# Start with Identity

> Independent, community-driven, non-profit knowledge portal for identity and access management (IAM). Vendor-neutral profiles, head-to-head comparisons, practitioner guides, decision tools, and sourced research across the entire identity industry.

Start with Identity (startwithidentity.com) helps IAM and security professionals choose tools and learn the field. It publishes 297 vendor profiles across 17 categories, 69 head-to-head comparisons, 86 practitioner guides, 126 category roundups and long-form articles, a 25-technique attack library mapped to MITRE ATT&CK, interactive decision tools, a sourced research/stats hub, and a 167-term glossary. Content is written and maintained by the SWI Community Team, scored against a published 10-dimension capability methodology, dated, and re-reviewed on a best-effort cadence. No vendor sponsorship; rankings are not for sale.

## Start here (fundamentals)
- [Authentication vs Authorization: The Difference That Trips Everyone Up](https://startwithidentity.com/guides/fundamentals/authentication-vs-authorization/)
- [OAuth 2.0 vs OpenID Connect: What's the Difference?](https://startwithidentity.com/guides/fundamentals/oauth-vs-oidc/)
- [RBAC vs ABAC vs ReBAC: Choosing an Authorization Model](https://startwithidentity.com/guides/fundamentals/rbac-vs-abac-vs-rebac/)
- [SAML vs OIDC: Which Federation Protocol Should You Use?](https://startwithidentity.com/guides/fundamentals/saml-vs-oidc/)
- [What Is Customer Identity and Access Management (CIAM)?](https://startwithidentity.com/guides/fundamentals/what-is-ciam/)
- [What Is Identity and Access Management (IAM)?](https://startwithidentity.com/guides/fundamentals/what-is-iam/)
- [What Is Identity Governance and Administration (IGA)?](https://startwithidentity.com/guides/fundamentals/what-is-iga/)
- [What Is a Non-Human Identity (NHI)?](https://startwithidentity.com/guides/fundamentals/what-is-non-human-identity/)
- [What Is Privileged Access Management (PAM)?](https://startwithidentity.com/guides/fundamentals/what-is-pam/)
- [What Is SCIM? Automated User Provisioning Explained](https://startwithidentity.com/guides/fundamentals/what-is-scim/)
- [What Is Workforce Identity? Workforce Identity Management Explained](https://startwithidentity.com/guides/fundamentals/what-is-workforce-identity/)
- [What Is IDaaS (Identity-as-a-Service)?](https://startwithidentity.com/guides/fundamentals/what-is-idaas/)
- [What Is Zero Trust?](https://startwithidentity.com/guides/fundamentals/what-is-zero-trust/)

