Proof Holdings vs AWS Cognito
AWS Cognito is Amazon's user directory and federation, tightly wired into IAM. Proof Holdings is a verification layer that returns a portable proof token, with no directory and no AWS lock-in. Two different jobs — and Cognito's free tier is smaller than most people think.
Cognito is the AWS-native directory; Proof is the proof layer. One API call verifies a phone, email, or domain and returns an ES256 token any third party can validate offline — no IAM wiring, no MAU meter, 300 free a month.
One API · One key
One key does what a stack of vendors does
Every platform on this page wants to run your user directory. Proof is a single API you call from your own stack — the same reverse-OTP flow issues a signed, offline-verifiable ES256 token for each of these:
Flat price · Any asset
One flat price for every asset — phone, email, and domain today, with wallet and social coming soon. No per-seat, no per-MAU, no per-verification tiers — the meter that makes every rival's bill jump.
- Free every month
- 300 proofs
- Pay as you go
- €0.03 / proof
- At volume
- €0.0079 / proof
Feature Comparison
Swipe to compare →
| Feature | Proof Holdings | AWS Cognito |
|---|---|---|
| Core job | Verify asset control → portable proof token | Manage users → directory + IAM federation |
| Requires a user directory | No | Yes |
| Phone / email verification | Reverse OTP (Telegram, WhatsApp, SMS), magic link | Email/SMS OTP in a login flow |
| Domain verification | DNS TXT, HTTP, admin email, auto-verify | No |
| Wallet / social | Coming soon | Social login (identity) |
| SSO / SAML / OIDC | No | Federation into AWS IAM (all tiers) |
| Output | ES256 proof token — portable, offline-verifiable | Cognito tokens, coupled to AWS IAM |
| HITL approvals for AI agents | Telegram/WhatsApp with signed tokens | No |
| Free tier | 300 proofs/month, any asset type | 10,000 MAU (not 50,000; Plus tier has none) |
| Pricing model | Per-proof (any asset type) | Per-MAU (Essentials $0.015 flat / Plus $0.020) |
| Cloud lock-in | None — portable tokens | AWS (IAM, API Gateway, Lambda) |
| PII stored | None (hashed identifiers) | Full user profiles + directory |
Pricing
Pricing model
Proof Holdings
Per-proof: €0.0079 (Business), any asset type.
AWS Cognito
Per-MAU: Essentials $0.015 flat (default), Plus $0.020 (no free), Lite $0.0055 (10k-100k).
Free tier
Proof Holdings
300 proofs/month
AWS Cognito
10,000 MAU (Essentials/Lite) — cut from 50,000 in Dec 2024; Plus has none
Verification-only use
Proof Holdings
Charged per verification, no per-user meter
AWS Cognito
Every monthly active user in the pool counts
AWS-native directory + federation
Proof Holdings
Not what Proof does — no directory or IAM
AWS Cognito
Strong: SAML/OIDC into IAM, API Gateway authorizers, VPC
A verification layer, not an AWS directory
AWS Cognito is Amazon's user directory and federation service. Its real strength is being *inside* AWS — SAML/OIDC federation into IAM roles, API Gateway authorizers, tight VPC and billing integration. If your backend already lives on AWS and mostly needs a user pool, Cognito is the low-friction, no-new-vendor choice.
Proof Holdings isn't a directory. It proves a person controls an asset — phone, email, domain (wallet and social coming soon) — and returns a portable ES256 token that verifies offline, anywhere, with no dependency on AWS. It's the verification primitive you call from any stack.
The free tier is 10,000 MAU — not 50,000
A common stale figure: Cognito's free tier was cut from 50,000 to 10,000 MAU in the December 2024 repricing — an 80% reduction. Only accounts already active on or before 22 November 2024 keep 50,000, and the Plus tier has no free tier at all. Above the free tier, Essentials (the default) is a flat $0.015/MAU.
Proof Holdings charges €0.0079 per proof on the Business plan, 300 free every month, one price for any asset type. Cognito prices a user directory per active user; Proof prices discrete verifications. If your need is really "verify control of an asset," you're not paying to house a directory of monthly-active users.
When to use AWS Cognito
- Your backend is already on AWS and mostly needs a user pool
- You need SAML/OIDC federation into IAM roles and API Gateway authorizers
- You want identity inside your existing AWS account, billing, and compliance boundary
- You're operating at very large scale on the Lite tier (rates fall to $0.0046/MAU)
- You want a no-new-vendor choice for a full user directory
When to use Proof Holdings
- You need to verify asset control without standing up a directory
- You need domain verification (DNS/HTTP/admin-email), which Cognito doesn't do
- You want a portable, offline-verifiable proof token with no AWS lock-in
- You want human-in-the-loop approvals over Telegram/WhatsApp with signed tokens
- You'd rather pay per verification than per monthly active user
- You're verifying people who won't have an account in your AWS user pool
Frequently Asked Questions
Ready to try Proof Holdings?
300 free proofs per month. No credit card required.
Building with an AI agent? The 176-tool MCP server and test mode let an agent run a real verification right now — machine quickstart in llms-full.txt.