# AWS Cognito vs Clerk

**Leader by vioscaleAI score:** AWS Cognito

| Attribute | AWS Cognito | Clerk |
|---|---|---|
| **vioscaleAI score** | 80.6 (73% (medium)) | 71.4 (71% (medium)) |
| content.faq | `[{"answer":"AWS Cognito provides secure, scalable user authentication and access management that enables applications to support user sign-up, sign-in, and multi-factor authentication. It offers both a pre-built login interface and APIs for custom implementations, supports passwordless authentication via passkeys and SMS/email OTP, and federates with social and enterprise identity providers. It is indexed under Auth & Identity Software.","source":"https://aws.amazon.com/pricing/?nc2=h_pr_pr","question":"What is AWS Cognito?","confidence":0.6},{"answer":"AWS Cognito offers a free tier, so you can start without paying. Paid plans are also available: Lite, Essentials and Plus. Pricing changes often, so verify at source before relying on it.","source":"https://aws.amazon.com/cognito/","question":"Is AWS Cognito free?","confidence":0.6},{"answer":"AWS Cognito supports the web, iOS and Android. Platforms we have not confirmed are simply not listed here rather than ruled out.","source":"https://aws.amazon.com/pricing/?nc2=h_pr_pr","question":"What platforms does AWS Cognito support?","confidence":0.6},{"answer":"We have only confirmed a cloud / SaaS deployment for AWS Cognito, so it appears to be vendor-hosted. If a self-hosted option exists we have not found it documented publicly.","source":"https://aws.amazon.com/pricing/?nc2=h_pr_pr","question":"Can AWS Cognito be self-hosted?","confidence":0.6},{"answer":"We have confirmed 10 integrations for AWS Cognito, including Apple, Facebook, Google, Amazon, SAML, OIDC, AWS Lambda and AWS Amplify, plus 2 more. This is what we could verify from public sources, so the vendor may support others we have not indexed.","source":"https://aws.amazon.com/pricing/?nc2=h_pr_pr","question":"What does AWS Cognito integrate with?","confidence":0.6},{"answer":"We have independently confirmed HIPAA and GDPR for AWS Cognito. Certifications we do not list are ones we have not been able to verify from public sources, which is not the same as AWS Cognito not holding them. Always confirm compliance directly before you rely on it.","source":"https://aws.amazon.com/security/?nc1=f_cc","question":"What security certifications does AWS Cognito have?","confidence":0.7}]` | `[{"answer":"A unified platform providing authentication, user profile management, and billing integration through pre-built components and APIs, enabling developers to implement secure user systems without building them from scratch. It is indexed under Auth & Identity Software.","source":"https://clerk.com/components/pricing-table","question":"What is Clerk?","confidence":0.6},{"answer":"Clerk is a paid product; published pricing starts at $12 per user per month. There is no free tier. Prices are published openly on the vendor's own pricing page. Pricing changes often, so verify at source before relying on it.","source":"https://clerk.com/components/pricing-table","question":"How much does Clerk cost?","confidence":0.6},{"answer":"Clerk supports the web, iOS, Android and a command-line interface. Platforms we have not confirmed are simply not listed here rather than ruled out.","source":"https://clerk.com/components/pricing-table","question":"What platforms does Clerk support?","confidence":0.6},{"answer":"We have only confirmed a cloud / SaaS deployment for Clerk, so it appears to be vendor-hosted. If a self-hosted option exists we have not found it documented publicly.","source":"https://clerk.com/components/pricing-table","question":"Can Clerk be self-hosted?","confidence":0.6},{"answer":"We have confirmed 5 integrations for Clerk, including Google OAuth, GitHub OAuth, Google Workspace, Convex and MCP. This is what we could verify from public sources, so the vendor may support others we have not indexed.","source":"https://clerk.com/components/pricing-table","question":"What does Clerk integrate with?","confidence":0.6},{"answer":"We have independently confirmed SOC 2, HIPAA and GDPR for Clerk. Certifications we do not list are ones we have not been able to verify from public sources, which is not the same as Clerk not holding them. Always confirm compliance directly before you rely on it.","source":"https://clerk.com/components/pricing-table","question":"What security certifications does Clerk have?","confidence":0.6}]` |
