Skip to comparison
ZOREAL

ZOREAL Identify

Alternatives to Firebase Authentication

Firebase Authentication provides "backend services, easy-to-use SDKs, and ready-made UI libraries to authenticate users to your app", with email and password, phone, Google, Apple, Facebook and other providers, and, with the Identity Platform upgrade, SAML and OpenID Connect providers, multi-factor authentication and multi-tenancy. ZOREAL Identify is a "Continue with ZOREAL" button on standard OpenID Connect, backed by the ZOREAL ID credential, that returns a pairwise pseudonymous identifier for a human verified against a government document chip, with the assurance of each login stated in the token. This page sets the two side by side: where each sits in the stack, what each token proves about the person, and what each costs.

Information last reviewed 10 September 2026. Compared: Firebase Authentication and its Identity Platform upgrade (the same service sold through Google Cloud) with ZOREAL Identify. Sign in with Google as an upstream provider has its own page; the rest of Firebase and Alphabet’s group revenue are out of scope.

See ZOREAL Identify
35 other alternatives

Where ZOREAL Identify and Firebase Authentication differ

  • The guarantee

    ZOREAL guarantees that the person is real, is not an AI, exists, and is linked to a government-issued ID. One hundred percent, not ninety-nine point nine. ZOREAL is the only solution in the world today that can give that guarantee.

  • Authentication backend, or identity provider

    Firebase Authentication verifies a credential (a password, an SMS code, a social, SAML or OIDC token) and issues a Firebase ID token for the app, so what its token proves is the credential or the upstream provider’s result. ZOREAL is an upstream OpenID Connect provider; with the Identity Platform upgrade, Firebase can consume it as an OIDC provider and the app keeps its Firebase tokens while gaining ZOREAL’s claims. Without Identity Platform the OIDC provider option does not exist, and Google states that SAML and OpenID Connect are "Identity Platform only".

  • What is known about the person

    Any identity proofing, document verification or liveness is not stated in the Firebase Authentication materials we reviewed. ZOREAL builds the document chip read, the face match and the liveness capture into enrolment, and states per login in acr and amr whether a fresh capture, a registered hardware key or a remembered session authenticated this session.

  • Per user, or only when disclosing

    Firebase Authentication is "No-cost up to 50K MAUs / Then Google Cloud pricing"; Identity Platform Tier 1 is "$0.0055 / 1 count, per 1 month / account" from 50,000 to 100,000 MAU, falling to $0.0025 above 10 million, and Tier 2 (OIDC and SAML) is $0.015 per MAU above 50 free (Google pricing pages, USD, September 2026). ZOREAL: Free to enrol, free Tier A logins; only Tier B logins charged; there is no per-MAU meter, and current prices are on the ZOREAL price list at zoreal.com/pricing.

Side by side

Comparison of ZOREAL Identify and Firebase Authentication, based on public materials reviewed on 10 September 2026.

