Table of Contents
Key takeaways
Social login can increase successful login and signup rates by reducing friction, especially if you choose providers that match your audience. Think GitHub for developers, Discord for gamers, and LinkedIn for business professionals.
Don’t get carried away, though—too many choices can clutter your UX and make logging in less friendly. Consumer apps typically need 2-3 social login options plus standard accounts to cover their user base effectively.
Implementation matters, meaning social login shouldn't feel bolted on. It needs to be seamlessly integrated into your authentication flow, with consistent visuals and proper error handling on the backend.
Your new app is ready to launch. The features are polished, and you’re ready to add authentication. Should you add social login? Which providers? And will users actually use them, or will they simply get in the way?
You’re not wrong to ponder the validity of social login. Your users have probably scratched their heads over it, too. There are the typical security and privacy concerns, and some confusion about whether they’re actually creating new accounts on your app. But with NordPass polls revealing that the average person contends with 168 passwords, it’s understandable why so many opt for the faster path.
If you’re considering social login for your site or app, we’ve got good news for you: when implemented correctly, logins powered by external providers offer a ton of benefits for product owners and users alike. Let’s explore why social login can benefit your app or site, how to offset the potential security concerns, and the best way to implement it.
Should I use social login for my app or site?
Many app developers wonder whether social login can benefit their project. Some look at the dwindling share of Meta social logins (from 65% of the top 100 sites down to 36%) and ask, “Is login with Facebook actually used?” And while your choice of provider definitely matters, our data shows that social login is a huge hit. Social login now represents a third of all sign in events across Descope customers, close on the heels of traditional passwords.
Looking at a breakdown of social login providers, Google dominates with 90.8% of social authentications, followed by Apple at 8.8%. Bear in mind that this shows a combination of preferences from both users and businesses—users can’t log in with methods that aren’t offered, and businesses tend to offer the most popular methods.
The data split shows how deeply these providers are embedded in users' daily lives. Being constantly logged in can be a crucial turnkey for how these users access your products and platforms. When someone visits your site on Chrome or Android, they're likely already in the midst of a Google session. Similarly, iOS users typically stay signed into their Apple accounts.
This ecosystem effect becomes even more pronounced when we look at device usage. Our data shows mobile representing 37.8% of logins, with desktop at 29.2%. This tracks closely with data from eMarketer, which indicates 44.6% of all US retail originates from mobile devices. For mobile-first applications, social login is practically essential because users already struggle with traditional password entry on small screens.
As Wharton marketing professor Ron Berman puts it, “Because screens are small, the larger the hassle it is to purchase, the lower the purchase propensity on mobile phones.” Every barrier, no matter how small, represents an obstacle to conversion on mobile devices. But when users are already authenticated with their device's native ecosystem (Google for Android, Apple for iOS), social login removes this friction entirely.
Meet Google One Tap
While we previously touched on Google’s dominance in the social login space, there’s a new, streamlined development making this provider an even more attractive option. Google One Tap takes social authentication a step further by automatically detecting when a user is already signed in to their Google account. Instead of redirecting to a new page or popup, it presents a native prompt right where the user is, enabling a true one-click (or tap) login experience.
Learn more about Google One Tap with Descope in this article.
Niche social login options: why and when to use them
It’s clear that Apple and Google are the prevailing forces in social login. But what if you want to appeal to a specific audience, like business professionals or developers? Offering GitHub or LinkedIn social login options can go a long way toward cementing your brand with these demographics. Even if your users don’t click those buttons, they’ll begin associating you with these providers.
Choosing a smaller social login provider isn’t a project for everyone. If you’re not sure what platforms or devices your users are already engaged with, stick to the big players. But, on the other hand, adding Apple, Google, and trialing one other provider at a time can potentially boost your brand and login success rates.
Consider this: a gaming platform without Discord or Twitch login might feel tone-deaf. A workflow tool relying solely on traditional passwords could signal that it's out of touch with modern methods. No matter what you choose, your auth strategy is part of your product’s identity—social login is no exception.
Is social login secure?
Offloading authentication to an external provider like Google or Apple means leveraging one of the world's most sophisticated security ecosystems. Their auth infrastructure handles everything from device fingerprinting to bot detection at a scale few could match. However, the apparent simplicity of social login masks significant complexity that can create security vulnerabilities when implemented incorrectly.
Case in point: Descope's security team discovered a critical OAuth implementation flaw affecting Microsoft Azure AD applications in 2023. Dubbed nOAuth, this vulnerability stemmed from applications trusting unverified email claims when merging user identities. This practice could have led to complete account takeover (ATO), affecting multiple major applications and authentication providers.
Working with a dedicated authentication provider helps address these challenges through proactive monitoring, quick vulnerability patching, and intrinsic protection against both common and unique attack vectors. For example, the nOAuth vulnerability never affected Descope customers (despite Descope discovering the exploit) because the platform was already enforcing additional email verification steps during account merging. This was due to using the immutable sub claim as the primary identifier rather than relying on mutable email claims.
When properly implemented, social login can enhance security while improving the user experience. The key is striking the right balance. Social login should deliver a seamless journey for legitimate users while maintaining robust defenses against potential attacks and misconfigurations.
Adaptive authentication, for instance, can add additional security when contextual signals indicate a high-risk login attempt. This pairs neatly with social login, allowing users to sign up and sign in smoothly unless certain risk thresholds are met.
Social login in action: a real-world example
One Descope customer’s decision to add social login perfectly exemplifies the power of lower-friction options. Bear in mind that two key variables played a role in the outcome: first, nearly three-quarters of all logins for this platform were from mobile devices; second, only the two largest social login providers were selected (Apple and Google).
In the two months after launching the new option, social login usage on their platform grew from 10% of all logins to 29%, while traditional password use declined from 42% to 26%. To put that in perspective, social logins increased by a jawdropping 190% in the two months since launch, while password use fell by roughly 61% in the same period.
In this example, there’s a clear user preference for social authentication when available. It showcases how quickly users will adopt these more convenient login methods, opting to merge their existing password-based accounts with external providers to obtain a more streamlined experience.
Implementing social login for your site or app
Considering the cost, risks, and ongoing investment of handling social login in-house, working with an experienced authentication provider can be especially valuable for new or growing products. This allows you to reap the benefits of social login while avoiding the pitfalls, lowering barriers for entry to legitimate users without sinking your engineering team’s time into monitoring, maintenance, and patching.
Take it from Descope customer Seetharam Venkatesh, Co-Founder of funda.club:
"Authenticating our community members with LinkedIn is intuitive for them, gives us a better understanding of their identity, and removes the burden of managing passwords."
Descope helps organizations implement social login through our drag & drop CIAM platform, which abstracts away the complexities of modern authentication while maintaining enterprise-ready security.
Our workflow-based interface makes it easy to add providers like Google, Apple, Microsoft, Facebook, GitHub, Discord, Twitch, LinkedIn, and many more. You get pixel-perfect presentation for your social login options, equipped with the latest security best practices, proper claim validation, and secure account merging. Your users get a frictionless sign-up and sign-in experience, resulting in more conversions and fewer login failures.
Sign up for a Free Forever account with Descope to see how easy adding social login to your site or app can be. Interested in learning more about Descope’s user merging and adaptive auth capabilities? Book time with our auth experts.
