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Cybersecurity · head to head

Sigstore vs Yoti

Sigstore logo

Sigstore

Cybersecurity

Free public signing and transparency infrastructure for open source artifacts

From
Free
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite
Yoti logo

Yoti

Cybersecurity

Reusable digital identity, facial age estimation and identity verification

From
On request
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite

The short version

  • Only Sigstore has a free tier, so it costs nothing to try first.
  • Each has a real cost: Sigstore the security model depends on somebody watching the log. The documentation states that compromise of an identity provider or of Fulcio itself is detectable only if third parties monitor the transparency log, the monitoring tool is a community-tier rather than core project, and almost no consumer runs one.; Yoti age estimation returns a probabilistic range rather than a verified date of birth, so it only works with a safety buffer above the legal threshold and cannot prove an exact age.
  • They diverge on capability: Sigstore covers Fulcio, Yoti covers Facial age estimation.
  • Prices and features above were last checked on 1 September 2026.

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which Sigstore and Yoti actually diverge.

Attributes where Sigstore and Yoti differ
AttributeSigstoreYoti
Starting priceFreeOn request
Pricing modelOpen source, public instance free to usequote
Free tierYesNo
PlatformsWeb, Linux, macOS, Windows, Self-hostedWeb, 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 Sigstore

  • Fulcio
  • Rekor
  • Keyless signing
  • Multi-language clients
  • Timestamp authority
  • Neutral governance

Only in Yoti

  • Facial age estimation
  • Reusable digital ID
  • Identity verification
  • UK right to work and rent
  • Digital ID for retail
  • Selective disclosure

What people use each for

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

Sigstore

  • Open source projects signing releases without running a certificate authoritynot Yoti
  • Organisations meeting a signed-artifact requirement without buying a signing productnot Yoti
  • Publishing provenance that a consumer can verify independently of younot Yoti
  • Self-hosting the same components where a public log is unacceptablenot Yoti

Yoti

  • A social platform meeting UK Online Safety Act age assurance duties without collecting identity documents from teenagersnot Sigstore
  • A supermarket removing staff interventions at self-checkout for age-restricted purchasesnot Sigstore
  • A UK employer running digital right-to-work checks under the certified trust framework rather than inspecting passportsnot Sigstore
  • A gambling operator needing an age gate with high completion rates before the account funding stepnot Sigstore

Where each one falls short

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

Sigstore

  • The security model depends on somebody watching the log. The documentation states that compromise of an identity provider or of Fulcio itself is detectable only if third parties monitor the transparency log, the monitoring tool is a community-tier rather than core project, and almost no consumer runs one.
  • It is a 99.5 percent objective with no service level agreement, which permits several hours of downtime a month and offers no remedy. A pipeline that signs on every build has taken a hard dependency on a free service with no contract behind it.
  • Log scale is a live engineering problem rather than a theoretical one. The active shard holds billions of entries, the log has already been sharded twice, and sharding version 1 requires stopping traffic, which is why a replacement was built.
  • Ten-minute certificates make trust depend on log availability. Verifying an older signature relies on the log entry proving it was made inside that window, so a lost or unreachable entry can render a valid artifact unverifiable.
  • Migration debt is substantial and ongoing. Version 2 of the log is generally available but not the public default, the signing client has an announced breaking release ahead, some official clients lag the new log format, and a post-quantum migration is named as the next break after that.

Yoti

  • Age estimation returns a probabilistic range rather than a verified date of birth, so it only works with a safety buffer above the legal threshold and cannot prove an exact age.
  • Estimation accuracy varies by demographic and reported error margins widen at the age bands that matter most for eighteen-year thresholds, which pushes borderline users into a document fallback you still have to pay for.
  • Pricing is not published, so buyers cannot compare the cost of an estimation check against a document check without going through sales.
  • Regulatory acceptance of facial estimation differs by jurisdiction, so a method that satisfies Ofcom may not satisfy a regulator elsewhere and multi-market platforms need more than one approach.
  • The reusable digital identity app depends on consumer adoption, which is meaningful in the UK and thin elsewhere, limiting the reusability benefit outside its home market.

Pricing, plan by plan

Sigstore

Free
  • Public good instanceFree
    • Free to everyone with no contract
    • 99.5 percent availability objective, not an agreement
    • 100KB cap per attestation upload
  • Self-hostedFree
    • Apache-2.0
    • Run your own Fulcio and Rekor
    • Rekor v2 available for self-hosters

Yoti

On request
  • Yoti Age and Identity Services$undefined/year
    • Per-check pricing quoted by volume and method
    • Age estimation, document verification and digital ID priced differently
    • Right to work and right to rent checks quoted separately

Which should you pick?

Choose Sigstore if

  • You need fulcio.
  • You want to start without paying.
  • You work on Web, Linux, macOS, Windows, Self-hosted.
  • You also want rekor.
Sigstore review

Choose Yoti if

  • You need facial age estimation.
  • You work on Web, iOS, Android, API.
  • You also want reusable digital id.
Yoti review

Questions people ask

Is Sigstore or Yoti better?
Neither clearly leads. Sigstore starts at Free and Yoti at On request, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, Sigstore or Yoti?
Sigstore has a free tier; the other does not. Paid plans start at Free for Sigstore and On request for Yoti.
Does Sigstore or Yoti run on more platforms?
Sigstore runs on Web, Linux, macOS, Windows, Self-hosted. Yoti runs on Web, iOS, Android, API.
Can I use Sigstore for free?
Yes. Sigstore has a free tier, so you can try it without paying. Yoti starts at On request.
What is Sigstore best used for?
Sigstore is most often used for open source projects signing releases without running a certificate authority, organisations meeting a signed-artifact requirement without buying a signing product, publishing provenance that a consumer can verify independently of you, self-hosting the same components where a public log is unacceptable. Of those, open source projects signing releases without running a certificate authority and organisations meeting a signed-artifact requirement without buying a signing product are not what Yoti is typically brought in for.
What can Sigstore do that Yoti cannot?
Sigstore covers Fulcio, Rekor, Keyless signing, Multi-language clients. Yoti covers Facial age estimation, Reusable digital ID, Identity verification, UK right to work and rent.

Answered from the vendors’ own pages

Sigstore: Is the public instance really free?

Yes, with no contract and no paid tier. That is also the weakness: a 99.5 percent objective with no agreement, no remedy and support through Slack.

Yoti: Does age estimation store my face?

The image is used to produce an estimate and then deleted rather than retained, which is the specific property that makes it usable for age assurance on minors.

Sigstore: Has the public log moved to Rekor v2?

No. Version 2 reached general availability in October 2025 and self-hosters can use it, but the public instance still defaults to version 1 and the project has said it will for the foreseeable future.

Yoti: Is it accepted for UK Online Safety Act compliance?

Facial age estimation is one of the methods regulators have accepted as highly effective age assurance. Confirm the current position with your own counsel for your content category.

Sigstore: Does Sigstore make my dependencies safe?

No, and this is a category error worth avoiding. It tells you who published something. It has no knowledge of what the artifact contains or whether it is vulnerable.

Yoti: Can it prove someone is exactly 21?

No. It gives a range. If you need a precise age you need a document or database check, which Yoti also sells.

Sigstore: What are the rate limits?

Not published. Only the 100KB cap per attestation upload is documented, so do not design a high-volume pipeline around assumed throughput.

Sigstore: Should we self-host it?

If a public record of every signature is unacceptable, or if a free service with no agreement cannot sit in your build path, then yes. Otherwise the public instance is what most projects use.

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