Switching to Authelia:

Advantages and Tradeoffs for Companies Using Cognito, Auth0, or PingID

Identity and access management (IAM) is a critical component for securing applications and user data. Many companies rely on managed services like AWS Cognito, Auth0 (now part of Okta), and PingID (from Ping Identity) for their authentication needs. These platforms offer robust features, but they can come with ongoing costs, potential vendor lock-in, and reliance on third-party infrastructure.

Enter Authelia—an open-source, self-hosted IAM solution that’s gaining traction for its lightweight design and flexibility.

If your company is evaluating alternatives to reduce expenses or gain more control over your IAM stack, this post explores the advantages and tradeoffs of Authelia. We’ll compare it directly to Cognito, Auth0, and PingID, drawing from real-world insights to help you decide if it’s worth the switch.

What is Authelia?

Authelia is an open-source authentication and authorization server that provides multi-factor authentication (MFA), single sign-on (SSO), and OpenID Connect (OIDC) support. It’s designed to integrate seamlessly with reverse proxies like Traefik or Nginx, acting as a companion for securing web applications. Key features include passwordless authentication via Passkeys, brute-force protection, granular authorization policies, and a user-friendly portal. With a tiny footprint (under 20 MB container size and <30 MB memory usage), it’s built in Go and React for speed and efficiency.

Unlike the SaaS models of Cognito, Auth0, and PingID, Authelia is self-hosted, giving you full ownership of your data and infrastructure. It’s Apache 2.0 licensed and free to use, with community support and options for financial contributions to fund audits.

Key Comparisons: Authelia vs. The Competition

Let’s break down the comparison across core dimensions relevant to enterprises: cost, ease of setup, security, scalability, features, and support.

Cost

One of Authelia’s strongest advantages is its zero licensing fees.

As with anything, nothing is zero-cost. With an open-source tool, you’re paying for hosting infrastructure, maintenance (software updates, migrations etc.,) which can lead to significant savings. For instance, one organization reported a 40% cost reduction by switching from Auth0 to Authelia while maintaining enterprise-grade security.

vs. Cognito:

AWS Cognito offers a generous free tier (up to 50,000 monthly active users for direct sign-ins), but costs scale with usage—e.g., $0.0055 per MAU beyond the free tier, plus extras for advanced features like adaptive authentication. Cognito is often praised as “an order of magnitude cheaper” than competitors for B2C apps, but for high-volume enterprises, bills can add up, especially if tied to other AWS services.

vs. Auth0:

Auth0 starts free for up to 7,500 MAUs but quickly escalates with paid plans (e.g., Professional at $0.07/MAU for advanced features). It’s a premium service, and costs can exceed expectations for growing companies.

vs. PingID:

Ping Identity’s pricing is enterprise-oriented and opaque (custom quotes), often involving per-user or per-authentication fees. It’s positioned for large-scale deployments but can be expensive without the free tiers of Cognito.

Advantage for Authelia:

Dramatic cost savings for self-sufficient teams, especially if you’re already self-hosting other services.

Tradeoff:

You’ll incur operational costs for maintenance and infrastructure, which managed services offload.

Ease of Setup and Management

Authelia shines in it’s simplicity. It runs as a single container with minimal configuration. This is perfect for teams that utilise IaC (Infrastructure as Code ) and Configuration Management to tightly control domains.

However, for teams used to point and click SaaS options, this can be a potential blocker.

vs. Cognito: Cognito integrates seamlessly with AWS ecosystems and offers low-code/no-code UI customization, making it quick for AWS users. Documentation is functional but often criticized as less intuitive than Auth0’s and there are some major limitiations when it comes to branding and UX.

vs. Auth0: Auth0 excels here with stellar documentation, 30+ SDKs, and integration in minutes. It’s “plug-and-play” for diverse apps, supporting any language or framework.

vs. PingID: Ping is built for enterprise complexity, with features like federation servers (PingFederate) for global authentication. Setup can be involved but includes delegated administration for large orgs.

Advantage for Authelia: Customizable without vendor constraints, ideal if you value flexibility.

Tradeoff: Steeper learning curve and ongoing management (e.g., updates, backups) compared to fully managed services. Not ideal for teams without DevOps expertise.