## Vendor categories
- [Workforce IAM](https://startwithidentity.com/vendors/iam/) (20 profiles, e.g. Avatier, AWS IAM Identity Center, CA / Broadcom Identity, Entrust, Evidian (Eviden, Atos), Fischer Identity…)
- [CIAM (customer identity)](https://startwithidentity.com/vendors/ciam/) (30 profiles, e.g. Akamai Identity Cloud, Amazon Cognito, Auth0, Authgear, Authsignal, cidaas…)
- [Privileged Access (PAM)](https://startwithidentity.com/vendors/pam/) (19 profiles, e.g. Apono, ARCON, BeyondTrust, CyberArk, Delinea, Fudo Security…)
- [Identity Governance (IGA)](https://startwithidentity.com/vendors/iga/) (20 profiles, e.g. Bravura Security, C1 (formerly ConductorOne), Clear Skye, EmpowerID, Evolveum midPoint, Imprivata…)
- [Cloud Entitlements (CIEM)](https://startwithidentity.com/vendors/ciem/) (10 profiles, e.g. Britive, Microsoft Entra Permissions Management, Orca Security, Prisma Cloud, Sonrai Security, Stream Security…)
- [Identity Threat Detection (ITDR)](https://startwithidentity.com/vendors/itdr/) (21 profiles, e.g. Above Security, AuthMind, Cayosoft, CrowdStrike Falcon Identity Protection, Grip Security, Gurucul…)
- [Zero Trust / ZTNA](https://startwithidentity.com/vendors/zero-trust/) (13 profiles, e.g. Appgate, Banyan Security (SonicWall), Cato Networks, Cisco Secure Access, Cloudflare Zero Trust, Illumio…)
- [MFA & Passwordless](https://startwithidentity.com/vendors/mfa/) (18 profiles, e.g. 1Kosmos, Axiad, Beyond Identity, Duo Security, Google Authenticator, HYPR…)
- [Machine & Workload Identity](https://startwithidentity.com/vendors/machine-identity/) (5 profiles, e.g. Akeyless, HashiCorp Vault, SPIFFE / SPIRE, SPIRL, Venafi)
- [Secrets Management](https://startwithidentity.com/vendors/secrets/) (9 profiles, e.g. 1Password Secrets Automation, AWS Secrets Manager, Azure Key Vault, CyberArk Conjur, Delinea DevOps Secrets Vault, Doppler…)
- [PKI & Certificate Lifecycle](https://startwithidentity.com/vendors/pki/) (9 profiles, e.g. AppViewX, DigiCert, EJBCA (Keyfactor), GlobalSign, HID Global, Keyfactor…)
- [Authorization (FGA/ReBAC)](https://startwithidentity.com/vendors/authorization/) (11 profiles, e.g. Aserto, AuthZed, AWS Verified Permissions, Cerbos, OpenFGA, Oso…)
- [Agentic & AI / Non-Human Identity](https://startwithidentity.com/vendors/ai-identity/) (14 profiles, e.g. Aembit, Andromeda Security, Astrix Security, Clutch Security, Corsha, Cyera…)
- [Identity Verification (IDV/KYC)](https://startwithidentity.com/vendors/identity-verification/) (44 profiles, e.g. Alloy, AU10TIX, BioCatch, Bureau, CLEAR, ComplyAdvantage…)
- [Decentralized Identity](https://startwithidentity.com/vendors/decentralized-identity/) (17 profiles, e.g. Affinidi, cheqd, Civic, Dentity, Dock, Gataca…)
- [Open-Source IAM](https://startwithidentity.com/vendors/open-source/) (15 profiles, e.g. Auth.js (NextAuth.js), Authelia, Authentik, Better Auth, Casdoor, Dex…)
- [Password Management](https://startwithidentity.com/vendors/password-management/) (22 profiles, e.g. 1Password, Bitdefender Password Manager, Bitwarden, Dashlane, Devolutions, Enpass…)

## Open-source guides
- [Top 10 Open-Source IAM Solutions](https://startwithidentity.com/articles/top-10-open-source-iam-solutions/)
- [Top 5 Open-Source IGA Tools](https://startwithidentity.com/articles/top-5-open-source-iga-tools/)
- [Top 6 Open-Source Directory Services and LDAP Servers](https://startwithidentity.com/articles/top-6-open-source-directory-services/)
- [Top 6 Open-Source Machine and Workload Identity Tools](https://startwithidentity.com/articles/top-6-open-source-machine-identity-tools/)
- [Top 6 Open-Source MFA and Passwordless Tools](https://startwithidentity.com/articles/top-6-open-source-mfa-passwordless-tools/)
- [Top 6 Open-Source PKI and Certificate Management Tools](https://startwithidentity.com/articles/top-6-open-source-pki-certificate-management-tools/)
- [Top 6 Open-Source Secrets Management Tools](https://startwithidentity.com/articles/top-6-open-source-secrets-management/)
- [Top 6 Open-Source Secrets Scanning and Non-Human Identity Tools](https://startwithidentity.com/articles/top-6-open-source-secrets-scanning-nhi-tools/)
- [Top 7 Open-Source Active Directory Security Tools](https://startwithidentity.com/articles/top-7-open-source-active-directory-security-tools/)
- [Top 7 Open-Source Authorization Tools](https://startwithidentity.com/articles/top-7-open-source-authorization-tools/)
- [Top 7 Open-Source Cloud Entitlement and CIEM Tools](https://startwithidentity.com/articles/top-7-open-source-cloud-entitlement-ciem-tools/)
- [Top 7 Open-Source Decentralized Identity and Verifiable Credential Tools](https://startwithidentity.com/articles/top-7-open-source-decentralized-identity-tools/)
- [Top 7 Open-Source PAM Solutions](https://startwithidentity.com/articles/top-7-open-source-pam-solutions/)
- [Top 7 Open-Source Password Managers](https://startwithidentity.com/articles/top-7-open-source-password-managers/)
- [Top 7 Open-Source Zero Trust and ZTNA Tools](https://startwithidentity.com/articles/top-7-open-source-zero-trust-tools/)
- [Top 8 Open-Source CIAM Platforms](https://startwithidentity.com/articles/top-8-open-source-ciam-platforms/)

