How to Use AWS Cognito for User Authentication: Complete Step by Step Guide
By Braincuber Team
Published on March 23, 2026
When you're building complex applications, one seemingly simple feature can be difficult to implement: user authentication. Though some apps don't need it depending on their use case, many do. You might spend a ton of time building an authentication module to provide a secure experience to your users and protect their data and privacy.
But you can also extract this out into a separate service like AWS Cognito. Amazon Cognito helps you implement customer identity and access management (CIAM) into your web and mobile applications. In short, AWS Cognito is designed to simplify the implementation of user authentication and authorization.
What You'll Learn:
- What is AWS Cognito User Pool and its benefits for authentication
- How to create an AWS Cognito User Pool step by step
- How to configure security requirements and sign-up experience
- How to customize hosted UI and integrate with your application
- How to pull user information from AWS Cognito using NextJS
What is an AWS Cognito User Pool?
AWS Cognito User Pools are a fully managed user directory service that allows you to create and manage a pool of users for your application. User Pools provide a set of features that enable you to handle user registration, sign-in, and account recovery seamlessly.
Benefits of AWS Cognito User Pools
Easy Integration
Cognito User Pools seamlessly integrates with various application platforms and frameworks, including web, mobile, and server-side applications, making it versatile for different use cases.
Secure User Authentication
User Pools supports various authentication methods, including email and password, social sign-in (such as Google, Facebook, or Amazon), and multi-factor authentication. This ensures robust security for user authentication.
User Registration and Management
User Pools simplifies user registration process by providing customizable sign-up pages and email verification. It also offers user self-service features like password reset and profile management, reducing burden on application backend.
Scalability and Performance
AWS handles scalability and performance aspects of user pool, allowing you to seamlessly handle millions of users without worrying about infrastructure provisioning or performance optimization.
How to Create an AWS Cognito User Pool
Let's dive into the step-by-step process of creating an AWS Cognito User Pool.
Sign in to AWS Management Console
Sign in to your AWS Management Console using your credentials. This is your gateway to all AWS services including Cognito.
Navigate to AWS Cognito Service
Search for "Cognito" in the AWS Management Console search bar and open the Cognito service. You will see the Cognito dashboard where you can manage user pools.
Create a User Pool
Click on "Create User Pool" button. Select Cognito user pool for regular email and password authentication. Choose User name and Email for sign-in options to keep it simple.
Configure Security Requirements
Configure your desired settings, such as password policies, multi-factor authentication, MFA methods, and User account recovery. These settings ensure robust security for your users.
Configure Sign-up Experience
Configure sign-up experience based on your needs. You can set required attributes and custom attributes which will be shown to users on the Sign-up page. This data will be stored in the Cognito user pool.
Configure Message Delivery
Select email provider as "SES" for production applications. For demo purposes, you can select "Send email with Cognito" option. This handles email verification and password reset emails.
Integrate Your App
Provide a unique name for your user pool. Check "Use Cognito Hosted UI" option to use the UI provided by AWS. Choose your desired domain type and configure app client settings including callback URLs.
Review and Create
Finally, a review page will be shown where you can review all your configurations. Click on "Create pool" to create your user pool. Once created, you'll see your user pool in the dashboard.
Hosted UI Customization
To customize your login page, click on the user pool you just created and click on App Integration tab. Locate Hosted UI Customization and click "Edit" button. You can upload your logo and custom CSS that will be applied on Signup and Login page.
https:///login?response_type=code&client_id=&redirect_uri=
You can view the hosted UI with your customization applied by constructing the following URL and typing it into a browser. If you don't see the login page loaded, don't panic. The changes you made on the dashboard may take a few minutes to be available.
How to Pull User Info from AWS Cognito using NextJS
To pull data from Cognito, we are going to use APIs provided by Cognito. First, we need to get an access token using the Token endpoint and then use that access token to get user info using the User Info endpoint.
Set Up NextJS Project
Clone the repository, install dependencies using yarn install command, and run the app using yarn dev command. This will set up a basic NextJS application ready for Cognito integration.
Extract Authorization Code
Use the useSearchParams hook from Next.js navigation to extract the authorization code from the URL when users are redirected back to your application after authentication.
Configure Environment Variables
Create a .env.local file in your project root and add your Cognito credentials including client ID, client secret, and domain name for secure access to AWS services.
Request Access Token
Make a POST request to the Cognito token endpoint with the authorization code, client credentials, and redirect URI to receive an access token for API calls.
Fetch User Information
Use the access token to make a GET request to the Cognito userInfo endpoint to retrieve user details like username and email for display in your application.
POST https://mydomain.auth.us-east-1.amazoncognito.com/oauth2/token
Content-Type: 'application/x-www-form-urlencoded'
Authorization: Basic
grant_type=authorization_code&client_id=&code=&redirect_uri=
Important Security Note
Always keep your client secret secure and never expose it in frontend code. Use environment variables and server-side processing to handle sensitive authentication credentials.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the difference between Cognito User Pool and Identity Pool?
User Pool manages user directories with authentication, while Identity Pool provides temporary AWS credentials for unauthenticated users or users authenticated through third-party providers.
Is AWS Cognito free to use?
AWS Cognito offers a free tier with 50,000 monthly active users (MAUs) which is sufficient for most small to medium applications.
Can I use Cognito with mobile applications?
Yes, Cognito provides SDKs for iOS, Android, and JavaScript, making it easy to integrate with both web and mobile applications.
What authentication methods does Cognito support?
Cognito supports email/password, social providers (Google, Facebook, Amazon), SAML, and OpenID Connect, plus multi-factor authentication for enhanced security.
How do I handle user session management with Cognito?
Use the access tokens from Cognito and implement refresh token logic to maintain user sessions. Tokens typically expire after 1 hour, so use refresh tokens for extended sessions.
Ready to Implement AWS Cognito Authentication?
AWS Cognito simplifies user authentication by handling the complex security and user management aspects. With this complete step by step guide, you can implement secure authentication in your applications and focus on building core features.
Start by creating your user pool, configuring security settings, and integrating with your application using the provided code examples and best practices.