Security and Features

Authelia emphasizes “security by design,” with built-in brute-force protection, email-based identity validation, and support for MFA methods like TOTP, push notifications, and WebAuthn. It provides SSO and granular policies but may lack some enterprise bells and whistles.

vs. Cognito: Cognito offers advanced security like risk-based adaptive auth, compromised credential checks, and IP tracking. It handles millions of users securely but ties you to AWS compliance and additional AWS Services.

vs. Auth0: Auth0 includes bot detection, fine-grained authorization (RBAC/ABAC), and enterprise federation. It’s feature-rich for B2B/B2C but can feel overkill for simple needs.

vs. PingID: Ping excels in MFA and SSO for enterprises, with fast auth, compliance tools, and identity governance. Users praise its single-sign-on and regulatory compliance features.

Advantage for Authelia:

Strong core security without bloat, plus data privacy since everything stays on-premises.

Tradeoff:

Missing advanced analytics, built-in compliance reporting, or AI-driven threat detection found in paid services. You’ll need to integrate third-party tools for extras.

Scalability and Performance

Authelia’s lightweight nature (low CPU/memory) makes it efficient, and it’s designed for high availability with Kubernetes support and extreme throughput.

It can scale as your demands grow, however the underlying infrastructure will likely need to grow along with it.

vs. Cognito: Handles 100+ billion authentications monthly with auto-scaling, perfect for global apps. Does rate limit certain operations.

vs. Auth0: Scales effortlessly as a cloud service, with high availability baked in.

vs. PingID: Architected for enterprise hybrid IT, supporting large-scale federation and minimizing downtime.

Advantage for Authelia:

Low resource overhead, making it cost-effective to scale on your infrastructure.

Tradeoff:

You handle scaling yourself—no auto-scaling or global CDN like in managed services.

Support and Community

Authelia relies on community forums, GitHub, and docs. No SLAs, but active development.

vs. Cognito/Auth0/PingID: All offer enterprise support, 24/7 assistance, and SLAs. Auth0’s docs are top-tier; Ping provides dedicated governance tools.

Advantage for Authelia:

Free community help and full code access for custom fixes.

Tradeoff:

Lacks official commercial support, which could be a deal-breaker for mission-critical systems

Overall Advantages of Authelia

Cost Efficiency: Eliminate subscription fees and achieve long-term savings.

Data Sovereignty: Keep sensitive user data in-house, avoiding third-party risks.

Lightweight and Fast: Ideal for resource-constrained environments or high throughput environments, with blazing performance.

Customization: Open-source code allows tailoring to your exact needs, without vendor lock-in.

Integration Flexibility: Works well with existing proxies and self-hosted stacks.

Companies switching from Auth0 or Cognito often cite these as reasons for 30-40% cost reductions and improved control.

Key Tradeoffs

Operational Overhead: Self-hosting means managing updates, security patches, and downtime—tasks handled by Cognito, Auth0, or PingID.

Feature Gaps: Lacks polished enterprise tools like advanced analytics or out-of-the-box compliance.

Expertise Required: Best for teams with DevOps skills; otherwise, the setup can be frustrating compared to SaaS ease.

Scalability Effort: Manual vs. automatic, which might not suit hyper-growth companies.

Support Risks: Community-dependent, potentially slower resolution for issues.

In essence, if your company prioritizes cost and control over convenience, Authelia is a compelling choice. For high-stakes environments needing premium support, sticking with managed services might be safer.

Conclusion: Is Authelia Right for Your Company?

Authelia offers a powerful, free alternative to Cognito, Auth0, and PingID, particularly for mid-sized companies looking to cut costs and self-host. It delivers core IAM features with impressive efficiency, but the tradeoffs in management and advanced capabilities mean it’s not a drop-in replacement. Start with a proof-of-concept in a non-production environment. If your team can handle the ops or you have the right partner the rewards in savings and flexibility could be substantial.

Work with Experts to Maximize Your IAM Investment

Navigating the complexities of IAM solutions like Authelia, Cognito, Auth0, or PingID requires expertise to ensure compliance, scalability, and seamless operation. At Acme Inc, we specialize in operating, scaling, and supporting IAM platforms for enterprises. Whether you’re transitioning to Authelia for cost savings or optimizing a managed service like Auth0, our team delivers tailored solutions to meet your compliance and identity needs.

Contact us at to learn how we can help you secure and scale your authentication infrastructure.

What are your thoughts? Have you made the switch?