise-ready authentication features such as SSO, Directory Sync, MFA, Audit Logs, and AuthKit user management with minimal integration code. The platform targets staging and production environments with modular APIs for B2B customer IT requirements.
Best for: B2B software vendors selling to enterprise customers who need SSO, SCIM, compliance logging, and self-serve IT onboarding.
- 03
Ory
Ory provides identity, authentication, authorization, and OAuth2/OIDC services through Ory Network and related open-source projects such as Kratos, Hydra, and Keto. The commercial site targets CIAM, B2B IAM, fine-grained permissions, passkeys, and enterprise SSO for applications that need scalable, API-first identity infrastructure.
Best for: Product and platform teams replacing Auth0-style stacks or self-hosting Ory components who need hosted Ory Network production environments.
- 04
Castle
Castle provides SDKs and APIs to detect bots, monitor risky logins, and stop account abuse using device, email, IP, and behavioral intelligence. Teams integrate Castle to score traffic and automate policy actions in web and mobile apps.
Best for: Product and fraud teams at consumer apps that need bot detection, account takeover protection, and IP intelligence without heavy integration friction.
- 05
PropelAuth
PropelAuth provides authentication and org management built for B2B and AI-native products. The platform covers hosted login UIs, SAML and enterprise SSO, RBAC, API keys, and MCP authentication so teams can ship secure multi-tenant apps faster.
Best for: B2B SaaS and AI-native companies that need multi-tenant auth, enterprise SSO, and org management without building it in-house.
- 06
Aserto
Aserto provides cloud-native authorization as a service with fine-grained RBAC, ABAC, or ACL enforced in about a millisecond. Developers use SDKs, policy repositories, and authorizer instances to centralize permissions for applications and APIs.
Best for: Teams adding centralized, low-latency authorization to SaaS apps, especially alongside Auth0 or similar identity providers.
- 07
Cloudanix
Cloudanix is a CNAPP+ platform spanning code, cloud, access, and agentic security on one graph. It offers CSPM, CIEM, workload protection, just-in-time access, coding-agent guardrails, and LLM-native investigation across AWS, Azure, GCP, and Kubernetes with self-serve Pro SKUs and enterprise options.
Best for: Security and platform engineering teams needing unified cloud posture, runtime protection, JIT access, and guardrails for AI coding agents.
- 08
Medplum
Medplum is an open-source healthcare developer platform for building and running modern clinical apps on FHIR-native infrastructure. It offers hosted cloud tiers and self-hosted options with bots, integrations, authentication, and compliance features aimed at digital health teams shipping production patient-facing software.
Best for: Healthcare engineering teams building FHIR-based apps who need an open-core platform with hosted or self-managed deployment paths.
- 09
Nhost
Nhost is a managed backend platform built on Postgres with GraphQL, authentication, file storage, and serverless functions. The homepage promises launch-in-minutes hosting for full-stack apps, emphasizing predictable scaling, built-in auth providers, and a unified control plane instead of stitching separate database, auth, and storage vendors.
Best for: Teams building Postgres-backed web or mobile apps who want managed GraphQL, auth, and storage without operating their own backend stack.
- 10
Authgear
Authgear is an open-source customer and workforce identity platform from Skymakers. It delivers passkeys, passwordless OTP, SAML SSO, adaptive MFA, RBAC, and user management on Authgear Cloud, customer VPC, or self-hosted deployments with data sovereignty options.
Best for: Teams replacing legacy CIAM vendors who need every login method on every tier and portable user exports.
AWS Cognito alternatives: common questions
What is the best free alternative to AWS Cognito?
Pritunl has an ongoing free plan. Community plan is free for a single host with unlimited users, devices, and VPN servers on that host. Free plans change, so check the vendor before relying on one.
What is the cheapest AWS Cognito alternative?
Aserto has the lowest listed starting price at $0.20/mo.
Which AWS Cognito alternatives have an API?
Pritunl, WorkOS, Ory, Castle, PropelAuth mention API or developer access.