## Buyer guides
- [Build vs buy identity: the honest math](https://startwithidentity.com/guides/buyer-guides/build-vs-buy-identity/)
- [How to Choose a CIAM Platform](https://startwithidentity.com/guides/buyer-guides/how-to-choose-a-ciam-platform/)
- [How to Choose a PAM Solution](https://startwithidentity.com/guides/buyer-guides/how-to-choose-a-pam-solution/)
- [How to Choose a Workforce IAM Platform](https://startwithidentity.com/guides/buyer-guides/how-to-choose-an-iam-platform/)
- [How to Choose an IGA Platform](https://startwithidentity.com/guides/buyer-guides/how-to-choose-an-iga-platform/)
- [How to Choose an ITDR Solution](https://startwithidentity.com/guides/buyer-guides/how-to-choose-an-itdr-solution/)
- [How to Choose an MFA Solution](https://startwithidentity.com/guides/buyer-guides/how-to-choose-an-mfa-solution/)
- [How to evaluate a CIAM vendor without falling for the demo](https://startwithidentity.com/guides/buyer-guides/how-to-evaluate-ciam/)

## Tools (free, client-side, no signup)
- [Vendor selector](https://startwithidentity.com/tools/vendor-selector/): narrow the catalog to a shortlist by requirements.
- [Capability checker](https://startwithidentity.com/tools/capability-checker/): compare vendor capability scores side by side.
- [TCO calculator](https://startwithidentity.com/tools/tco-calculator/): 3-year total cost of ownership.
- [Build vs buy](https://startwithidentity.com/tools/build-vs-buy/): weighted decision worksheet.
- [RFP builder](https://startwithidentity.com/tools/rfp-builder/): generate an identity RFP.
- [JWT decoder](https://startwithidentity.com/tools/jwt-decoder/): inspect JSON Web Token claims.

## Attack techniques
- [Authentication](https://startwithidentity.com/techniques/authentication/): Attacks on proving who someone is: phishing proxies, factor relay, enrolment abuse, and credential guessing.
- [Session and tokens](https://startwithidentity.com/techniques/session-and-tokens/): Attacks on what authentication produces: stolen cookies, replayed tokens, and refresh credentials that outlive a password reset.
- [Authorization](https://startwithidentity.com/techniques/authorization/): Attacks on what an identity may do: consent abuse, scope escalation, and delegation chains that widen access.
- [Identity lifecycle](https://startwithidentity.com/techniques/identity-lifecycle/): Attacks on joiner, mover, and leaver: help desk resets, orphaned accounts, and entitlements that accumulate.
- [Directory and trust](https://startwithidentity.com/techniques/directory-and-trust/): Attacks on the directory itself: Kerberos, certificate services, federation trust, and forest compromise.
- [Credential storage](https://startwithidentity.com/techniques/credential-storage/): Attacks on where secrets rest: infostealers, repository and CI exposure, and key extraction from credential managers.
- [Non-human identity](https://startwithidentity.com/techniques/non-human-identity/): Attacks on service accounts, workloads, and AI agents: static keys, delegation confusion, and instruction injection.

