Auth & Backend · side by side
Amazon Cognito vs WorkOS
Compare Amazon Cognito, WorkOS by active-user allowances, social login, MFA, SSO, organizations and audit logs.
Auth & Backend pricing calculator
50K
Amazon Cognito
$220 / mo
Lite · 50K monthly active users
WorkOS
$0 / mo
Pay as you go · 50K monthly active users
Listed USD plan fees and tracked usage only. Unlisted compute, transfer, extras, taxes and contract terms are excluded. Custom or unsupported plan usage is not estimated.
Auth & Backend overview & pricing
| Auth & Backend | Amazon Cognito | WorkOS |
|---|---|---|
| Provider | Amazon Web Services | WorkOS |
| Billing unit | monthly active users | monthly active users |
| Plan at selected usage | Lite | Pay as you go |
| Monthly estimate | $220/mo | $0/mo |
| Workload | 50K monthly active users | 50K monthly active users |
| Free access | 10K MAUs | 1M MAUs free (AuthKit) |
| Published plans | Lite, Essentials, Plus | Pay as you go, Annual Credits |
| Prices checked | 2026-10-08 | 2026-10-08 |
Provider
- Amazon Cognito
- Amazon Web Services
- WorkOS
- WorkOS
Billing unit
- Amazon Cognito
- monthly active users
- WorkOS
- monthly active users
Plan at selected usage
- Amazon Cognito
- Lite
- WorkOS
- Pay as you go
Monthly estimate
- Amazon Cognito
- $220/mo
- WorkOS
- $0/mo
Workload
- Amazon Cognito
- 50K monthly active users
- WorkOS
- 50K monthly active users
Free access
- Amazon Cognito
- 10K MAUs
- WorkOS
- 1M MAUs free (AuthKit)
Published plans
- Amazon Cognito
- Lite, Essentials, Plus
- WorkOS
- Pay as you go, Annual Credits
Prices checked
- Amazon Cognito
- 2026-10-08
- WorkOS
- 2026-10-08
Auth & Backend monthly cost
Amazon Cognito: $220WorkOS: $0
Cost by monthly active users
Cost curve data
| monthly active users | Amazon Cognito | WorkOS |
|---|---|---|
| 0 | $0 | $0 |
| 12.5K | $14 | $0 |
| 25K | $83 | $0 |
| 50K | $220 | $0 |
| 100K | $495 | $0 |
| 250K | $1,320 | $0 |
| 500K | $2,695 | $0 |
0
- Amazon Cognito
- $0
- WorkOS
- $0
12.5K
- Amazon Cognito
- $14
- WorkOS
- $0
25K
- Amazon Cognito
- $83
- WorkOS
- $0
50K
- Amazon Cognito
- $220
- WorkOS
- $0
100K
- Amazon Cognito
- $495
- WorkOS
- $0
250K
- Amazon Cognito
- $1,320
- WorkOS
- $0
500K
- Amazon Cognito
- $2,695
- WorkOS
- $0
Auth & Backend feature comparison
| Auth & Backend | Amazon Cognito | WorkOS |
|---|---|---|
| 40 million users or more | Not listed | |
| Sign-in with social, SAML, or OIDC providers | Not listed | |
| Sign-in with username and password | Not listed | |
| MFA with authenticator apps and SMS one-time codes | Not listed | |
| Custom runtime action with Lambda triggers | Not listed | |
| Customize managed login page with CSS | Not listed | |
| 99.9% service level agreement | Not listed | |
| Customize managed login page with visual editor | Not listed | |
| MFA with email one-time codes | Not listed | |
| Passwordless sign-in with one-time codes | Not listed | |
| Passkeys sign-in with biometrics and hardware keys | Not listed | |
| Prevent reuse of previous passwords | Not listed | |
| Customize access token scopes and claims at runtime | Not listed | |
| Support for refresh token rotation | Not listed | |
| Protect against malicious sign-in attempts | Not listed | |
| Log and analyze threat profiles and user activity | Not listed | |
| Risk-based adaptive authentication | Not listed | |
| Compromised credentials detection to protect against unsafe passwords | Not listed | |
