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Government · head to head

AWS GovCloud vs Cosign

AWS GovCloud logo

AWS GovCloud

Government

Secure Cloud for Government

From
On request
Free plan
No
Full reviewWebsite
Cosign logo

Cosign

Cybersecurity

Signs and verifies container images and artifacts, with or without managing keys

From
Free
Free plan
Yes
Full reviewWebsite

The short version

  • Only Cosign has a free tier, so it costs nothing to try first.
  • Each has a real cost: AWS GovCloud access is restricted to vetted US entities, with account holders screened for US citizenship or permanent residency; Cosign keyless signing inherits every weakness of the identity provider behind it. Sigstore’s own threat model states that if an identity provider is compromised, Sigstore will issue certificates to those identities, so a compromised account produces perfectly valid signatures.
  • They diverge on capability: AWS GovCloud covers FedRAMP High Authorized, Cosign covers Keyless signing.
  • Prices and features above were last checked on 31 August 2026.

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which AWS GovCloud and Cosign actually diverge.

Attributes where AWS GovCloud and Cosign differ
AttributeAWS GovCloudCosign
Starting priceOn requestFree
Pricing modelusage-basedOpen source, no licence fee
Free tierNoYes
PlatformsWeb, Cli, SdkmacOS, Linux, Windows, Docker
CategoryGovernmentCybersecurity
Founded2006Unknown

Identical on both: user rating (Not yet rated).

What each one covers

Drawn from each product's published feature list. An absence here means we hold no record of it - not that the product lacks it.

Only in AWS GovCloud

  • FedRAMP High Authorized
  • ITAR Compliant
  • DOD SRG Levels
  • Isolated Infrastructure
  • Full AWS Services
  • Third-party Tools
  • Government Systems
  • Security Tools

Only in Cosign

  • Keyless signing
  • Key and KMS signing
  • Registry-native storage
  • In-toto attestations
  • Offline verification
  • Trusted root and signing config

What people use each for

The jobs each tool is most often brought in to do.

AWS GovCloud

  • Hosting controlled unclassified information for US federal agenciesnot Cosign
  • Workloads requiring FedRAMP High, ITAR or DFARS compliancenot Cosign
  • Defence and public sector systems needing US-person operationnot Cosign
  • Regulated contractors handling government datanot Cosign

Cosign

  • Signing container images in a build pipeline without managing long-lived private keysnot AWS GovCloud
  • Attaching a signed bill of materials to a release so consumers can verify its provenancenot AWS GovCloud
  • Meeting a customer or regulatory requirement for signed artifactsnot AWS GovCloud
  • Verifying third-party images before they enter an internal registrynot AWS GovCloud

Where each one falls short

Documented limitations, not opinions. Every one is a constraint you would hit in normal use.

AWS GovCloud

  • Access is restricted to vetted US entities, with account holders screened for US citizenship or permanent residency
  • Separate IAM, console, CLI and APIs from commercial AWS, so accounts and tooling do not carry across
  • Not every AWS service is available in the two GovCloud regions
  • Pricing is not published on the product page

Cosign

  • Keyless signing inherits every weakness of the identity provider behind it. Sigstore’s own threat model states that if an identity provider is compromised, Sigstore will issue certificates to those identities, so a compromised account produces perfectly valid signatures.
  • A signature proves who signed, never whether they should have. The documentation is explicit that Sigstore cannot determine authorisation, so every consumer must write and maintain their own identity and issuer policy or verification means nothing.
  • Nothing is enforced without an admission controller. Signing changes what you can prove, not what runs, and the official policy controller has a small maintainer base for a component sitting in a cluster admission path.
  • Upgrades break pipelines. Version 3 changed defaults, version 4 is announced as removing legacy functionality and roughly half the command line flags, and two official client libraries still lacked support for the new log format as of mid 2026.
  • Signatures do not expire. An artifact signed before a maintainer account was compromised and one signed after are indistinguishable unless somebody is actively monitoring the transparency log, and almost nobody is.

Pricing, plan by plan

AWS GovCloud

On request
  • Pay-as-you-goFree
    • Compute
    • Storage
    • Database

Cosign

Free
  • CosignFree
    • Apache-2.0
    • Public Sigstore infrastructure free to use
    • No usage limits published

Which should you pick?

Choose AWS GovCloud if

  • You need fedramp high authorized.
  • You work on Web, Cli, Sdk.
  • You also want itar compliant.
AWS GovCloud review

Choose Cosign if

  • You need keyless signing.
  • You want to start without paying.
  • You work on macOS, Linux, Windows, Docker.
  • You also want key and kms signing.
Cosign review

Questions people ask

Is AWS GovCloud or Cosign better?
Neither clearly leads. AWS GovCloud starts at On request and Cosign at Free, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, AWS GovCloud or Cosign?
Cosign has a free tier; the other does not. Paid plans start at On request for AWS GovCloud and Free for Cosign.
Does AWS GovCloud or Cosign run on more platforms?
AWS GovCloud runs on Web, Cli, Sdk. Cosign runs on macOS, Linux, Windows, Docker.
Can I use Cosign for free?
Yes. Cosign has a free tier, so you can try it without paying. AWS GovCloud starts at On request.
What is AWS GovCloud best used for?
AWS GovCloud is most often used for hosting controlled unclassified information for us federal agencies, workloads requiring fedramp high, itar or dfars compliance, defence and public sector systems needing us-person operation, regulated contractors handling government data. Of those, hosting controlled unclassified information for us federal agencies and workloads requiring fedramp high, itar or dfars compliance are not what Cosign is typically brought in for.
What can AWS GovCloud do that Cosign cannot?
AWS GovCloud covers FedRAMP High Authorized, ITAR Compliant, DOD SRG Levels, Isolated Infrastructure. Cosign covers Keyless signing, Key and KMS signing, Registry-native storage, In-toto attestations.

Answered from the vendors’ own pages

AWS GovCloud: Is AWS GovCloud pricing different from standard AWS?

The page does not disclose specific pricing for AWS GovCloud (US). It mentions 'AWS Savings Plans' as a flexible pricing model but provides no actual costs. Users must contact AWS directly via the 'Contact us' link or visit AWS pricing calculators for estimates.

Source
Cosign: Does Cosign tell me if an image is vulnerable?

No. It has no vulnerability knowledge whatsoever. It can carry an SBOM as a signed attestation but never reads it. Pair it with a scanner.

AWS GovCloud: Who is eligible to use AWS GovCloud?

AWS GovCloud (US) is restricted to verified U.S. government agencies and entities meeting specific screening requirements. Commercial organizations and individual users cannot use this service.

Source
Cosign: Is signing alone enough?

No. Verification is a command somebody runs. Without an admission controller enforcing it, an unsigned image still runs.

AWS GovCloud: Can I try AWS GovCloud before committing to a contract?

The page does not disclose whether a free trial or evaluation period is available for AWS GovCloud. Pricing and trial information would need to be obtained by contacting AWS directly.

Source
Cosign: What does a bare cosign verify actually prove?

Very little. Without a pinned certificate identity and OIDC issuer, it accepts a valid signature from any identity at all.

Cosign: What is the risk of keyless signing?

Your OIDC provider becomes the root of trust. Compromise of that account yields genuine, verifiable signatures, so account security is the control that matters.

Cosign: Should we expect breaking changes?

Yes. Version 4 is announced to remove roughly half the flags, and a post-quantum migration is named as a further breaking change after that.

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