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AWS IAM Identity Center alternatives: Azure, Google Cloud and open source

IAM Identity Center gives people one sign-in for many AWS accounts.

Instead of a user in every account, one identity with the right permission set in each account.

  • From my own projects
  • Sources linked
  • Updated September 2026

The same job on four platforms

The same task, a different bill and a different console. The layer does not change.

AWS

AWS IAM Identity Center[1]

IAM Identity Center gives people one sign-in for many AWS accounts.

AWS documentation →[2]

Microsoft Azure

Microsoft Entra ID[3]

Official documentation →

Google Cloud

Cloud Identity[4]

Official documentation →

Open source / run it yourself

Keycloak[5]

Open-source identity and access management with single sign-on over OIDC and SAML, Apache 2.0, CNCF.

What IAM Identity Center does

You sendYour people, from its own directory or from an existing identity provider such as Entra ID or Okta
IAM Identity Center

IAM Identity Center gives people one sign-in for many AWS accounts.

You get backOne sign-in portal, and short-lived access to exactly the accounts and roles each person may use
What it costsNo extra charge for IAM Identity Center itself.
Who operates itAWS runs the sign-in and hands out the temporary credentials. The permission sets and who gets which one are yours.
When it is the wrong choiceFor the identities of your application's customers. That is a customer identity service such as Amazon Cognito, or Keycloak.

How I use it

Sign-in for account vending and the developer portal.

Cloud architecture and modernization →All AWS services in my projects →
Linda Mohamed

Linda Mohamed, AI and cloud consultant and AWS Community Hero in Vienna. I build these pipelines for clients and teach them at FH Burgenland.

Read more on ai-solutions.wiki

My open knowledge base, with longer comparisons and more sources.

Questions

What is the Azure equivalent of AWS IAM Identity Center?

Microsoft Entra ID.

What is the Google Cloud equivalent of AWS IAM Identity Center?

Cloud Identity.

What is the open-source alternative to AWS IAM Identity Center?

Keycloak: Open-source identity and access management with single sign-on over OIDC and SAML, Apache 2.0, CNCF.

How is AWS IAM Identity Center billed?

No extra charge for IAM Identity Center itself.

When should you not use AWS IAM Identity Center?

For the identities of your application's customers. That is a customer identity service such as Amazon Cognito, or Keycloak.

Sources

  1. AWS IAM Identity Center product page. https://aws.amazon.com/iam/identity-center/
  2. AWS IAM Identity Center documentation. https://docs.aws.amazon.com/singlesignon/latest/userguide/what-is.html
  3. Microsoft Entra ID documentation. https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/entra/fundamentals/whatis
  4. Cloud Identity documentation. https://cloud.google.com/identity/docs/overview
  5. Keycloak. https://www.keycloak.org/
  6. Keycloak vs Amazon Cognito vs Azure AD B2C, ai-solutions.wiki. https://ai-solutions.wiki/comparisons/keycloak-vs-cognito-vs-azure-ad-b2c/
  7. Keycloak: Open-Source Identity and Access Management, ai-solutions.wiki. https://ai-solutions.wiki/tools/keycloak/
  8. AWS vs Azure Governance Tools, ai-solutions.wiki. https://ai-solutions.wiki/comparisons/aws-vs-azure-governance/
  9. IAM Identity Center FAQ: offered at no extra charge. https://aws.amazon.com/iam/identity-center/faqs/
  10. Linda Mohamed, course slides “The projects”, MASE-3, FH Burgenland, September 2026.

Links checked September 2026. Product names and availability change: check the linked pages before you decide.

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