OAuth vs JWT: What's the Difference

Understanding the distinctions between OAuth and JWT is crucial for developers and organizations to build secure and efficient web applications.

Habibur Rahman

Habibur Rahman

29 July 2025

OAuth vs JWT: What's the Difference

In the digital security domain, OAuth and JWT (JSON Web Tokens) are integral components, yet they cater to different aspects of web security and identity management. Understanding the distinctions between OAuth and JWT is crucial for developers and organizations to build secure and efficient web applications. Let's delve deeper into each of these technologies to unravel their intricacies and explore their key differences.

💡
Apidog is an extremely powerful and easy-to-use API management tool that allows you to easily obtain an OAuth 2.0 access token with just a single click through its intuitive UI.
Click the Download button below to enjoy seamless OAuth authentication with Apidog.
button

What is OAuth?

OAuth is an authorization framework that enables third-party applications to obtain limited access to a user's data hosted on another service, without requiring the user to expose their login credentials. It's widely used for permission-based access, allowing users to control which parts of their data can be accessed by third-party applications.

OAuth Versions

There are two main versions of OAuth: OAuth 1.0 and OAuth 2.0. They both serve the purpose of secure authorization for APIs, but there are significant differences between them:

OAuth 1.0:

OAuth 2.0:

// JavaScript code to redirect to OAuth Provider (e.g., Google)
function redirectToOAuthProvider() {
    const oauthUrl = 'https://accounts.google.com/o/oauth2/v2/auth?response_type=code&client_id=YOUR_CLIENT_ID&redirect_uri=YOUR_REDIRECT_URI&scope=profile email';
    window.location.href = oauthUrl;
}

How OAuth Works

  1. User Authorization: The user authorizes a third-party application to access their data on a service (like a social media platform).
  2. Obtaining Access Token: The third-party application receives an access token from the service.
  3. Accessing Data: The application uses this token to access the user's data within the scope of permission granted.
How OAuth Works
How OAuth Works

Key Features of OAuth

What is JWT?

JWT, short for JSON Web Tokens, is a compact and self-contained way for securely transmitting information between parties as a JSON object. This information can be verified and trusted because it is digitally signed.

const jwt = require('jsonwebtoken');

// User information payload
const userPayload = { id: 'user123', name: 'John Doe' };

// Secret key for signing the JWT
const secretKey = 'YOUR_SECRET_KEY';

// Generating a JWT
const token = jwt.sign(userPayload, secretKey, { expiresIn: '2h' });

JWT Structure

  1. Header: Contains token type and signing algorithm.
  2. Payload: Holds the claims, which are statements about an entity (user) and additional data.
  3. Signature: Verifies that the sender of the JWT is who it says it is and ensures that the message wasn't changed along the way.
How JWT Works
How JWT Works

Key Features of JWT

Key Differences: OAuth vs JWT

Purpose and Use

Implementation and Flow

Security Dynamics

Flexibility and Scope

OAuth vs JWT: Comparison Table

Aspect

OAuth

JWT

Type Authorization framework Token format
Primary Use Access delegation for third-party apps Secure information exchange and authentication
Operation Grants access tokens for API access Encodes claims such as user identity
Security Dependent on the authorization server Encoded and digitally signed for integrity
Flexibility Various authorization flows for different use cases Used in multiple scenarios, not limited to authorization
Data Storage Tokens do not contain significant user data Self-contained with user data

Why Choose Apidog to Authenticate OAuth?

Apidog stands out as a robust tool for OAuth authentication. This platform simplifies the OAuth setup, enhances testing and debugging, and offers comprehensive support for OAuth standards. Here’s a brief overview of Apidog’s key features:

button

User-Friendly Interface

Integrated Testing and Debugging

Comprehensive OAuth Standards Support

Enhanced Security and Reliability

Collaboration and Documentation Features

Conclusion

In the context of web security, OAuth and JWT serve distinct yet complementary roles. OAuth is the go-to framework for managing user permissions and granting access to third-party applications without exposing user credentials. Meanwhile, JWT stands out for its ability to securely transmit user data and authenticate identities. Recognizing the differences and applications of OAuth and JWT is imperative for developers and organizations to harness these technologies effectively, ensuring secure and seamless web experiences.


Explore more

Top 10 API Trends for 2025: Shaping the Future of Development

Top 10 API Trends for 2025: Shaping the Future of Development

Explore the top 10 API trends transforming development in 2025 from async APIs and GraphQL to API-first design and AI-driven tooling. See how tools like Apidog help you stay ahead.

7 August 2025

What's New with Qwen3-4B-Instruct-2507 and Qwen3-4B-Thinking-2507? Smarter AI Models with 256K Context

What's New with Qwen3-4B-Instruct-2507 and Qwen3-4B-Thinking-2507? Smarter AI Models with 256K Context

Discover Qwen3-4B-Instruct-2507 and Qwen3-4B-Thinking-2507, Alibaba Cloud’s latest AI models with 256K context length, advanced reasoning, and multilingual support.

7 August 2025

How to Use Open AI’s GPT-OSS-120B with API

How to Use Open AI’s GPT-OSS-120B with API

Discover GPT-OSS-120B, Open AI’s open-weight model. Learn its benchmarks, pricing, and how to integrate it with Cursor or Cline using OpenRouter API for coding.

6 August 2025

Practice API Design-first in Apidog

Discover an easier way to build and use APIs