Custom Authentication vs Third-Party Identity Providers

Developers should learn custom authentication when building applications with specialized security requirements, such as high-compliance industries (e meets developers should use third-party identity providers when building applications that require user authentication but want to avoid the complexity and security risks of managing credentials in-house. Here's our take.

Custom Authentication

Nice Pick

Developers should learn custom authentication when building applications with specialized security requirements, such as high-compliance industries (e

Pros

• g
• Related to: jwt, oauth

Cons

• Specific tradeoffs depend on your use case

Third-Party Identity Providers

Developers should use third-party identity providers when building applications that require user authentication but want to avoid the complexity and security risks of managing credentials in-house

Pros

• This is particularly useful for consumer-facing apps to improve user experience by reducing sign-up friction, or for enterprise applications integrating with existing corporate identity systems like Active Directory
• Related to: oauth-2, openid-connect

Cons

• Specific tradeoffs depend on your use case

The Verdict

These tools serve different purposes. Custom Authentication is a concept while Third-Party Identity Providers is a platform. We picked Custom Authentication based on overall popularity, but your choice depends on what you're building.

The Bottom Line

Custom Authentication wins

Based on overall popularity. Custom Authentication is more widely used, but Third-Party Identity Providers excels in its own space.