8 Authentication Libraries to secure your next web project

In today's constantly evolving field, security remains a major issue. Whether you're building a personal blog, an e-commerce platform, or a corporate intranet, a robust authentication service is an important part of any application. Protecting user data and ensuring safe access have become essential needs as more businesses and consumers rely on internet apps for a variety of purposes. As the guardians of your digital realm, authentication libraries step in to help.

In today's blog, let's explore some of the widely used industry-level solutions that you can implement in your project.

OAuth 2.0 and OpenID Connect

OAuth 2.0 and OpenID are the most widely used, accepted, tried, and tested industry standard protocols. You can use them for both authentication and authorization. OAuth 2.0 provides API security through scoped access tokens, which enables you to delegate authorization. In contrast, OpenID Connect extends OAuth 2.0 by providing user authentication and SSO functionality. It allows you to store and retrieve auth information about your users.

Firebase Authentication

Firebase, offered by Google, is a compre­hensive platform used for developing mobile and web applications. Its wide range of tools and services assists devel­opers in effic­iently building and managing high-q­uality applic­ations. With features like authent­ication, real-time database, cloud storage, hosting, and more, Firebase caters to various application development needs.

The authent­ication service can be utilized in your application. It facil­itates the seamless integ­ration of user authent­ication into apps, suppo­rting various methods such as email-p­assword, phone number, Google, Facebook, Twitter, and more. Additionally, it offers the flexi­bility to connect the same service across multiple applications if you have distinct versions for web, mobile, and desktop platfo­rms.

Auth0

Auth0 is a popular Identity-as-a-Service (IDaaS) platform that provides authentication and authorization solutions for web, mobile, and other applications. Auth0 is designed to simplify the process of adding robust user authentication and authorization features to your applications, helping you secure your applications, APIs, and data with ease.

Auth0 provides the following features:

1. Authentication & Authorization: Auth0 supports various authentication methods to allow users to securely sign in to your application.
2. Single Sign-On (SSO): Auth0 provides SSO functionality to streamline the user experience across multiple connected services.
3. User Management: Auth0 offers user administration features for creating and managing user accounts.
4. Security and Compliance: Auth0 includes security features like protection against brute force attacks and compliance tools for GDPR and HIPAA.
5. Extensibility: Auth0 supports custom scripts and rules for adding custom logic to authentication and authorization processes.
6. Analytics and Monitoring: Auth0 provides insights and analytics on user authentication and authorization activities for monitoring and optimization.

AWS Cognito

Amazon Cognito is a fully managed authentication, identity, and access management service offered by Amazon Web Services (AWS). It is designed to simplify the development of secure and scalable user authentication and authorization systems for web and mobile applications. AWS Cognito provides a range of features to help developers manage user identities and access control, making it easier to build applications that require user registration, login, and access to protected resources.

1. User Pools: AWS Cognito User Pools manage user identities and authentication, supporting various login methods.
2. Identity Pools: AWS Cognito Identity Pools provide temporary AWS credentials for authenticated users to securely access AWS resources.
3. Multi-Factor Authentication (MFA): AWS Cognito offers MFA for enhanced security through multiple authentication factors.
4. User Profile Management: Cognito enables the collection and management of user profile data.
5. Social Identity Providers: Cognito allows users to sign in using social media accounts.
6. Custom Authentication: It supports custom authentication flows and external identity provider integration.

Lucia Auth

Lucia is an auth library for TypeScript that abstracts away the complexity of handling users and sessions. It works alongside your database to provide an API that's easy to use, understand, and extend.

Features:

1. Supports any databases
2. Custom user attributes
3. Low-level control
4. Session ids

Auth JS

AuthJS is a JavaScript library that provides authentication and authorization functionalities for web applications. It is commonly used in combination with server-side frameworks like Node.js to handle user authentication, session management, and access control. AuthJS simplifies the process of implementing secure user authentication and authorization mechanisms in web applications.

Features:

1. Password hashing and encryption: AuthJS securely converts user passwords into hashed or encrypted forms to protect sensitive information.
2. Token-based authentication: AuthJS implements token-based authentication, reducing the need to transmit credentials with each request and improving security.
3. Multi-factor authentication (MFA): AuthJS supports additional layers of verification, such as one-time passwords or biometric authentication, to enhance security beyond traditional username and password combinations.
4. Integration with external authentication providers: AuthJS seamlessly integrates with popular external authentication providers like Google or Facebook, enabling users to log in using their existing accounts on those platforms.

Language-specific solutions

Until now, we covered language-agnostic solutions. Meaning, you can integrate them with any language, or framework you are using in the backend. Now, let's check out some auth services that are specific to a particular programming language.

Passport (Node.js)

Passport is a popular authentication library for Node.js applications. It provides a wide range of authentication strategies, including local, OAuth, and OpenID.

Devise (Ruby on Rails)

Devise is a popular authentication gem for Ruby on Rails applications. It simplifies user authentication, registration, and password recovery.

Spring Security (Java)

Spring Security is a widely used library for securing Java applications. It offers various authentication and authorization options.

Django Authentication (Python)

Django, a Python web framework, has built-in authentication and authorization features that you can leverage for your project.