cidaas

cidaas combines customer and workforce identity with identity checks and policy-based authorization. It is best suited to organizations that need several of those capabilities in one cloud platform and can match distinct plans to each workload. Its range is a real advantage, but the separate pricing models call for careful plan selection.

Overview

Customer IAM covers authentication, authorization and user management for customer-facing applications. Workforce IAM is aimed at employees, contractors and partners, with adaptive access policies and zero-trust security. AutoIdent adds document and identity verification, while cidaas Authorization handles real-time policy decisions. That breadth can suit teams consolidating identity needs; organizations seeking only one narrow function may find the plan structure more complicated than they need.

cidaas is a cloud product of Widas ID GmbH, a WidasConcepts business unit based in Wimsheim, Germany. The company says it has offered software since 1997. It says the platform is developed and hosted in Germany, operates in Germany/EU, is GDPR-compliant and is ISO 27001 certified.

Key features

Authentication includes single sign-on, passwordless authentication, multifactor authentication, access management and consent management. OAuth2, OpenID Connect and SAML support, along with JavaScript, Flutter and Swift SDKs and Typo3 and WordPress plugins, give product teams several integration routes. An LDAP connector connects Active Directory or LDAP directories. The CIAM standards set also includes SCIM, webhooks, FAPI 2.0, federation and CIBA, which matters to teams whose integrations or identity flows rely on those protocols.

AutoIdent uses AI-based checks for identity documents, face matching, liveness and fraud detection. Authorization supports role- and attribute-based access control (RBAC and ABAC), Policy-as-Code and relationship-based access control (ReBAC). These capabilities make cidaas more than an authentication layer, though the separate per-validation and usage-based charges mean teams should account for those workloads independently.

Pricing

The pricing note starts at $5.50/user/mo, and a 30-day trial is offered. The plans below use different currencies and billing units, so compare the relevant workload and limits rather than treating them as a single ladder.

• FREE (Customer IAM): free, billed for a 30-day trial period, with 500 registered users, core authentication functions and community support. This is a useful capped starting point, but teams that exceed the user limit or need stronger support will need another tier.
• FREE (Workforce IAM): free, billed 30 days trial, with a maximum of 30 users, all functions free and community support. It gives small teams room to evaluate workforce access, but the user cap limits its use as an ongoing option for larger organizations.
• STANDARD (Customer IAM): €1.40 a month, billed per month, includes 5,000 users, advanced and step-up MFA, six applications and Silver support. It suits customer deployments that need stronger MFA without the larger user allowance or passwordless features of Pro.
• PRO (Customer IAM): €3 a month, billed per month, includes 1,000,000 users, passwordless and Smart MFA, group management, progressive profiling, KRITIS-ready operation and Gold support. The much higher included user count and added capabilities fit larger or more demanding customer identity workloads.
• ESSENTIALS (Customer IAM): €699 a month, billed per month, includes 1,000 users, SSO, MFA, webhooks, four applications and email support. Its fixed monthly price may suit a bounded deployment that needs those features, but the smaller included user allowance makes it a different proposition from Pro.
• ENTERPRISE (Customer IAM): custom pricing, with unlimited users, AD/LDAP integration, KRITIS-ready operation and Platinum support. This is the customer IAM option for organizations that need directory integration or the highest support tier.
• IAM (Workforce IAM): €450 a month, billed per user, with unlimited users, all functions, one test environment and Gold Support. The per-user billing basis and unstated billing interval make it important to confirm expected spend before choosing it.
• OPA Plan (cidaas Authorization): €50 a month, billed based on actual policy-decision volume, includes RBAC and ABAC; Policy-as-Code and ReBAC are included in higher-tier plans. This is for teams buying authorization separately, with actual usage shaping the charge.
• CARD VALIDATION (AutoIdent): €150, paid once, billed per validation plus basic fees, with automated ID card checks, badge recognition and data reading, API or SDK integration, and fraud detection.
• IDENT VALIDATION (AutoIdent): €250, paid once, billed per validation plus basic fees, adds face recognition and matching, liveness detection, real-time audit, fraud detection and ID-document checks. Both validation plans are transaction-priced, so frequent checks can add costs beyond the per-validation charge.

Customer IAM support ranges from Community on Free through email, Silver, Gold and Platinum on higher tiers. That makes support level part of the decision, not just a user-count comparison.

Platforms

cidaas supports Android, iOS, web, Windows and API integrations. It is cloud-deployed and supports both passkey types, workforce authentication, directory sync and authentication policies.

Who it's for

Consider cidaas if your organization needs customer and workforce identity, verification or fine-grained authorization, especially when the standards, SDKs or directory integration align with your existing architecture. It is less compelling for a team that needs only a basic authentication service or cannot confidently forecast user counts, policy decisions or identity checks across the different billing models.

Pros and cons

• Pros: Customer IAM, workforce IAM, identity verification and authorization sit in one platform, reducing the need to source each capability separately.
• Pros: Support for major identity standards, mobile SDKs, CMS plugins and an LDAP connector provides several integration paths.
• Pros: Customer IAM has free and paid tiers with materially different user allowances, MFA options and support levels, letting teams choose a closer fit.
• Cons: Customer, workforce, authorization and verification use different charges and billing units, so comparing total cost takes more than checking a single subscription price.
• Cons: The free plans are capped at 500 customer users or 30 workforce users, and both include community support.
• Cons: AutoIdent charges per validation plus basic fees, while workforce IAM bills per user; variable usage can complicate budgeting.

Alternatives

• FusionAuth is worth comparing if a self-hosted option and a free Community plan with unlimited use and core authentication features better fit your deployment.
• Okta Customer Identity Cloud may suit teams preferring a customer identity plan priced at $35 a month for up to 500 monthly active users, 10 organizations and Standard Support.
• Supabase is an alternative for teams whose needs align with its free tier, including 50,000 monthly active users and bundled database, egress and file-storage allowances.
• authentik is a candidate for teams seeking an open-source self-hosted identity option with OIDC, SAML, LDAP, SCIM, RADIUS, Kerberos and proxy support in its free edition.
• Google Cloud Identity is an alternative to consider if its Premium annual/fixed-term plan at $6 a month and automated user provisioning suit your requirements.
• Ory offers a different option, with a Developer tier and a Production plan at $770 a year.
• Authgear is a freemium, open-source alternative that says users can self-host and switch to any OIDC-compliant provider.
• Duo Mobile is a narrower alternative to consider for mobile-focused MFA, with a free plan for 10 users and a paid Essentials tier.

For focused category comparisons, see Passkey Authentication Software and Customer Identity and Access Management Software.

Verdict

cidaas is a strong candidate for organizations that want customer and workforce identity, identity checks and authorization under one roof, with broad standards and integration support. Its main reason to choose is that breadth; its main reason to look elsewhere is the distinct limits and billing models, which can make total cost harder to predict. Match the plan to each workload and confirm the support tier before committing.