Software Alternatives, Accelerators & Startups

OAuth2 VS Devise

Compare OAuth2 VS Devise and see what are their differences

OAuth2 logo OAuth2

Application and Data, Application Utilities, and User Management and Authentication

Devise logo Devise

Flexible authentication solution for Rails with Warden.
  • OAuth2 Landing page
    Landing page //
    2023-08-18
  • Devise Landing page
    Landing page //
    2022-11-04

OAuth2 features and specs

  • Delegated Access
    OAuth2 allows users to grant third-party applications limited access to their resources without sharing their credentials.
  • Enhanced Security
    By using access tokens with defined scopes and expiration times, OAuth2 reduces the risk of exposing user credentials and allows precise control over resource access.
  • Scalability
    OAuth2 is suitable for a wide range of applications, from mobile and web apps to connected devices, allowing seamless integration across platforms.
  • User Experience
    OAuth2 enhances user experience by enabling single sign-on (SSO) capabilities, allowing users to authenticate across multiple services with a single set of credentials.

Possible disadvantages of OAuth2

  • Complex Implementation
    Implementing OAuth2 can be complex, especially for developers new to the protocol, as it involves understanding various flows, token management, and security considerations.
  • Security Challenges
    If not implemented correctly, OAuth2 can introduce security vulnerabilities, such as authorization code interception, token leakage, or improper redirect URI handling.
  • Fragmentation
    The OAuth2 specification allows for a lot of flexibility, which can lead to fragmentation and inconsistent implementations across different providers.
  • Token Management
    OAuth2 requires careful management of tokens, including their expiration, revocation, and storage, which can add complexity to application development.

Devise features and specs

  • Comprehensive Functionality
    Devise provides a broad range of authentication features out-of-the-box, including registration, login, password recovery, and session management.
  • Modular and Extensible
    Devise is built with a modular approach, allowing developers to pick and choose the modules they need. It also offers hooks and callbacks for further customization.
  • Community Support
    As one of the most popular authentication solutions for Rails, Devise has extensive community support, abundant documentation, and numerous tutorials, making it easier to get help and find resources.
  • Security
    Devise follows industry-standard security practices, offering features like encryption, configurable secret keys, and other mechanisms to protect against common vulnerabilities.
  • Integration with Rails
    Devise is specifically designed to integrate seamlessly with Ruby on Rails, ensuring a smoother development experience and better compatibility with other Rails components.

Possible disadvantages of Devise

  • Complex Configurations
    For developers new to Devise or those requiring highly custom authentication systems, the configuration can be complicated and may have a steep learning curve.
  • Opinionated Defaults
    Devise comes with many pre-set defaults that may not align with every projectโ€™s requirements. Customizing these defaults can sometimes be cumbersome.
  • Dependency Management
    Devise is a large library with several dependencies. Keeping these dependencies up to date and compatible with the rest of the application can sometimes be challenging.
  • Performance Overhead
    Due to its comprehensive feature set, Devise can introduce performance overhead compared to more lightweight authentication solutions.
  • Ease of Customization
    While Devise offers many customization options, very specific or unconventional authentication workflows can be difficult to implement, requiring significant overrides or extensions.

Analysis of Devise

Overall verdict

  • Devise is considered a robust and reliable option for authentication in Rails applications. Its ease of use combined with flexibility and wide adoption makes it a good choice for many developers.

Why this product is good

  • Devise is a flexible authentication solution for Rails based on Warden. It is highly popular due to its comprehensive range of features, which include modules for database authentication, registration, password recovery, email confirmation, social integration, and more. Its modularity allows developers to include only the features they need, making the application lighter and faster. Moreover, it has a strong community support offering extensive documentation and resources.

Recommended for

    Devise is recommended for Ruby on Rails developers looking for a well-established and comprehensive authentication library. It's suitable for projects of various sizes, from startups to enterprise-level applications, particularly when rapid development with standard authentication features is desired.

OAuth2 videos

Understanding How OAuth2 Works

Devise videos

Devise Fingerboard Review

More videos:

  • Review - Figure 8 Devise Review
  • Review - Devise TV on your phone Tzumi Magic TV Best Review

Category Popularity

0-100% (relative to OAuth2 and Devise)
Identity And Access Management
Identity Provider
26 26%
74% 74
Development
67 67%
33% 33
SSO
0 0%
100% 100

User comments

Share your experience with using OAuth2 and Devise. For example, how are they different and which one is better?
Log in or Post with

Social recommendations and mentions

Based on our record, Devise seems to be more popular. It has been mentiond 47 times since March 2021. We are tracking product recommendations and mentions on various public social media platforms and blogs. They can help you identify which product is more popular and what people think of it.

OAuth2 mentions (0)

We have not tracked any mentions of OAuth2 yet. Tracking of OAuth2 recommendations started around Mar 2021.

Devise mentions (47)

  • What I learned while building ActiveRubyist
    ActiveRubyist is now a Progressive Web App (PWA) with Hotwire-based interactivity. For authentication, I use devise, and for real-time notifications, noticed. Where possible, I lean into default Rails features: for background jobs, I use Solid Queue instead of Sidekiq, keeping everything aligned with the Rails way. - Source: dev.to / 4 months ago
  • Ruby on Rails Flash notifications with Hotwire and ViewComponents
    Assume we use devise for authentication. We need to subscribe user for personal notifications channel. Add this line to app/views/layouts/application/_flash_container.html.erb. - Source: dev.to / over 1 year ago
  • SpendWise - Budget management app (Ruby on Rails + React) - Part 3
    If you like to know how to implement Devise for user authentication, here's the link- Devise. - Source: dev.to / about 1 year ago
  • Rails and Keycloak, Authentication Authorization, part one
    Use devise gem, which is probably the most famous rails authentication system. - Source: dev.to / about 1 year ago
  • Should I Use jwts For Authentication Tokens?
    IMHO the stateful opaque token approach is simple enough that it can (and often does) get baked into whatever language/framework youโ€™re using to write your app. In addition, the very nature of session tokens is such that the logic for what the token actually means/represents lives in your app, on the server. So, that may be why we donโ€™t see more โ€œopaque session tokenโ€ standards/libraries out there as an... - Source: Hacker News / over 1 year ago
View more

What are some alternatives?

When comparing OAuth2 and Devise, you can also consider the following products

JSON Web Token - JSON Web Tokens are an open, industry standard RFC 7519 method for representing claims securely between two parties.

Auth0 - Auth0 is a program for people to get authentication and authorization services for their own business use.

Okta - Enterprise-grade identity management for all your apps, users & devices

Spring Security - The Spring portfolio has many projects, including Spring Framework, Spring IO Platform, Spring Cloud, Spring Boot, Spring Data, Spring Security...

OneLogin - On-demand SSO, directory integration, user provisioning and more

Firebase Authentication - Application and Data, Application Utilities, and User Management and Authentication