Third-Party Identity Providers vs Custom Authentication

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 meets developers should learn custom authentication when building applications with specialized security requirements, such as high-compliance industries (e. Here's our take.

Third-Party Identity Providers

Nice Pick

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

Custom Authentication

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

The Verdict

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

The Bottom Line

Third-Party Identity Providers wins

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