AttributeZOREAL IdentifyFirebase Authentication
Role in the stackAn upstream OpenID Connect identity provider at id.zoreal.com; the relying party redirects, the holder approves on their phone, and a stock OIDC library validates the ID token against ZOREAL’s JWKS. ZOREAL is not an authentication backend for the relying party’s own users.The app’s authentication backend: "backend services, easy-to-use SDKs, and ready-made UI libraries to authenticate users to your app", with Firebase SDKs for iOS, Android, web, Unity, C++ and Flutter, FirebaseUI and the Admin SDK (Firebase Authentication docs).
How the identity is boundEnrolment, in the ZOREAL ID app: the document is photographed, its machine-readable zone read and its chip read over NFC. The server re-runs Passive Authentication against its own trust store built from the ICAO Public Key Directory, so the issuing country’s signature over the data is checked on ZOREAL’s side, and the chip proves possession of its private key. A liveness capture with presentation-attack detection is face-matched 1:1 against the chip portrait. The device key is generated in the phone’s hardware, its attestation is verified at registration, and every evidence call carries an app-integrity assertion. Each verified document yields two holder certificates over that key under ZOREAL’s two roots (ECDSA P-384 and ML-DSA-87), one pseudonymous and one carrying the legal name, valid until the document expires. Login: ZOREAL is the OpenID Provider. The holder approves on their phone, a stock OIDC library validates the ID token against ZOREAL’s JWKS, the relying party sets the assurance per request with acr_values, max_age and prompt, and a request that cannot meet its floor is denied, never downgraded. The subject is pairwise per sector, so one ZOREAL ID is reused at every service without being linkable across them; consent is remembered per sector and re-prompted on any new scope.The backend verifies a credential (email and password, a phone SMS code, a Google, Apple, Facebook, Twitter or GitHub token, anonymous or custom auth; Microsoft, Yahoo, SAML and OIDC with Identity Platform) and issues a Firebase ID token (Firebase Authentication docs). A document check or liveness is not stated in the public materials we reviewed.
What the token provesTwo halves. Proof that a real human is there: the ID token asserts this is one human (not one account, not one device), with the strength of that claim in a uniqueness field; that a government document chip was read and its authenticity verified, at the month given; and how this session was authenticated, in acr and amr, whether a live human was captured for this login, a registered device key was used, or a session was reused. And, when the relying party requests it and the person consents on the phone, the verified identity: name, birthdate and document details read from the chip, served from userinfo to a confidential client with a verified domain. The person sees every requested claim before approving, and the relying party receives only the scopes it was granted. It is not KYC, not a legal signature, not proof that the person consented freely, and not proof that the person is the one operating the browser.The credential or the upstream provider’s result, carried in a Firebase ID token (Firebase Authentication docs).
GuaranteeZOREAL guarantees that the person is real, is not an AI, exists, and is linked to a government-issued ID. One hundred percent, not ninety-nine point nine.Not stated in the public materials we reviewed (Firebase Authentication docs, Firebase pricing, Identity Platform pricing).
Who issues the credentialZOREAL is the issuer of the ID card: a reusable identity credential that logs in to other websites, with the person controlling the scopes each login discloses.Firebase issues the Firebase ID token for the app after verifying a credential or an upstream provider’s token; with Identity Platform, multi-factor authentication, blocking functions, user activity logging and multi-tenancy are added (Firebase Authentication docs).
Identity proofingBuilt into enrolment (document photographed, machine-readable zone read, chip read over NFC and verified server-side, flash-plus-zoom liveness capture face-matched 1:1 to the chip portrait) and, on request through acr_values, into a login: a live floor requires a presence attestation minted after scoring a fresh capture, and a pairing that cannot meet its floor is denied, never downgraded.Not stated in the public materials we reviewed (Firebase Authentication docs, Firebase pricing).
Cost to enrolEnrolment in the ZOREAL ID app is always free for the person holding the identity: document scan, chip read and liveness enrollment, re-enrollment, recovery and revocation. Every Tier A login is free without limit on every plan: the pairwise identifier, the assurance block, age-threshold answers and nationality, with 1 client configuration on Free. Answering an identity request is always free for the person.The app’s users are created in the Firebase project or arrive through a provider. Spark (no-cost plan): "50K MAUs", "50 MAUs" for SAML or OIDC; with Identity Platform, Spark projects are capped at 3,000 daily active users (Firebase pricing; Firebase Authentication docs, September 2026).
Cost per sign-inEnrolment is free: "The ZOREAL ID app is always free for the person holding the identity, from enrollment to recovery", and "Document scan, chip read and liveness enrollment" is "Always free" on Free and Premium. Every Tier A login is free, without limit, on every plan: the pairwise identifier, the assurance block, age-threshold answers and nationality (openid, zoreal.age and zoreal.nationality, available to every registered client). Tier A logins are never charged. A charge applies only to a qualified Tier B login, where the relying party requests identity disclosure (the profile scopes, name, birthdate and document details, and email, which require a verified domain, a confidential client and client authentication), on Premium: "Identify · Identity disclosure", "Name, birth date and document details", "One charge for name, birth date or document details, even when several are returned"; "Identify · Fresh-liveness login", "Coming soon"; "Content and contract signing authorization", "Coming soon". Client configurations per website or app: 1 on Free, 10 on Premium; private-key JWT and mTLS client authentication on Premium. Premium is priced per user, monthly or yearly, with two months free on yearly billing; every organization member is a paid Premium seat; metered usage is charged separately. Enterprise: contact us. Answering an identity request is always free for the person. Current prices are on the ZOREAL price list at zoreal.com/pricing. ZOREAL Identify is the cheapest way to do KYC in the market: free to enrol, free to check, paid only for the higher disclosure tiers.Priced per monthly active user, not per sign-in. Blaze: "No-cost up to 50K MAUs / Then Google Cloud pricing"; Identity Platform Tier 1: "$0.0055 / 1 count, per 1 month / account" from 50,000 to 100,000 MAU, $0.0046 to 1 million, $0.0032 to 10 million, $0.0025 above; Tier 2 (OIDC and SAML): "$0.015 / 1 count, per 1 month / project" above 50 free; phone authentication "Billed per SMS sent" (Firebase pricing; Identity Platform pricing, USD, September 2026, the tier table read through a rendering proxy). A ZOREAL login through Identity Platform counts under Tier 2.
Standards and certificationsOpenID Connect and OAuth 2.0 from the provider at id.zoreal.com. Organization-level, as zoreal.com lists them for Bynn Intelligence, Inc.: SOC 2 (attestation), PCI DSS (SAQ A), GDPR (data protection), ISO/IEC 27001:2022 (information security certification) and CSA STAR Level One (cloud security self-assessment). No Identify-specific certification or scheme recognition is stated on zoreal.com as of September 2026.OAuth 2.0 and OpenID Connect for social and OIDC providers, SAML with Identity Platform, JWT ID tokens (Firebase Authentication docs). Compliance attestations for Firebase Authentication specifically, and retention of authentication records, are not stated in the public materials we reviewed.