## Research and reference
- [Research & data points](https://startwithidentity.com/research/): sourced identity-security statistics and a standards tracker (OAuth, OIDC, WebAuthn/FIDO2, SCIM, SAML, VC).
- [Comparisons](https://startwithidentity.com/compare/): 69 head-to-head vendor evaluations with capability matrices.
- [Glossary](https://startwithidentity.com/glossary/): 167 identity terms (OAuth, OIDC, SAML, WebAuthn, FIDO2, JWT, PKCE, RBAC, ABAC, ReBAC, FGA, ZTNA, SCIM, and more).
- [Standards](https://startwithidentity.com/standards/): OAuth 2.0/2.1, OpenID Connect, SAML 2.0, SCIM 2.0, WebAuthn/FIDO2, FAPI, and more, explained with FAQs.
- [Identity CVEs](https://startwithidentity.com/cves/): 113 practitioner briefs on authentication, IAM, SSO, Kerberos, and secrets-manager vulnerabilities, grouped by [protocol](https://startwithidentity.com/cves/saml/) (SAML, OAuth/OIDC, Kerberos/AD, FIDO2, secrets, IGA), including CISA KEV items.
- [Digital IDs](https://startwithidentity.com/digital-ids/): national digital ID and eID schemes by country, with how-to (register, log in, renew) guidance.
- [Verticals](https://startwithidentity.com/verticals/): identity guidance by industry.
- [All guides](https://startwithidentity.com/guides/): authentication, authorization, architecture, implementation, compliance, machine identity, security.

## Publishing
- [Blog](https://startwithidentity.com/blog/): analysis and commentary. RSS: https://startwithidentity.com/blog/feed.xml
- [News](https://startwithidentity.com/news/): curated identity and security news. RSS: https://startwithidentity.com/news/feed.xml
- [Passkey & FIDO Alliance News](https://startwithidentity.com/blog/tag/passkeys/): ongoing passkey and FIDO adoption and standards coverage.
- [Articles](https://startwithidentity.com/articles/): long-form analysis and category roundups.
- Site-wide feeds: RSS https://startwithidentity.com/feed.xml · JSON https://startwithidentity.com/feed.json

## About and policies
- [About](https://startwithidentity.com/about/)
- [Methodology](https://startwithidentity.com/methodology/): the 10-dimension scoring rubric and how we source it.
- [Contributors](https://startwithidentity.com/contributors/): the founder, Deepak Gupta, and the volunteer practitioners who write and review this site.
- [Disclaimer](https://startwithidentity.com/disclaimer/): how we source and verify, and the limits of our analysis.
- [Press](https://startwithidentity.com/press/): brand kit with logo downloads, palette, boilerplate, and a fact sheet counted from the site.
- [Terms of Use](https://startwithidentity.com/terms/) · [Privacy](https://startwithidentity.com/privacy/)

## For agents: plain-markdown mirrors
Every editorial page also answers as plain markdown at the same URL with `.md`
instead of the trailing slash, e.g. https://startwithidentity.com/guides/fundamentals/what-is-iam.md.
The markdown is the article without navigation or scripts, so fetching it costs a
fraction of the HTML. Each page advertises its mirror with
`<link rel="alternate" type="text/markdown">`.
- [llms-full.txt](https://startwithidentity.com/llms-full.txt): the full text of every guide, standard,
  and glossary term in one file, for ingestion rather than per-page fetching.

## Optional
- [Experts](https://startwithidentity.com/experts/): identity practitioners and standards contributors.
- [Conferences](https://startwithidentity.com/conferences/): Identiverse, EIC, IIW, Gartner IAM Summit, Authenticate, and more, with dates and CFP deadlines.
- [Podcasts](https://startwithidentity.com/podcasts/): identity podcast directory with publisher and vendor ties, plus episode learning paths by topic at https://startwithidentity.com/podcasts/learn/.
- [Sitemap](https://startwithidentity.com/sitemap.xml)

## Contact
Corrections and professional questions: community@startwithidentity.com (volunteer-run; replies may take a few months). We do not entertain non-professional, promotional, pay-for-placement, or legal requests.