Categories / Auth & Identity
Auth & Identity
A curated collection of the best tools for handling user sign-in and permissions and verifying identities across apps, used by developers and security teams — 10 tools on Founderkit.
10 tools
Auth and identity tools handle who your users are: login flows, social OAuth, magic links, passkeys, MFA, session management, and the user-management layer of orgs, roles, and permissions on top.
The category splits into libraries you embed and hosted services you integrate. Libraries give you control and no per-user bill — you own the sessions table. Hosted providers handle the enterprise must-haves — SAML SSO, SCIM, compliance certifications — that are brutal to build yourself and easy to underprice until a big customer asks for them.
When choosing, map your next eighteen months honestly. Simple consumer app: a library or lightweight provider is plenty. B2B SaaS with enterprise ambitions: check the SSO/SCIM tier pricing first, because that's the bill that arrives right when you can least avoid it. Migration cost is real, so treat the pick as semi-permanent.
Frequently asked questions
- Should I build auth myself or buy it?
- Buy it for anything real. Auth looks simple — it's email, password, done — until you add session security, OAuth providers, MFA, password reset edge cases, bot protection, and breach monitoring. Auth libraries make DIY viable for simple apps; full providers make sense once you need social logins, orgs, or enterprise SSO.
- What do auth providers charge for?
- Monthly active users, mostly — the pricing looks cheap until your MAU grows. The expensive surprises are in the enterprise tier: SAML SSO, SCIM provisioning, and audit logs are where pricing jumps. If your roadmap ends at enterprise customers, price that tier now, not later.
- Are passkeys actually ready to use?
- Yes — platform support is now universal enough to offer them, and they're faster and phishing-resistant compared to passwords. The practical answer is 'passwordless options plus password fallback', not passkey-only; several auth providers handle the awkward bits (sync, recovery, cross-device) for you.
- What's the difference between auth and user management?
- Authentication is proving who someone is. User management is everything after — profiles, roles, organizations, invitations, sessions, deletion. The distinction matters for pricing: some tools charge for what sits on top of auth, so compare the whole package you'll actually use.
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