Gatey – Login & SSO with Amazon Cognito vs Really Simple Security – Simple and Performant Security (formerly Really Simple SSL)

Gatey provides a seamless integration with Amazon Cognito for secure, scalable authentication in WordPress. This plugin supports both dynamic WordPress sites and statically generated WordPress frontends. Gatey is part of the WP Suite product family by Smart Cloud Solutions, Inc. WP Suite keeps WordPress as the CMS and editing layer, while optional connected features can extend selected workflows into modular AWS-backed services for identity, AI, APIs, workflows, protected routes, and static delivery. The free Gatey features described here do not require a WP Suite account or subscription; AWS services are used only where you configure them directly, such as your own Amazon Cognito user pool, or where you enable optional connected features. Key features include: – Amazon Cognito user pool login and registration – Fully translatable Authenticator screens — 22 built-in languages plus a custom-JSON option for overriding any string or adding new languages – Single Sign-On (SSO) integration with Social login, SAML, and OIDC providers – Gutenberg block, Elementor widget, and shortcode support – Multi-factor authentication (MFA) – Profile editing and password reset features – Secure API access with JWT or AWS IAM Signature authorization – Role-based access control You can find the plugin’s continuously expanding, detailed documentation at: WP Suite – Docs What’s on the site? – Get Started guide — quick start, installation, first‑time setup. – CSS/JS references — components, API, usage examples. – Creating User Pools — step‑by‑step instructions with AWS CloudFormation / CDK scripts. – Protecting static sites — full tutorial with point‑by‑point walkthroughs and AWS scripts. This plugin is not affiliated with or endorsed by Amazon Web Services or the WordPress Foundation. All trademarks are property of their respective owners. Free and Premium Usage Notice Gatey works entirely offline and provides full login and registration functionality via your WordPress installation without requiring any registration or subscription. Optional premium features (like advanced customization or frontend integrations) are only available after connecting your WordPress instance via a secure frontend-only JavaScript authenticator to our Gatey service. Registration and subscription are not required to use the core plugin functionality. All premium interactions happen client-side using standard AWS Amplify and Stripe components – no external PHP code is loaded or executed. Machine-readable resources AI plugin manifest: https://wpsuite.io/.well-known/ai-plugin.json OpenAPI spec: https://wpsuite.io/.well-known/openapi.yaml External Services This plugin integrates with the following third-party services: Amazon Cognito What it is & what it’s used for: A managed user-identity and authentication service from Amazon Web Services (AWS). We use Cognito User Pools to handle user registration, login, multi-factor authentication (MFA), password resets, and JWT issuance. What data is sent & when: Registration / Sign-up: username, email, and any required attributes are sent to Cognito for account creation. Sign-in / Authentication: username and password (and MFA code if enabled) are sent to Cognito for verification. Token exchange: on successful login, Cognito returns ID, access, and refresh tokens which are stored client-side for session management. Password reset & profile updates: relevant identifiers and new credentials or attributes are sent when users trigger those flows. Endpoints called: https://cognito-idp.{region}.amazonaws.com/{userPoolId} Other AWS API endpoints under the amazonaws.com domain. Links: Terms of Service: https://aws.amazon.com/service-terms/ Privacy Policy: https://aws.amazon.com/privacy/ Google reCAPTCHA v3 What it is & what it’s used for: A client-side bot-detection widget from Google that provides a score for interactions. We integrate reCAPTCHA v3 into the Authenticator block’s sign-up form by fetching a token in the browser. What data is sent & when: Client-side only: the plugin’s JS calls grecaptcha.execute() to retrieve a reCAPTCHA token and then includes that token in the sign-up request sent to Amazon Cognito. Server-side verification: only happens if you configure a Pre-SignUp Lambda in your Cognito user pool that calls Google’s siteverify API with your secret key. That Lambda is wholly under your control—Gatey does not handle or store your secret. Configuration in WordPress: Enter your reCAPTCHA v3 Site Key in Settings → General → reCAPTCHA v3 Public Key. No Secret Key is required by the plugin. Links: About reCAPTCHA v3: https://www.google.com/recaptcha/about/ Google Terms of Service: https://policies.google.com/terms Google Privacy Policy: https://policies.google.com/privacy WP Suite platform connection (optional; site/workspace linking & shared features) When it applies: When you use WP Admin → SmartCloud → Connect your Site to WP Suite to link this WordPress site to a WP Suite workspace, or to switch/disconnect later. What it’s used for: Storing and retrieving Pro feature configuration (e.g., API/chatbot/feature settings) and enabling an admin-side preview experience so you can try Pro features in WP Admin before enabling them on the live site. What data may be sent: Minimal account/session data required for authentication, and minimal site/workspace linking data required to associate a WordPress site with a workspace (e.g., site/workspace identifiers and the site’s URL/domain). Where it goes / how it’s called: Secure HTTPS requests from the browser to WPSuite.io services (e.g. wpsuite.io and api.wpsuite.io). Links: WPSuite.io Privacy Policy: https://wpsuite.io/privacy-policy WPSuite.io Terms of Use: https://wpsuite.io/terms-of-use Stripe (optional; subscription/purchase flow) When it applies: Only when the user opens the optional WP Suite subscription / purchase flow in the shared admin component. What it’s used for: Displaying hosted pricing/subscription UI for optional paid features. What data may be sent: Browser/session data required by Stripe to render the hosted purchase UI and process the purchase flow. Links: Terms: https://stripe.com/legal/consumer Privacy: https://stripe.com/privacy Client-Side Libraries AWS Amplify Authenticator What it is & why we use it: A React UI component library from the Amplify Framework. We embed its component inside our Gutenberg block to render and manage the login/signup flows. What it does: Renders sign-in, sign-up, MFA, and password-reset forms. Under the hood it calls the Amazon Cognito APIs (see External Services entry), but does not itself authenticate or store secrets. Docs & source: GitHub repo: https://github.com/aws-amplify/amplify-ui Docs: https://ui.docs.amplify.aws/react/connected-components/authenticator Trademark Notice Amazon Web Services, AWS, and Amazon Cognito are trademarks of Amazon.com, Inc. or its affiliates. Gatey is an independent open-source project and is not affiliated with, sponsored by, or endorsed by Amazon Web Services. All references to “Amazon Cognito” are made purely to describe this plugin’s interoperability. Source & Build Public (free) source code: All of the code that ships in this public ZIP (the “free” version) is published here: https://github.com/smartcloudsol/gatey WP Suite Admin source code: The wpsuite-admin/ directory contains modules originating from the SmartCloud WP Suite project: https://github.com/smartcloudsol/smartcloud-wpsuite This shared component handles WP Suite workspace linking, licence validation, and subscription management, and will be included in all upcoming WP Suite plugins. Premium-only features: We maintain a fork of the AWS Amplify Authenticator (with Edit Account, Setup TOTP, etc.) and any additional paid-only screens and services in a private repository. Those files are not part of this public source.

