Auth0 Highly Regulated Identity vs %%Authsignal%%
%%Two ways to extend Auth0.%% but only one is built specifically for authentication.
If Auth0 is already your identity provider, both Auth0 Highly Regulated Identity (HRI) and Authsignal can extend what happens around authentication, but they are designed for very different requirements.
Auth0 HRI extends the Auth0 platform for highly regulated use cases, with a focus on financial-grade protocols, Strong Customer Authentication and transaction authorization. It is a specialized set of capabilities within the Auth0 ecosystem rather than a dedicated authentication orchestration platform.
Authsignal takes Auth0 in a different direction. It drops on top of your existing Auth0 tenant through Auth0 Actions and adds a purpose-built authentication layer with passkeys, adaptive MFA, step-up authentication, a visual rules engine, pre-built or fully custom experiences, and a broader range of authentication methods.
That gives teams more control over how authentication behaves around the customer, not simply how Auth0 handles a regulated transaction. Authentication can be customized by risk, action, customer and channel, then extended across sign-in, payments, recovery, contact center and other sensitive journeys without replacing Auth0 underneath it.
And this is what Authsignal is built to do. Authentication is our core product, backed by production deployments and experience helping consumer-facing organizations introduce phishing-resistant authentication into existing customer journeys.
If you decide to keep Auth0 as your IdP, add an authentication layer built for more choice, more control and more of the customer journey.
Auth0 HRI is designed for a relatively specific problem: extending Auth0 with the controls required for highly regulated transactions and financial-grade API environments.
Authsignal covers a wider one. It controls how customers authenticate across their whole relationship with your organization, including the many moments that fall outside a regulated transaction.
%%1.%% Broader authentication scope across the customer journey
Auth0 HRI is centered on regulated operations, including Strong Customer Authentication and transaction authorization.
Authsignal extends authentication across a much wider set of customer interactions. The same layer can govern passkeys at sign-in, step-up for a high-risk payment, verification during account recovery, stronger authentication for an account change and authentication in the contact center.
That gives teams one place to control authentication across the customer lifecycle rather than introducing additional logic whenever another sensitive journey needs to be protected.
%%2.%% More choice in how customers authenticate
Auth0 provides authentication methods within its own platform and HRI workflows.
Authsignal gives you a broader set of methods that you orchestrate independently of the IdP, including passkeys, biometrics, app push, QR code, TOTP, SMS OTP, email OTP, WhatsApp OTP and magic links.
The difference is not simply the number of methods available. Authsignal can determine which method should be used for which customer, action, risk level or channel, allowing organizations to progressively move customers toward lower-friction and phishing-resistant authentication without losing the fallback methods some journeys still require.
%%3.%% More control over the authentication experience
Auth0 HRI customization happens inside the Auth0 experience, through Universal Login templates, platform configuration and Actions.
Authsignal separates the authentication experience from the IdP. Teams can use a ready-made Authsignal experience, embed adaptable UI components directly into their product, or build a fully custom experience using Authsignal's SDKs.
That means authentication can be designed around the product rather than around the limitations of a single implementation model.
%%4.%% A dedicated rules engine for authentication decisions
Auth0 HRI uses Actions code and platform configuration to set authentication behavior and transaction policy.
Authsignal gives teams a dedicated visual rules engine built specifically around authentication decisions. Device, network, transaction, customer and business context can determine whether an action is allowed, challenged, reviewed or blocked, and which authentication method follows.
Fraud, security and product teams can change authentication policy directly, without engineers rewriting logic inside each application or identity flow.
%%5.%% Authentication that follows the customer across channels
Auth0 HRI supports decoupled authentication through CIBA, which can be used for scenarios such as call centers and in-person interactions.
Authsignal approaches this as part of a wider omnichannel authentication model. The same authentication policy can extend across web, mobile, contact center, kiosk and in-person interactions while the experience itself changes to suit the channel.
A customer may use a passkey in mobile banking, complete stronger step-up for a payment and verify themselves again when speaking with the contact center, all governed through the same authentication layer.
%%6.%% Authentication expertise built into the product
HRI is one specialized capability within the wider Auth0 identity platform.
Authentication and orchestration are Authsignal's core product. That focus extends from authentication infrastructure and risk-based rules through to rollout, customer experience, fallback and adoption.
That experience matters when the objective is not simply to enable another factor, but to make modern authentication work across real customers, devices, risk scenarios and channels.
Keep Auth0 for identity. Add more control over authentication.
Auth0 can continue doing the job it was selected to do as your identity provider without needing to become the center of every authentication decision.
