The 3 Best Alternatives to SAML SSO

The article discusses three alternatives to the popular SAML Single Sign-On (SSO) protocol: OAuth 2.0, OpenID Connect (OIDC), and WS-Federation. It highlights that while SAML has been widely used for enterprise apps over the last few decades, it has some significant drawbacks such as complexity in implementation, struggles with mobile and API-centric environments, and lack of support for modern authentication methods like social logins. The alternatives are more flexible and developer-friendly. OAuth 2.0 is an authorization framework that sometimes mimics SSO by issuing tokens granting access to multiple services or applications. OpenID Connect (OIDC) extends OAuth 2.0, allowing verification of user identity and obtaining basic profile information in a REST-like manner. WS-Federation enables identity federation across different network/security zones for an SSO experience but is mostly used in legacy Microsoft environments. The choice of which alternative to use depends on specific needs and preferences.