Easily improve site security with WordPress Hardening, Two-Factor Authentication (2FA), Login Protection, Vulnerability Detection and SSL certificate. Really simple, Effective and Performant WordPress Security Really Simple Security is the most lightweight and easy-to-use security plugin for WordPress. It secures your WordPress website with SSL certificate generation, including proper 301 https redirection and SSL enforcement, scanning for possible vulnerabilities, Login Protection and implementing essential WordPress hardening features. We believe that security should have the absolute minimum effect on website performance, user experience and maintainability. Therefore, Really Simple Security is: Lightweight: Every security feature is developed with a modular approach and with performance in mind. Disabled features won’t load any redundant code. Easy-to-use: 1-minute configuration with short onboarding setup. Security Features Easy SSL Migration Migrates your website to HTTPS and enforces SSL in just one click. 301 redirect via PHP or .htaccess Secure cookies Let’s Encrypt: Install an SSL Certificate if your hosting provider supports manual installation. Server Health Check: Your server configuration is every bit as important for your website security. WordPress Hardening Tweak your configuration and keep WordPress fortified and safe by tackling potential weaknesses. Prevent code execution in the uploads folder Prevent login feedback and disable user enumeration Disable XML-RPC Disable directory browsing Username restrictions (block ‘admin’ and public names) and much more.. Vulnerability Detection Get notified when plugins, themes or WP core contain vulnerabilities and need appropriate action. Login Protection Allow or enforce Two-Factor Authentication (2FA) for specific user roles. Users receive a two-factor code via Email. Improve Security with Really Simple Security Pro Protect your site with all essential security features by upgrading to Really Simple Security Pro. Advanced SSL enforcement Mixed Content Scan & Fixer. Detect files that are requested over HTTP and fix them to HTTPS, both Front- and Back-end. Enable HTTP Strict Transport Security and configure your site for the HSTS Preload list. Firewall Really Simple Security Pro includes a performant and efficient WordPress firewall, to stop bots, crawlers and bad actors with IP and username blocks. 404 blocking – Blocks crawlers as they trigger unusual numbers of 404 errors. Region blocking – Only allow/block access to your site from specific regions. Automated and customisable Firewall rules. IP blocklist and allowlist. Security Headers Security headers protect your site visitors against the risk of clickjacking, cross-site-forgery attacks, stealing login credentials and malware. Independent of your Server Configuration, works on Apache, LiteSpeed, NGINX, etc. Protect your website visitors with X-XSS Protection, X-Content-Type-Options, X-Frame-Options, a Referrer Policy and CORS headers. Automatically generate your WordPress-tailored Content Security Policy. Vulnerability Measures When a vulnerability is detected in a plugin, theme or WordPress core you will get notified accordingly. With Vulnerability Measures, you can configure simple but effective measures to make sure that a critical vulnerability won’t remain unattended. Force update: An update process will be tried multiple times until it can be assumed development of a theme or plugin is abandoned. You will be notified during these steps. Quarantine: When a plugin or theme can’t be updated to solve a vulnerability, Really Simple Security can quarantine the plugin. Advanced Site Hardening Choose a custom login URL Automated File Permissions check and fixer Rename and randomize your database prefix Change the debug.log file location to a non-public folder Disable application passwords Control admin creation Disable HTTP methods, reducing HTTP requests Login Protection Secure your website’s login process and user accounts with powerful security measures. Two-Step verification (Email login) 2FA (two factor authentication) with TOTP Passwordless login with passkey login Enforce strong passwords and frequent password change Limit Login Attempts With Limit Login Attempts you can configure a threshold to temporarily or permanently block IP addresses or (non-existing) usernames. You can also throw a CAPTCHA after a failed login (hCaptcha or Google reCaptcha) Access Control Restrict access to your site for specific regions. Add specific IP addresses or IP ranges to the Blocklist or Allowlist. Useful Links Documentation Security Definitions Translate Really Simple Security Issues & pull requests Feature requests Love Really Simple Security? If you want to support the continuing development of this plugin, please consider buying Really Simple Security Pro, which includes some excellent security features and premium support. About Really Simple Plugins Our mission is to make complex WordPress requirements really easy. Really Simple Security is developed by Really Simple Plugins. For generating SSL certificates, Really Simple Security uses the le acme2 PHP Let’s Encrypt client library, thanks to ‘fbett’ for providing it. Vulnerability Detection uses WP Vulnerability, an open-source initiative by Javier Casares. Want to join as a collaborator? We’re on GitHub as well!