| Export threat profiles and user activity | Not listed | |
| Multi-Region replication | Not listed | |
| Machine-to-machine authorization | Add-on | Not listed |
| Higher API RPS quota | Add-on | Not listed |
40 million users or more
- Amazon Cognito
- WorkOS
- Not listed
Sign-in with social, SAML, or OIDC providers
- Amazon Cognito
- WorkOS
- Not listed
Sign-in with username and password
- Amazon Cognito
- WorkOS
- Not listed
MFA with authenticator apps and SMS one-time codes
- Amazon Cognito
- WorkOS
- Not listed
Custom runtime action with Lambda triggers
- Amazon Cognito
- WorkOS
- Not listed
Customize managed login page with CSS
- Amazon Cognito
- WorkOS
- Not listed
99.9% service level agreement
- Amazon Cognito
- WorkOS
- Not listed
Customize managed login page with visual editor
- Amazon Cognito
- WorkOS
- Not listed
MFA with email one-time codes
- Amazon Cognito
- WorkOS
- Not listed
Passwordless sign-in with one-time codes
- Amazon Cognito
- WorkOS
- Not listed
Passkeys sign-in with biometrics and hardware keys
- Amazon Cognito
- WorkOS
- Not listed
Prevent reuse of previous passwords
- Amazon Cognito
- WorkOS
- Not listed
Customize access token scopes and claims at runtime
- Amazon Cognito
- WorkOS
- Not listed
Support for refresh token rotation
- Amazon Cognito
- WorkOS
- Not listed
Protect against malicious sign-in attempts
- Amazon Cognito
- WorkOS
- Not listed
Log and analyze threat profiles and user activity
- Amazon Cognito
- WorkOS
- Not listed
Risk-based adaptive authentication
- Amazon Cognito
- WorkOS
- Not listed
Compromised credentials detection to protect against unsafe passwords
- Amazon Cognito
- WorkOS
- Not listed
Export threat profiles and user activity
- Amazon Cognito
- WorkOS
- Not listed
Multi-Region replication
- Amazon Cognito
- WorkOS
- Not listed
Machine-to-machine authorization
- Amazon Cognito
- Add-on
- WorkOS
- Not listed
Higher API RPS quota
- Amazon Cognito
- Add-on
- WorkOS
- Not listed
Showing 15 of 22
Which authentication & backend providers fit your needs?
Amazon Cognito features & plan notes
- AWS native
- Pay per MAU
- User pools
- 40 million users or more
- Sign-in with social, SAML, or OIDC providers
- Sign-in with username and password
- MFA with authenticator apps and SMS one-time codes
- Custom runtime action with Lambda triggers
- Customize managed login page with CSS
- 99.9% service level agreement
- Free tier of 10,000 MAUs per month (direct/social sign-in)
- Free tier of 50 MAUs per month for SAML/OIDC federation
- Available Advanced Security Features (ASF) add-on
WorkOS features & plan notes
- SSO + SCIM
- Admin portal
- Enterprise-ready
- Automatic volume discounts
- First 1 million active users free
- Deploy in minutes
- Dedicated Slack channel
- Transparent pricing
- Social Auth
- Email + Password
- Magic Auth
- Multi-Factor Auth (MFA)
- Email verification
- Organization auth policies
- Just-in-time (JIT) user provisioning
- Biometric / Passkey Auth
- Role-Based Access Control (RBAC)
- CLI Authentication
How to compare authentication & backend providers
Check how each provider defines an active user and separates consumer identity from enterprise organizations. SAML, MFA, custom domains and audit logs can be gated behind higher plans. A backend platform can also charge separately for storage, functions and traffic.
Browse Auth & Backend pricing