Third-party details on this page reflect what each provider publicly stated on the review date shown above and may have changed since. Where a provider does not state something publicly, this page says so rather than assuming. Statements about what Firebase Authentication offers reflect its public materials on the review date; absence of a feature from those materials does not mean it is unavailable. ZOREAL's current prices are on the ZOREAL price list.

Where ZOREAL Identify and Firebase Authentication agree

Firebase Authentication gives an app a convenient sign-in for its users at no cost up to 50,000 monthly active users, with the identities of Google, Apple, Facebook and other providers reused and an identifier plus profile handed to the app through SDKs for every major platform. ZOREAL Identify is also free for the person from enrolment onward and free for basic sign-ins on every plan. Both are OpenID Connect and JWT based, and both hand the app a signed token to validate.

The two occupy different layers. Firebase is the app’s authentication backend; ZOREAL is an identity provider that Firebase with Identity Platform can consume as an OIDC provider, next to the providers it already supports. A relying party on Firebase keeps its Firebase tokens and adds ZOREAL’s claims. Neither asserts a legal signature, and neither is KYC.

What differs is the assurance behind the identifier. Firebase’s token proves the credential or the upstream provider’s result, with no document check or liveness stated; ZOREAL’s token states that a human was verified against a government document chip and how this particular login was authenticated.

ZOREAL Identify may fit you if

  • You need to know that a real human verified against a government document chip is behind the account, with the strength of each login stated in acr and amr
  • You want a pairwise identifier per sector and no personal data in the ID token
  • You want age thresholds and nationality as yes-or-no answers without a birthdate, on the free tier
  • You want Tier A logins free without limit and a charge only on a Tier B login where identity is disclosed, rather than a per-MAU meter

Firebase Authentication may fit you if

  • Your app already runs on Firebase or Google Cloud and you want authentication next to it
  • You want drop-in UI and SDKs for iOS, Android, web, Unity, C++ and Flutter from one backend
  • You need 50,000 monthly active users at no cost, with SAML and OIDC providers available through the Identity Platform upgrade
  • You do not need assurance about the person behind the account from the authentication backend itself

Other alternatives to Firebase Authentication

35 more vendors compared under ZOREAL Identify, from their own public materials.

All 36 Identify comparisons

Common questions

How we compared

This comparison is based on publicly available information from Firebase Authentication’s official website, documentation, pricing and published materials, and on ZOREAL’s own published product pages and pricing, as reviewed on 10 September 2026. Features, pricing and availability may change at any time. Verify current details directly with each provider before deciding.

Nothing on this page is legal advice. Which electronic signature method satisfies which law, what level of identity assurance a regulation requires, and whether a content signature or provenance mark meets a given standard all depend on the jurisdiction and the regulator’s guidance. ZOREAL Sign asserts no legal effect for the signatures it records. Confirm your obligations with qualified counsel before choosing a method.

Sources

ZOREAL is operated by Bynn Intelligence, Inc. and is not affiliated with, sponsored by, or endorsed by Firebase Authentication. Third-party names and trademarks are the property of their respective owners and are used only to identify the products being compared.

See ZOREAL Identify for yourself.

A product walkthrough, pricing or volume terms, with the ZOREAL team.

See ZOREAL Identify