Ory vs Amazon Cognito

Ory8.8Visit Amazon Cognito8.7Visit

Higher score Ory #6 in OAuth Server Software 8.8/10 Free plan Free plan✓ 0 of 5 features Visit Ory

vs

Amazon Cognito #7 in OAuth Server Software 8.7/10 Free plan Free plan✓ 0 of 5 features Visit Amazon Cognito

• Ory fits best

  Managed or self-hosted identity platforms

• Amazon Cognito fits best

  AWS-centric application authentication

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Side by side

Feature	Ory 8.8/10 Visit ↗	Amazon Cognito 8.7/10 Visit ↗
At a glance
Editor score	8.8	8.7
Ranking	#6 in OAuth Server Software	#7 in OAuth Server Software
Best for	Managed or self-hosted identity platforms	AWS-centric application authentication
Pricing model	Free plan + paid	Free plan + paid
Starting price	—	$0.0055/user/mo
Free plan	✓	✓
Free trial	—	—
Deployment	Cloud, Self-hosted	Cloud, Mobile
Platforms	Web	Web, iOS, Android
Integrations	9 integrations	13 integrations
Features Ory 0/5 · Amazon Cognito 0/5
OpenID Connect	Not checked yet	Not checked yet
SAML support	Not checked yet	Not checked yet
Self-hosting	Not checked yet	Not checked yet
Token introspection	Not checked yet	Not checked yet
Machine-to-machine auth	Not checked yet	Not checked yet
Specs
Deployment model	Not checked yet	Not checked yet
Our review
Pros	OAuth 2.0, OIDC, SAML SSO, MFA, and SCIM in one stack Supports managed cloud, self-hosted, web, API, and embedded deployments Fine-grained authorization, adaptive access, and machine-to-machine tokens	OAuth 2.0, OIDC, SAML federation, and social sign-in Passwordless access, MFA, and adaptive authentication options Deep integrations with AWS services and Lambda triggers
Cons	Growth pricing is listed at $9,350 annually Environment-based plans require careful capacity planning Enterprise capabilities are split across multiple deployment options	Not designed as a standalone workforce directory No verified directory synchronization or lifecycle provisioning Plus has no free tier, and pricing scales by monthly active users
Our verdict	Ory is an identity and access management platform for customer-facing applications, B2B SaaS products, partners, machines, and AI agents. It combines user identity profiles, passwordless and passkey authentication, MFA, enterprise SSO,… Read the review →	Amazon Cognito provides managed user directories, authentication, authorization, identity federation, and temporary AWS credentials for web and mobile applications. It is aimed at developers building customer-facing applications across… Read the review →

Strengths and trade-offs

• Ory — where it wins

  • OAuth 2.0, OIDC, SAML SSO, MFA, and SCIM in one stack
  • Supports managed cloud, self-hosted, web, API, and embedded deployments
  • Fine-grained authorization, adaptive access, and machine-to-machine tokens

  Where it doesn't

  • Growth pricing is listed at $9,350 annually
  • Environment-based plans require careful capacity planning
  • Enterprise capabilities are split across multiple deployment options

• Amazon Cognito — where it wins

  • OAuth 2.0, OIDC, SAML federation, and social sign-in
  • Passwordless access, MFA, and adaptive authentication options
  • Deep integrations with AWS services and Lambda triggers

  Where it doesn't

  • Not designed as a standalone workforce directory
  • No verified directory synchronization or lifecycle provisioning
  • Plus has no free tier, and pricing scales by monthly active users

• Ory8.8/10 · Free plan

  A flexible OAuth and identity stack for teams choosing cloud, self-hosting, or both.

  Visit OryFull verdict →
• Amazon Cognito8.7/10 · Free plan

  A usage-based AWS identity service with OAuth, federation, MFA, and temporary AWS credentials.

  Visit Amazon CognitoFull verdict →