Authsignal adds a dedicated layer on top, giving teams more choice over authentication methods, more control over policy and more flexibility over the customer experience. That layer can start with a specific requirement such as passkeys or adaptive MFA, then expand across payments, recovery, account changes, contact center journeys and other sensitive interactions.
If you need FAPI-certified APIs for open banking, HRI is built for that, and the two can run side by side. If your requirement is broader authentication orchestration, Authsignal gives you more room to shape how authentication works, with Auth0 still underneath.
Frequently Asked Questions
Auth0 Highly Regulated Identity, or HRI, is Auth0's financial-grade security offering for protecting sensitive customer operations.
It includes certified FAPI 1 Advanced and FAPI 2.0 support, Strong Customer Authentication with Dynamic Linking, Rich Authorization Requests, Pushed Authorization Requests, mTLS and Private Key JWT client authentication, token binding, Customer Managed Keys and customizable transaction approval flows. Auth0 also positions CIBA as part of HRI. HRI requires an Auth0 Enterprise plan with the Highly Regulated Identity add-on.
Auth0 HRI extends Auth0 for highly regulated use cases, with a focus on Strong Customer Authentication, transaction authorization and financial-grade API requirements.
Authsignal extends Auth0 with a dedicated authentication and orchestration layer. It gives teams more control over authentication methods, risk-based rules, customer experience and step-up across the wider customer journey.
Yes. HRI can cover FAPI requirements for your APIs, while Authsignal handles how customers authenticate across sign-in, recovery, the contact center and other journeys. Talk to our team to scope how the two fit your architecture.
No. Authsignal is designed to complement existing identity infrastructure.
Organizations can keep Auth0 as their IdP while using Authsignal to control authentication methods, risk decisions and customer experiences. There is no need to migrate the user directory simply to modernize authentication.
It depends on the requirement.
Auth0 HRI is designed primarily for organizations that need financial-grade capabilities within Auth0, including SCA, transaction authorization and FAPI-related requirements.
Authsignal is a stronger fit when the goal is to add a broader and more customizable authentication layer around Auth0, including passkeys, adaptive MFA, multiple authentication methods, flexible UX, risk-based step-up and orchestration across more customer journeys.
Both platforms allow authentication to be customized, but the approaches are different.
Auth0 HRI customization sits within the Auth0 platform and can use Auth0 Actions and its configurable authentication experiences.
Authsignal is built specifically around authentication orchestration. Teams can control when authentication happens, which method is used and how the experience is presented, using pre-built experiences, embedded components or a fully custom implementation.
Auth0 supports passkeys and WebAuthn across its Customer Identity platform, and WebAuthn can be used within authentication experiences relevant to HRI.
Authsignal provides production passkeys through FIDO Certified infrastructure and supports passkeys as part of the wider authentication journey, including enrollment, fallback and risk-based step-up.
Yes. Authsignal's rules engine can use device, network, transaction and business context to determine how an action should be treated.
A trusted customer completing a routine action can receive a different experience from a customer using an unfamiliar device or attempting a higher-risk transaction. Rules can then determine whether to allow the action, challenge the customer, send it for review or block it.
Auth0 HRI supports decoupled authentication scenarios through capabilities such as CIBA.
Authsignal is designed around broader omnichannel orchestration. The same authentication layer can extend across web, mobile, contact center, kiosk and in-person interactions while allowing the method and customer experience to change depending on the channel.
That gives organizations a consistent authentication policy without forcing every customer interaction into the same flow.
Yes. Authsignal can extend authentication into contact center journeys so customers can verify themselves before an agent completes a sensitive action.
The same customer context and authentication policy used across web and mobile can then be applied to assisted interactions, helping avoid a separate authentication approach for the contact center.
Yes. Banks and credit unions can keep Auth0 as their identity provider while using Authsignal to add a dedicated authentication layer across online banking, mobile applications, payments, account recovery, account changes and assisted channels.
That can include passkeys for routine access, adaptive step-up when risk changes and stronger verification for sensitive customer actions, all controlled through the same authentication layer.
Authsignal also brings direct financial services experience. First Credit Union has already moved more than half of its authentications to passkeys using Authsignal.
For financial institutions, that means Auth0 can continue providing identity infrastructure while Authsignal focuses on the customer authentication experience around it.
Sources and methodology
Last reviewed: September 2026
Auth0 Highly Regulated Identity information on this page has been reviewed against Auth0's official Highly Regulated Identity product pages, technical documentation and learning resources.
Authsignal capabilities have been reviewed against Authsignal's official Auth0 integration pages, product documentation and published customer case studies.