Head-to-head · Authentication & SSO
AWS Cognito vs Authentik
Which one to pick in 2026 — comparing 🇺🇸 AWS Cognito with the European alternative 🇪🇺 Authentik on the things that actually decide who can read your data.
🇺🇸 AWS Cognitovs🇪🇺 Authentik
Verdict
Who has stronger privacy guarantees by law?
Authentik — GDPR-native and outside the US CLOUD Act / FISA 702 reach.
Which one encrypts your data end-to-end by default?
Neither ships full E2E by default — check the table for nuance.
Which one tracks you for ads?
Neither monetises through ad tracking.
Which one is open source?
Authentik is open source. AWS Cognito is proprietary.
Side-by-side
AWS Cognito vs Authentik — full comparison
Criteria
🇪🇺 Authentik
🇺🇸 AWS Cognito
Headquarters
Germany (Authentik Security GmbH)
Seattle, WA, USA
Jurisdiction
Germany (GDPR)
USA (CLOUD Act, FISA 702)
Data location
Your EU server (self-hosted)
Global, US-controlled (AWS)
GDPR-native
Yes
No
CLOUD Act / FISA exposed
No
Yes
Ad tracking
No
No
End-to-end encryption
No
No
Open source
Yes
No
Ownership
Authentik Security GmbH (private, German)
Amazon.com Inc. (NASDAQ:AMZN)
Founded
2019
2014
Make the switch
Try Authentik instead of AWS Cognito
German open-source identity provider — beautiful UI, flows you can fully customise.
Other European alternatives to AWS Cognito