| deployment.options | `{"cloud":true}` | `{"cloud":true}` |
| description.long | Manages authentication and access control through identity federation, social provider integration, passwordless authentication methods, and multi-factor authentication capabilities. Supports both hosted login interfaces and API-driven custom implementations. | Provides embeddable components and APIs for adding authentication, profile management, organizations, and subscription billing to applications. Supports enterprise features like SAML, SCIM provisioning, and multi-tenancy. |
| features.capabilities | `{"mfa":true,"oidc":true,"rbac":true,"hosting":"cloud","saml_sso":true,"hosted_ui":"both","open_source":false,"passwordless":true,"social_login":true,"b2b_multi_tenant":true,"passkeys_webauthn":true}` | `{"mfa":true,"oidc":true,"rbac":true,"hosting":"cloud","saml_sso":true,"hosted_ui":"both","open_source":true,"passwordless":true,"social_login":true,"b2b_multi_tenant":true,"passkeys_webauthn":true,"scim_provisioning":true}` |
| integrations.count | 8 | 7 |
| integrations.list | `[{"name":"Apple"},{"name":"Facebook"},{"name":"Google"},{"name":"Amazon"},{"name":"SAML"},{"name":"OIDC"},{"name":"AWS Lambda"},{"name":"AWS Amplify"},{"name":"AWS AppSync"},{"name":"AWS Verified Permissions"},{"name":"AWS CloudTrail","native":true,"direction":"outbound"},{"name":"AWS CloudWatch","native":true,"direction":"outbound"}]` | `[{"name":"Google OAuth"},{"name":"GitHub OAuth"},{"name":"Google Workspace"},{"name":"Convex"},{"name":"MCP"},{"name":"Stripe","native":true,"category":"payments","direction":"bidirectional"},{"name":"Okta Workforce","native":true,"category":"sso","direction":"inbound"},{"name":"Microsoft Entra ID","native":true,"category":"sso","direction":"inbound"},{"name":"Google","native":true,"category":"social_login","direction":"inbound"},{"name":"GitHub","native":true,"category":"social_login","direction":"inbound"},{"name":"Facebook","native":true,"category":"social_login","direction":"inbound"}]` |
| market.availability | `{"primaryMarkets":[],"availabilityScope":"global","availableCountries":[],"notAvailableCountries":[]}` | `{"primaryMarkets":[],"availabilityScope":"global","availableCountries":[],"notAvailableCountries":[]}` |
| platform.support | `{"ios":true,"web":true,"android":true}` | `{"cli":true,"ios":true,"web":true}` |
| pricing | `{"type":"usage","plans":[{"free":true,"name":"Lite","summary":"$0.015 per MAU above free tier","features":["User registration","Password-based authentication","Social identity federation","SAML/OIDC provider support"],"components":[{"per":{"qty":1,"unit":"MAU"},"kind":"metered","amount":0.015,"currency":"USD"}],"description":"Basic user registration, authentication, and management with social and SAML/OIDC federation","contactSales":false,"includedLimits":{"mau":"10000/month"}},{"free":true,"name":"Essentials","summary":"$0.015 per MAU above free tier","features":["All Lite features","Managed Login interface","Passwordless authentication","Passkeys support","Email/SMS OTP"],"components":[{"per":{"qty":1,"unit":"MAU"},"kind":"metered","amount":0.015,"currency":"USD"}],"description":"Comprehensive authentication with Managed Login and passwordless options via passkeys, email, or SMS","contactSales":false,"includedLimits":{"mau":"10000/month"}},{"free":false,"name":"Plus","summary":"$0.020 per MAU","features":["All Essentials features","Risk-based adaptive authentication","Compromised credentials detection","Authentication event export"],"components":[{"per":{"qty":1,"unit":"MAU"},"kind":"metered","amount":0.02,"currency":"USD"}],"description":"Advanced security tier with threat detection, risk-based adaptive authentication, and compromised credential detection","contactSales":false}],"addOns":[{"name":"Multi-Region