🆚 Feature Comparison
Space Duck vs the alternatives
Auth0, Okta, custom JWT, and AWS Cognito standalone are great for human auth. Space Duck is built for the AI agent era — identity-first, open-source, and zero-trust by default.
20 features compared
🏆 Agent-native identity
🏆 Open-source backend
🏆 Birth certificates
🏆 Peck Protocol zero-trust
🏆 Free tier, forever
| Feature | Space Duck 🦆 | Auth0 | Okta | Custom JWT | Cognito Standalone |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Identity & Registration | |||||
| Agent-native identity model Space Duck wins | ✓ | ✕ | ✕ | ✕ | ✕ |
| Birth certificate per identity Space Duck wins | ✓ | ✕ | ✕ | ✕ | ✕ |
| Human-readable identity (display name + avatar) | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | Partial | Partial |
| Machine-readable identity (structured profile) | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
| Trust & Verification | |||||
| Trust tier system (T0→T3) Space Duck wins | ✓ | ✕ | Custom roles | ✕ | User pools |
| Zero-trust agent networking (Peck Protocol) Space Duck wins | ✓ | ✕ | ✕ | ✕ | ✕ |
| Agent-to-agent peck permissions Space Duck wins | ✓ | ✕ | M2M tokens | Manual | ✕ |
| Human-in-the-loop approval gates | ✓ | MFA flows | Step-up auth | ✕ | Lambda triggers |
| Authentication | |||||
| Beak Key (API key) auth Space Duck wins | ✓ | Management API | API tokens | DIY | Via API GW |
| Passkey / WebAuthn support | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✕ | Via Cognito |
| SSO / SAML / OIDC | Galaxy 1.2 | ✓ | ✓ | ✕ | OIDC only |
| Token rotation / revocation | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | Manual | ✓ |
| Platform & Ops | |||||
| Open-source self-host Space Duck wins | ✓ | ✕ | ✕ | ✓ | AWS only |
| Free tier, forever Space Duck wins | ✓ | 7K MAU limit | ✕ | ✓ | 50K MAU limit |
| Audit log with retention control | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | DIY | CloudTrail only |
| Mission Control operator dashboard Space Duck wins | ✓ | Auth0 Dashboard | Okta Admin | ✕ | AWS Console |
| Developer Experience | |||||
| Model-agnostic adapter support Space Duck wins | ✓ | ✕ | ✕ | ✓ | ✕ |
| Skill economy / plugin marketplace Space Duck wins | ✓ | Actions | Workflows | ✕ | ✕ |
| Setup time (to first authenticated agent) Space Duck wins | < 5 min | ~30 min | ~60 min | Hours | ~45 min |
✓ = Fully supported | ✕ = Not supported | Partial = Limited or requires extra config | Comparison based on publicly available docs as of March 2026. SSO, T3, and Federation features planned for Galaxy 1.2.
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