What is AWS Cognito?
A proper username and password combination is typically necessary for a web application sign-in to be successful. Modern authentication flows contain more mechanisms to guarantee user authentication. Thanks to the features and capabilities of AWS Cognito, this is not an exception when utilizing AWS.
Introduction to AWS Cognito
AWS Cognito helps users sign in directly using the user credentials that your web and mobile applications retain in Amazon Cognito. Additionally, it permits sign-in using a third-party social networking service like Facebook, Amazon, Google, Apple, and other service providers.
User pools and identity pools are Amazon Cognito’s two fundamental building blocks. User pools are user directories that give your app’s users sign-up and sign-in alternatives. You can provide your users access to additional AWS services via identity pools. User pools and identity pools can either be used alone or together.
Features of AWS Cognito
The features which make it a good choice for user authentication are-
- Sign up and Sign in: With support for industry-standard authentication protocols like OAuth 2.0 and OpenID Connect, AWS Cognito makes it simple for developers to add user sign-up and sign-in to their applications.
- Secure Passwords: AWS frees you, the developer, of making sure that your database is adequately secured and that credentials are kept securely. In practice, you don’t even have access to the users’ passwords. This is fantastic when it comes to security. Passwords that adhere to important compliance standards like HIPAA are likewise stored by Cognito.
- User Profile Management: With the help of Cognito’s user profile management features, developers can save user attributes like name, email, and phone number and then utilize them to customize the user experience.
- Social Profile Identification: Popular social identity providers like Facebook, Google, and Amazon are all supported by Cognito, making it simple for users to log in using their existing social media credentials.
- Multi-Factor Authentication (MFA): With the help of Cognito’s multi-factor authentication support, developers can enhance user sign-in security by using alternatives, time-based one-time passwords, and SMS-based one-time passwords.
To learn more about what is AWS and Cognito in AWS and how they can be best used, consider pursuing an AWS course.
Benefits of Using AWS Cognito
Some of the benefits to save credentials are as follows-
- Easy to Use: Developers can easily add user authentication and identity management to their mobile and web apps using its simple setup and use.
- Scalable: Since Cognito is a cloud-based service, it is perfect for applications that must expand rapidly and easily and can manage millions of users and requests.
- Secure: To enable secure authentication and authorization for your users, it makes use of industry-standard protocols like OAuth 2.0 and OpenID Connect. To further enhance security AWS also offers one-time passwords to authenticate users.
- Cost-Effective: It operates on a pay-as-you-go model, which means you only pay for the services and resources that you use, making it an effective solution for user identification and authentication.
- Data Synchronization: In order to give users a smooth user experience, this offers data synchronization capabilities that allow users to access their data across various devices and platforms. This makes it easy to access information whenever required.
Components of AWS Cognito
It consists of several components that work in sync with each other to provide user authentication for web applications and mobile devices. Some of the key components include-
- User Pool: A user pool in very simple terms is a user directory where all the user details are stored. Whenever there are new signups the user poo gets updated. Developers can handle user registration, authentication, and profile information for their web or mobile applications by using user pools. The user pool offers a safe method of controlling user sign-up and sign-in procedures.
- Identity Pool: The identity pool provides your users with temporary AWS credentials so they can access other AWS resources without having to enter their credentials again. Access by authenticated users to other AWS resources is made easier by identity pools. Because of its adaptability, Amazon Cognito enables the use of user pools and identity pools separately as well as together.
- AWS Cognito Streams: It is possible to create unique workflows and interactions with other AWS services using this component, which offers a mechanism to get real-time notifications on user activity and data changes within Cognito.
It is important to note that the components are limited to these and there are several other components that work in sync.
Triggers in AWS Cognito
Triggers allow developers to extend the capabilities of user pools. These triggers are used when specific events occur. Some of the available triggers are-
- Pre-Sign Up: When a user tries to register for an account in a user pool, this trigger is set off. Using this trigger, developers can add extra features to user profiles, perform custom validation on user input, and alter the sign-up process.
- Custom Message: This trigger is activated when a user receives an sms or an email from it. It can be applied to modify the message’s content or include extra information.
- Post Confirmation: When a user finishes with their registration and it is confirmed, this trigger is activated. It can be used to carry out many tasks, such as updating user information or sending a welcome message.
- Pre-Authentication: Before a user tries to log in to a user pool, this trigger is used. This trigger can be used by developers to perform specific user input validation, restrict unauthorized access, or add more attributes to the user account.
- Post-Authentication: Following a user’s successful authentication with a user pool, this trigger is activated. This trigger can be used by programmers to carry out customized activities like recording user activity, delivering notifications, or changing user information in other systems.
- User Migration: This trigger is used when moving user data from one user pool to another. It can be used to alter user data, validate data, and carry out additional tasks.
Pricing for AWS Cognito
This offers a variable price structure based on monthly active users (MAUs). A unique user who logs into an application utilizing a Cognito user pool or identity pool is referred to as a monthly active user.
It offers two pricing plans, one is a free plan and the other is a paid plan. Details about the pricing plan are as follows.
| Tier | Monthly Active Users (MAUs) | Price per MAU |
| Free | Up to 50,000 | $0.00 |
| Paid | 50,001 – 100,000 | $0.0055 |
| Paid | Over 100,000 | $0.0045 |
Conclusion
AWS Cognito is a robust service that offers web and mobile apps a safe and expandable user authentication and identity management solution. It is also a cost-effective solution due to its flexible pricing model.
