Should You Build Your Own Login or Use Managed Auth?

The short answer: use managed auth

For most founder-built apps, login is essential.

I used managed auth through Supabase for Nightweave (opens in a new tab), a smart dream journal I built for a client. If you're also a vibe-coder, I recommend you do the same.

NOTE: Using a managed auth provider does not prevent you from customizing the login experience or stop you from using sign-in options like Google or Apple OAuth.

Founders often treat the login experience and the underlying machinery as the same thing, but they aren't.

Here's the clean distinction:

The important point is simple: you can own the experience without owning the sensitive machinery behind it.

Building login yourself is a lot of work

When building the sensitive machinery behind login yourself, you are doing a lot more than just building a form. You are accepting a list of duties that evolves with time and becomes more complicated the more your app grows.

Passwords must remain safe

Passwords need to be stored safely. Doing so is an evolving challenge that grows with the security landscape.

OWASP (opens in a new tab), a leading security foundation, treats proper password storage as a continuous commitment, not a one-time setting.

Account recovery needs its own defenses

A reset flow must avoid revealing which accounts exist. Its links or codes should expire, work only once, and resist repeated guesses.

Your app also needs a safe way to end old sign-ins after a reset.

Keeping people signed in needs careful handling

After login, the app needs a safe way to remember who's who. That proof must expire, renew, and disappear when the person signs out.

If someone steals it, they may gain the same access as the account owner. OWASP's guidance on keeping people signed in (opens in a new tab) explains why this deserves the same care as login.

Social sign-in adds another security flow

Signing in with Google, Apple, or another service looks simple. Behind the screen, the app sends the person away and safely brings them back.

That return journey needs protection against changed requests, fake destinations, and stolen sign-in proof. OAuth security guidance in RFC 9700 (opens in a new tab) documents the current practices behind these flows.

It's a lot.

Attacks and account changes do not stop

A real login system also needs defenses against repeated guesses, stolen credentials, and account takeovers. Email changes, password changes, and stronger sign-in checks add more paths to protect.

The OWASP authentication guide (opens in a new tab) shows how quickly the responsibility grows beyond a working form.

As you can see, things stack up quickly. Unless you're ready to take on the responsibility and have the development knowledge to do so, it's not worth the risk.

Thankfully, managed auth is cheap and easy to set up.

Supabase's Free plan currently includes 50,000 monthly active users. Its Pro plan starts at $25 per month and includes 100,000 monthly active users. Some login features and add-ons cost extra, so check Supabase's current pricing (opens in a new tab) before choosing a plan.

Managed auth does not secure your whole app

Managed auth removes a sensitive workload, but doesn't remove all of the work.

A managed service also becomes a dependency

Using a service has tradeoffs.

The provider can have an outage. Its prices, limits, or available features can change. A future move may require work, especially if your product depends on provider-specific features.

These are real risks, but the risks of building it yourself are much greater.

The choice is not between depending on someone else and being independent. It is between using a managed service and maintaining a sensitive system yourself.

How should you choose a managed auth service?

After deciding to go with a managed provider, you have to answer which managed provider.

Currently, I use Supabase for all of my projects. It's easy to integrate, making it a common choice with vibe coders.

Soon, I'll be posting a comparison between Supabase and other providers. For now, you can't go wrong with Supabase for most apps.

Do Google and Apple OAuth work with managed auth providers?

Yes! In fact, that was one of the biggest reasons I picked Supabase.

Supabase supports a plethora of OAuth providers, including Google (opens in a new tab) and Apple (opens in a new tab). That being said, there's more setup to be done:

How this guide started

This guide started with a pattern across my public apps: I use managed auth instead of building the sensitive login machinery myself.

Vibe coding makes it easy to put a login screen on the page. That can make the setup look more finished than it is.

I wanted to explain why I hand the sensitive part to a managed provider, what I still customize, and what responsibilities I still own after setup.

Summary

For most founder-built apps, use managed auth.

You can still customize the sign-up and sign-in experience. Let the provider handle the sensitive machinery behind it.

Supabase is my default because it works with the rest of my stack and supports the login options I need, including Google and Apple. Note that it still requires some setup, and does not secure the rest of the app for you.

Build your own authentication only when a provider cannot meet a non-negotiable need and you are ready to own the security risk and maintenance for the lifetime of the app.

Frequently asked questions