Cognito

User Pools

• A user directory for your app (web or mobile).

• Manages user registration, sign-in, and profiles.

• Supports sign-in via:

  • Username & password

  • Social providers (Google, Facebook, Amazon, Apple)

  • SAML-based identity providers

• Every user in the pool has a profile accessible via the Cognito SDK.

✅ Use When:

• You want to manage users and authentication directly.

• You need built-in support for sign-up, sign-in, and user attributes.

Identity Pools (Federated Identities)

• Used to federate identities and provide temporary AWS credentials.

• Supports identities from:

  • Cognito User Pools

  • Social identity providers

  • SAML providers

  • Unauthenticated guests

• Enables users to access AWS services like S3, DynamoDB, etc.

✅ Use When:

• You want users to access AWS services securely.

• You need to generate temporary credentials for AWS access.

User & Identity Pools

Feature	User Pools	Identity Pools
Purpose	Manage users and authentication	Provide AWS credentials to users
User sign-in support	Username/password, social, SAML	Social, SAML, Cognito User Pools, guest users
AWS access	❌ Not for direct AWS service access	✅ Grants limited AWS service access
User profile management	✅ Yes (via SDK)	❌ No