Amazon Cognito vs IBM Security Verify Access comparison

Amazon Web Services (AWS) and IBM are both solutions in the Access Management category. Amazon Web Services (AWS) is ranked #7 with an average rating of 7.8, while IBM is ranked #13 with an average rating of 8.0. Amazon Web Services (AWS) holds a 6.5% mindshare in AM, compared to IBM’s 3.8% mindshare. Additionally, 80% of Amazon Web Services (AWS) users are willing to recommend the solution, compared to 100% of IBM users who would recommend it.

Amazon Cognito

Read 15 Amazon Cognito reviews

1,979 Views
1,651 Comparison Views

80% willing to recommend

IBM Security Verify Access

Read 7 IBM Security Verify Access reviews

1,247 Views
834 Comparison Views

100% willing to recommend

Amazon Cognito

IBM Security Verify Access

Comparison Buyer's Guide

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Executive SummaryUpdated on Aug 11, 2024

IBM Security Verify Access and Amazon Cognito compete in the IAM space. IBM Security Verify Access is preferred for customization, while Amazon Cognito wins for AWS integration.

Features: IBM Security Verify Access offers robust SSO, MFA, and detailed access control. Amazon Cognito provides tight AWS integration, easy user pool management, and federated identities.

Room for Improvement: IBM Security Verify Access needs a more intuitive configuration process and better documentation. Amazon Cognito needs better support for custom attributes and improved error logging.

Ease of Deployment and Customer Service: IBM Security Verify Access requires professional services for deployment but has highly rated customer service. Amazon Cognito has simpler deployment but mixed customer service reviews.

Pricing and ROI: IBM Security Verify Access has higher upfront costs with substantial long-term ROI. Amazon Cognito offers a cost-effective pay-as-you-go model with good ROI due to lower ongoing costs.

To learn more, read our detailed Amazon Cognito vs. IBM Security Verify Access Report (Updated: April 2025).

Buyer's Guide

Amazon Cognito vs. IBM Security Verify Access

April 2025

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Review summaries and opinions

We asked business professionals to review the solutions they use. Here are some excerpts of what they said:

Categories and Ranking

Amazon Cognito

Ranking in Access Management

7th

Average Rating

7.4

Reviews Sentiment

6.9

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

No ranking in other categories

IBM Security Verify Access

Ranking in Access Management

13th

Average Rating

7.8

Reviews Sentiment

7.0

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

Single Sign-On (SSO) (14th), Identity Management (IM) (25th), Identity and Access Management as a Service (IDaaS) (IAMaaS) (19th)

Mindshare comparison

As of May 2025, in the Access Management category, the mindshare of Amazon Cognito is 6.5%, up from 6.5% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of IBM Security Verify Access is 3.8%, up from 3.0% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.

Access Management

Featured Reviews

Wojciech Doganowski

Solutions Architect & PMO at AS TV Play Baltics/TV3 Group

International setup localization challenges drive custom development while outsourcing credential management enhances security

We are using it in an international setup where we have multiple services running in multiple countries. Cognito localizes only regarding language, but the service is localized in each country. Cognito has the possibility to render the login screen and all the customer flows related to managing the account. Still, it's useless in an international setup. They are unable to localize these screens, so we had to write our own screens and just use the Cognito API. I hope they will fix this soon because it's useful to rely on already prepared flows for all the account management. As it doesn't work with different languages, rewriting it is quite complicated. Additionally, maybe they could find another step in the price so there is not such a significant jump from the basic to extended functionality. Some flexibility would be helpful.

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AsifIqbal

Chief Information Security Officer at a financial services firm with 1,001-5,000 employees

Has good scalability and is stable with no glitches; has a multi-factor authentication feature

What we'd like improved in IBM Security Access Manager is its onboarding process as it's complex, particularly when onboarding new applications. We need to be very, very careful during the onboarding. We have no issues with IBM Security Access Manager because the solution works fine, apart from the onboarding process and IBM's involvement in onboarding issues. If we need support related to the onboarding, we've noticed a pattern where support isn't available, or they don't have much experience, or we're not getting a response from them. We're facing the same issue with IBM Guardium. As we're just focusing on the multi-factor authentication feature of IBM Security Access Manager and we didn't explore any other features, we don't have additional features to suggest for the next release of the solution, but we're in discussion about exploring ID management and access management features, but those are just possibilities because right now, we're focused on exploring our domain.