Replication","components":[{"per":{"qty":1,"unit":"MAU"},"kind":"metered","amount":0.0045,"currency":"USD"}]}],"summary":"Free tier with 10,000 MAU/month. Usage-based pricing from $0.015–$0.020 per MAU","currency":"USD","freeTier":true,"sourceUrl":"https://aws.amazon.com/cognito/pricing/","retrievedAt":"2026-10-13T10:34:04.240Z","startingPrice":{"unit":"MAU","amount":0.02,"currency":"USD"}}` | `{"type":"subscription","plans":[{"free":true,"name":"Free","summary":"Free, up to 50K MRU","features":["Social authentication (Google, GitHub, Facebook)","Email/password authentication","Magic links","Organizations","Multifactor authentication","Basic billing features"],"description":"Up to 50,000 monthly retained users","contactSales":false,"includedLimits":{"mru":"50000/mo"}},{"free":false,"name":"Pro","summary":"$20/mo billed annually (includes 50K MRU + 1 enterprise connection)","features":["50K monthly retained users included","1 enterprise SSO connection included","Custom session lifetime","Clerk branding removal","Directory sync","Team dashboard","API keys","Events stream","Premium support SLA","99.99% Uptime SLA"],"components":[{"kind":"fixed","amount":20,"period":"month","currency":"USD"}],"description":"For growing applications","contactSales":false,"includedLimits":{"mru":"50000/mo","enterprise_sso_connections":"1"}}],"addOns":[{"name":"Additional Monthly Retained Users","components":[{"per":{"qty":1,"unit":"mru"},"kind":"metered","amount":0.02,"currency":"USD"}]},{"name":"Additional Enterprise SSO Connection","components":[{"kind":"fixed","amount":75,"period":"month","currency":"USD"}]},{"name":"Directory Sync","components":[{"kind":"fixed","amount":75,"period":"month","currency":"USD"}]},{"name":"MFA Connection","components":[{"kind":"fixed","amount":10,"period":"month","currency":"USD"}]},{"name":"SMS Authentication","components":[{"per":{"qty":1,"unit":"sms"},"kind":"metered","amount":0.01,"currency":"USD"}]},{"name":"Clerk Billing with Stripe","components":[{"of":"transaction","kind":"percentage","plus":{"amount":0.3,"currency":"USD"},"rate":2.9},{"of":"billing_volume","kind":"percentage","rate":0.7}]}],"summary":"Free up to 50K MRU. Pro from $20/mo billed annually (includes 50K MRU + 1 enterprise connection). Add-ons available.","currency":"USD","freeTier":true,"sourceUrl":"https://clerk.com/pricing","retrievedAt":"2026-10-05T12:35:42.526Z","startingPrice":{"amount":20,"period":"month","currency":"USD"},"billingPeriods":["month","year"]}` |
| pricing.free_tier | yes | yes |
| pricing.model | freemium | freemium |
| pricing.price_level | low | mid |
| pricing.starting_price | `{"amount":0.02,"currency":"USD"}` | `{"amount":20,"currency":"USD"}` |
| pricing.transparent | yes | yes |
| reliability.sla_pct | - | 99.99 |
| reliability.status_page | yes | yes |
| security.certifications | `[{"name":"HIPAA","level":"Eligible","status":"active"},{"name":"PCI DSS","status":"active"},{"name":"SOC 2","status":"active"},{"name":"ISO/IEC 27001","status":"active"},{"name":"ISO/IEC 27017","status":"active"},{"name":"ISO/IEC 27018","status":"active"},{"name":"ISO 9001","status":"active"}]` | `[{"name":"SOC 2 Type II","level":"Type II","status":"active"}]` |
| security.disclosure_policy | yes | yes |
| security.fedramp | yes | - |
| security.gdpr | yes | yes |
| security.hipaa | yes | yes |
| security.iso27001 | yes | - |
| security.pci | yes | - |
| security.soc2 | yes | yes |
| security.trust_center | https://aws.amazon.com/compliance/ | - |

## Capabilities (Auth & Identity Software)

| Capability | AWS Cognito | Clerk |
|---|:--:|:--:|
| **Deployment** |  |  |
| Hosting | Cloud only | Cloud only |
| **Methods** |  |  |
| Social login | ✓ | ✓ |
| Passwordless | ✓ | ✓ |
| Passkeys / WebAuthn | ✓ | ✓ |
| Multi-factor auth | ✓ | ✓ |
| **Enterprise** |  |  |
| SAML SSO | ✓ | ✓ |
| SCIM provisioning | - | ✓ |
| B2B / multi-tenancy | ✓ | ✓ |
| **Standards** |  |  |
| OpenID Connect provider | ✓ | ✓ |
| **Delivery** |  |  |
| Hosted UI | Both | Both |
| **Access** |  |  |
| RBAC | ✓ | ✓ |
| **Licensing** |  |  |
| Self-hostable OSS core | ✗ | ✓ |

*Source: vioscaleAI. Generated 2026-10-16T20:13:26.635Z. "-" = undocumented, not absent.*