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Cybersecurity · head to head

Cosign vs Veriff

Cosign logo

Cosign

Cybersecurity

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

From
Free
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite
Veriff logo

Veriff

Cybersecurity

Document and biometric identity verification with published per-check pricing

From
$0.8/verification
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite

The short version

  • Only Cosign has a free tier, so it costs nothing to try first.
  • Each has a real cost: 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.; Veriff you pay per verification attempt, not per verified customer, so a confusing capture flow or poor lighting on mobile makes you pay two or three times for one onboarding.
  • They diverge on capability: Cosign covers Keyless signing, Veriff covers Document verification.
  • Prices and features above were last checked on 1 September 2026.

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which Cosign and Veriff actually diverge.

Attributes where Cosign and Veriff differ
AttributeCosignVeriff
Starting priceFree$0.8/verification
Pricing modelOpen source, no licence feePer verification
Free tierYesNo
PlatformsmacOS, Linux, Windows, DockerWeb, iOS, Android, API

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

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 Cosign

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

Only in Veriff

  • Document verification
  • Biometric liveness
  • Hybrid review
  • Screening add-ons
  • Ongoing monitoring
  • Age estimation

What people use each for

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

Cosign

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

Veriff

  • A crypto exchange that needs a published rate to model unit economics before committing to a KYC vendornot Cosign
  • A marketplace verifying sellers in dozens of countries where a single document library matters more than depth in one marketnot Cosign
  • A mobility platform running age and licence checks at signup with volumes too small for an enterprise contractnot Cosign
  • A regulated firm wanting automated decisions by default but human review on borderline cases, priced explicitlynot Cosign

Where each one falls short

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

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.

Veriff

  • You pay per verification attempt, not per verified customer, so a confusing capture flow or poor lighting on mobile makes you pay two or three times for one onboarding.
  • The headline $0.80 covers the document and selfie check only; adding PEP and sanctions screening at $0.64 nearly doubles the per-check cost, which is the number regulated buyers actually need.
  • Monthly minimums of $49 and $99 are low but real, so a product with seasonal signup patterns pays in quiet months.
  • Automated decision quality varies sharply by document type and issuing country, so a strong global average conceals weak performance in specific markets you may depend on.
  • Standard data retention is short and extending it to two years is a $0.30 per verification add-on, which matters because most financial regulators require records for five years or more.

Pricing, plan by plan

Cosign

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

Veriff

$0.8/verification
  • Essential$0.8/verification
    • Fully automated decisions
    • $49 per month minimum
    • Documents from 230+ countries
  • Plus$1.39/verification
    • Hybrid automation with human review
    • $99 per month minimum
    • Enhanced fraud prevention for regulated industries
  • Enterprise$undefined/year
    • Volume pricing negotiated
    • Dedicated support and custom SLAs
    • Custom data retention and residency terms

Which should you pick?

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

Choose Veriff if

  • You need document verification.
  • You work on Web, iOS, Android, API.
  • You also want biometric liveness.
Veriff review

Questions people ask

Is Cosign or Veriff better?
Neither clearly leads. Cosign starts at Free and Veriff at $0.8/verification, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, Cosign or Veriff?
Cosign has a free tier; the other does not. Paid plans start at Free for Cosign and $0.8/verification for Veriff.
Does Cosign or Veriff run on more platforms?
Cosign runs on macOS, Linux, Windows, Docker. Veriff runs on Web, iOS, Android, API.
Can I use Cosign for free?
Yes. Cosign has a free tier, so you can try it without paying. Veriff starts at $0.8/verification.
What is Cosign best used for?
Cosign is most often used for signing container images in a build pipeline without managing long-lived private keys, attaching a signed bill of materials to a release so consumers can verify its provenance, meeting a customer or regulatory requirement for signed artifacts, verifying third-party images before they enter an internal registry. Of those, signing container images in a build pipeline without managing long-lived private keys and attaching a signed bill of materials to a release so consumers can verify its provenance are not what Veriff is typically brought in for.
What can Cosign do that Veriff cannot?
Cosign covers Keyless signing, Key and KMS signing, Registry-native storage, In-toto attestations. Veriff covers Document verification, Biometric liveness, Hybrid review, Screening add-ons.

Answered from the vendors’ own pages

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.

Veriff: What does a verification actually cost?

$0.80 on Essential or $1.39 on Plus, before add-ons. Sanctions and PEP screening adds $0.64 and ongoing monitoring $0.09 per verification.

Cosign: Is signing alone enough?

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

Veriff: Are failed attempts charged?

Sessions are charged, so retries by the same user generally cost you again. Ask for the exact billing definition of a session before signing.

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.

Veriff: How long is data retained?

The default retention period is short and two-year extended retention is a paid add-on at $0.30 per verification, which is worth checking against your regulatory record-keeping obligations.

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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