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Quotes from Members

We asked business professionals to review the solutions they use. Here are some excerpts of what they said:

Pros

"I rate Amazon Cognito nine out of ten."

"The most valuable features of Amazon Cognito are the pre and post-token generation, and the different Cognito triggers. It has lots of functionality and flexibility."

"This is a scalable solution. If our app or general usage increases, this solution can support it."

"The most valuable feature of the solution is its swift authentication."

"The features most valuable to us are the ability to integrate with various IDPs and the capability to sync with multiple applications."

"The multi-factor authentication setup has room for improvement."

"The federation is one of the most efficient features as the pricing is competitive."

"They offer a permission tool to help us manage multi-factor authentication."

More Amazon Cognito pros

"The most valuable feature of IBM Security Access Manager, at least for my company, is multi-factor authentication. That's the only feature my company is using. The solution works well and has no glitches. IBM Security Access Manager is a very good solution, so my company is still using it."

"The tool provides a password vault, single sign-on, and multifactor authentication. It offers various authentication methods like fingerprint integration, one-time passwords, or tokens sent via email or SMS. This ensures secure access to your accounts by providing multiple authentication options."

"From the integration point of view, it supports SAML, OIDC, and OAuth. For legacy applications that don't have support for SAML and other new protocols, it provides single sign-on access to end-users. From the integration compatibility point of view, it is highly capable."

"It's a good solution for identification and access management."

"Its stability and UI are most valuable."

"I have found this solution to be really practical and when a user wants to log in, it is effortless and runs smooth."

"The solution has powerful authentification and authorization. It offers a good way to increase security."

Cons

"Cognito has the possibility to render the login screen and all the customer flows related to managing the account. Still, it's useless in an international setup. They are unable to localize these screens, so we had to write our own screens and just use the Cognito API."

"Amazon Cognito could improve by simplifying the configuration."

"There is room for improvement in Amazon Cognito."

"The setup and configuration can be complex, especially for advanced use cases."

"What I found generally lacking in AWS is privileged access management (PAM)."

"Amazon Cognito could be improved by making it easier for us to add more data to the token, allowing customization of JWT."

"I believe this product could improve by enriching user profiles."

"The ease and simplicity of integration could be improved when using this solution. When using Okta, scope is a single endpoint with a parameter as a scope. In the Cognito for each scope, there is a separate endpoint."

More Amazon Cognito cons

"They can improve the single sign-on configuration for OIDC and OAuth. That is not very mature in this product, and they can improve it in this particular area. OIDC is a third-party integration that we do with the cloud platforms, and OAuth is an authorization mechanism for allowing a user having an account with Google or any other provider to access an application. Organizations these days are looking for just-in-time provisioning use cases, but IBM Security Access Manager is not very mature for such use cases. There are only a few applications that can be integrated, and this is where this product is lagging. However, in terms of configuration and single sign-on mechanisms, it is a great product."

"Configuration could be simplified for the end-user."

"There are a lot of areas that can be improved, but the main area is the lack of customization. You cannot easily customize anything in the product. It is not easy to tweak the functionality. It is challenging to change the out-of-the-box functionality."

"The user interface for users and administrators could be improved to make it easier. Automating some functions could also be beneficial."

"The user interface needs to be simplified, it's complex and not user-friendly."

"The solution could be classified as a hilt system. There are a lot of resources being used and it is suitable for very large enterprises or the public sector."

"What we'd like improved in IBM Security Access Manager is its onboarding process as it's complex, particularly when onboarding new applications. We need to be very, very careful during the onboarding. We have no issues with IBM Security Access Manager because the solution works fine, apart from the onboarding process and IBM's involvement in onboarding issues. If we need support related to the onboarding, we've noticed a pattern where support isn't available, or they don't have much experience, or we're not getting a response from them. We're facing the same issue with IBM Guardium. As we're just focusing on the multi-factor authentication feature of IBM Security Access Manager and we didn't explore any other features, we don't have additional features to suggest for the next release of the solution, but we're in discussion about exploring ID management and access management features, but those are just possibilities because right now, we're focused on exploring our domain."

Pricing and Cost Advice

"We pay $600 monthly per user for licences and there are no other additional costs."

"The product is relatively inexpensive compared to other tools."

"The pricing is bad so I rate it a two out of ten."

