Auth0

Auth0 is a cloud identity platform for applications, APIs, and customer-facing services. It supplies hosted authentication, authorization, user management, and identity federation capabilities.

The platform supports Universal Login, social and enterprise identity providers, passwordless authentication, multi-factor authentication, passkeys, organizations, role-based access control, and machine-to-machine authentication.

Auth0 was founded in 2013 by Eugenio Pace and Matias Woloski. Okta completed its acquisition of Auth0 in May 2021, and the product is now positioned within Okta’s Customer Identity Cloud.

Universal Login provides a hosted sign-in experience that supports multiple authentication methods and branded login flows. Developers can also use embedded authentication options.

Auth0 supports social connections, enterprise connections, custom database connections, passwordless authentication, passkeys, and single sign-on. Supported enterprise federation technologies include SAML and OpenID Connect.

Security features include multi-factor authentication, breached-password detection, attack protection, adaptive MFA options, and standards-based token issuance.

Actions and Forms provide extensibility for custom logic and configurable signup or login flows. Organizations support B2B customer administration, organization-specific branding, identity providers, and delegated administration.

Auth0 offers Authentication, Management, My Account, and My Organization APIs. Official SDKs and quickstarts cover browser applications, server-side web applications, native mobile applications, desktop applications, and protected APIs.

Auth0 offers a Free plan with no stated monthly subscription charge. The current pricing page lists up to 25,000 monthly active users, one custom domain, passwordless authentication, unlimited social connections, five organizations, basic attack protection, and community support.

The Essentials plan starts at $35 per month and includes higher limits, pro multi-factor authentication, organization-level role-based access control, ten organizations, log streaming, separate production and development environments, and standard support.

The Professional plan starts at $240 per month. It adds features such as custom database connections, enterprise multi-factor authentication, custom token exchange, enhanced attack protection, and machine-to-machine token options.

Enterprise pricing is custom. It includes custom user and single sign-on tiers, a 99.99% service-level agreement, enterprise rate limits, enterprise administration, and enterprise support. The pricing page states that the trial period lasts 22 days before the Free plan activates automatically.

Pros:

• Broad customer identity coverage across authentication, authorization, federation, MFA, and user management.
• Standards-based APIs and SDKs support web, mobile, desktop, and backend applications.
• Hosted login options reduce the need to build core authentication screens and flows.
• Organizations, Actions, Forms, and marketplace integrations support more complex B2B implementations.
• A Free plan supports early development and smaller deployments.

Cons:

• Pricing and feature availability vary substantially by plan, usage level, and deployment requirements.
• Advanced enterprise features require paid plans or custom commercial arrangements.
• Complex implementations can require familiarity with OAuth, OpenID Connect, SAML, tokens, and identity-provider configuration.
• The Free plan displays Auth0 branding on Universal Login pages.

Amazon Cognito is a comparable managed identity service, especially for applications already built around AWS services and API Gateway.

Microsoft Entra External ID provides customer-facing identity capabilities within Microsoft’s identity ecosystem and supports customized sign-in experiences for external users.

Okta Customer Identity Cloud is the closest product relationship because Auth0 powers the customer identity offering within Okta’s portfolio.

Clerk, Firebase Authentication, Supabase Auth, PingOne for Customers, and ZITADEL are other comparable options for application authentication and customer identity management.

What is Auth0 used for?
Auth0 is used to add customer login, registration, authorization, single sign-on, MFA, passwordless access, and API protection to applications.

Does Auth0 have a free plan?
Yes. The official pricing page lists a Free plan with up to 25,000 monthly active users and selected identity features.

Does Auth0 offer a free trial?
Yes. Auth0 states that its trial period lasts 22 days, after which the Free plan activates automatically.

Which APIs does Auth0 provide?
Auth0 documents Authentication, Management, My Account, and My Organization APIs. These APIs support identity flows, tenant administration, self-service account functions, and organization-scoped administration.

Which protocols does Auth0 support?
Auth0 supports OAuth 2.0, OpenID Connect, SAML, and FAPI-related identity flows. The available protocols depend on the specific feature and configuration.

Can Auth0 protect APIs?
Yes. Auth0 can issue access tokens and provide libraries, middleware, and documentation for protecting backend services and APIs.

Who owns Auth0?
Okta completed its acquisition of Auth0 in May 2021. Auth0 remains the name of the customer identity platform and product line.