I Used AWS Cognito for a Startup. I Wouldn't Do It Again
A developer shares a critical account of their experience implementing AWS Cognito for a startup, citing poor documentation and confusing SDK versions. The author argues that the service's complexity and lack of clear guidance make it unsuitable for their needs.
Why it matters
It reflects common developer frustrations with enterprise-grade cloud identity services and the impact of fragmented documentation on startup productivity.
I let AWS Cognito gaslight me for three weeks so you don't have to. Here's the unfiltered autopsy.
I was three days into setting up authentication for our startup when I realized something was wrong. Not “I missed a semicolon” wrong. More like “I followed every step in the documentation and the password reset flow still redirects to the wrong place” wrong.
I had the docs open in twelve tabs. I had copy-pasted the code samples. I had even watched a tutorial from someone who sounded like they’d been through this exact nightmare before.
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