"The pricing of this solution is good compared to other solutions on the market."

"The price of Amazon Cognito is expensive. We are on an annual subscription."

"On a scale from one to ten, where one is cheap and ten is expensive, I rate the solution's pricing a five out of ten."

"The price of Amazon Cognito is low. The pricing model is based on the users."

"The price of the solution depends on the number of users using it."

"It costs about 300K AED for a year. Its pricing is a bit on the higher end, but in comparison to other products in the market, its price is still better. There are lots of other products that are very costly."

"The license and costs depend on the amount range of users you have. For just approximately 2,000 users, the price is practical and fair. However, when you have 20,000 users, it starts to become really expensive, and the discount per user is not attractive enough to go ahead and purchase."

"The product is not expensive. It depends on the number of users."

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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews

Computer Software Company

16%

Comms Service Provider

Government

Financial Services Firm

23%

Insurance Company

16%

Government

11%

Computer Software Company

10%

Company Size

By reviewers

Large Enterprise

Midsize Enterprise

Small Business

Questions from the Community

What do you like most about Amazon Cognito?

The most valuable feature of the solution is its swift authentication.

See all answers

What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Amazon Cognito?

The basic functionality is reasonably priced, but the extended functionalities, especially the extended security, are quite expensive. There is a significant jump from the basic to the extended fun...

See all answers

What needs improvement with Amazon Cognito?

See all answers

What do you like most about IBM Security Access Manager?

The tool provides a password vault, single sign-on, and multifactor authentication. It offers various authentication methods like fingerprint integration, one-time passwords, or tokens sent via ema...

See all answers

What needs improvement with IBM Security Access Manager?

The user interface for users and administrators could be improved to make it easier. Automating some functions could also be beneficial.

See all answers

What advice do you have for others considering IBM Security Access Manager?

I rate the product an eight out of ten.

See all answers

Comparisons

Microsoft Entra ID vs Amazon Cognito

Compared 63% of the time

Auth0 vs Amazon Cognito

Compared 12% of the time

Cloudflare One vs Amazon Cognito

Compared 8% of the time

ForgeRock vs Amazon Cognito

Compared 6% of the time

Ping Identity Platform vs Amazon Cognito

Compared 3% of the time

More Amazon Cognito Competitors

Oracle Access Manager vs IBM Security Verify Access

Compared 24% of the time

Microsoft Entra ID vs IBM Security Verify Access

Compared 12% of the time

Ping Identity Platform vs IBM Security Verify Access

Compared 12% of the time

Okta Workforce Identity vs IBM Security Verify Access

Compared 9% of the time

F5 BIG-IP Access Policy Manager (APM) vs IBM Security Verify Access

Compared 9% of the time

More IBM Security Verify Access Competitors

Product Reports

Buyer's Guide

Amazon Cognito

April 2025

Download Amazon Cognito product report

Buyer's Guide

Identity and Access Management as a Service (IDaaS) (IAMaaS)

April 2025

Download IBM Security Verify Access product report

Also Known As

No data available

IBM Security Verify Access (SVA), IBM Security Access Manager, ISAM

Overview

Amazon Cognito is a simple user identity and data synchronization service that helps you securely manage and synchronize app data for your users across their mobile devices. You can create unique identities for your users through a number of public login providers (Amazon, Facebook, and Google) and also support unauthenticated guests. You can save app data locally on users’ devices allowing your applications to work even when the devices are offline. With Amazon Cognito, you can save any kind of data in the AWS Cloud, such as app preferences or game state, without writing any backend code or managing any infrastructure. This means you can focus on creating great app experiences instead of having to worry about building and managing a backend solution to handle identity management, network state, storage, and sync.

Amazon Web Services (AWS)

IBM Security Verify Access is a complete authorization and network security policy management solution. It provides end-to-end protection of resources over geographically dispersed intranets and extranets.Provides a wide range of built-in authenticators and supports external authenticators.Provides permit and deny decisions for protected resources requests in the secure domain through the authorization API.Manages secure access to private internal network-based resources by using the public Internet's broad connectivity and ease of use with a corporate firewall system.

IBM

Sample Customers

Expedia, Intuit, Royal Dutch Shell, Brooks Brothers

POST Luxembourg

Buyer's Guide

Amazon Cognito vs. IBM Security Verify Access

April 2025

Free Report: Amazon Cognito vs. IBM Security Verify Access

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