What Is SWA? Auto-Login for Apps Without SSO

SWA (Secure Web Authentication) is a method that, for apps that do not support standard SSO, safely stores credentials and logs in automatically. It is used to manage apps that cannot be integrated via OIDC or SAML in a way that approximates SSO.

When SWA is needed

Not every app a company uses supports standard SSO. Older work tools and some smaller SaaS often do not offer OIDC or SAML integration. Such apps are commonly managed by a team sharing one account and passing the password around via messenger or documents. This approach makes it hard to tell who accessed it, lets passwords float around in plain text, and makes revocation cumbersome.

How SWA works

The core of SWA is keeping credentials not with people but in an encrypted vault. You store the app's ID and password in the vault, and at login time a browser extension receives the credentials from the vault and enters them on the user's behalf. The user logs in with one click without ever seeing the password, and the company can manage things so the password never passes through human hands.

The difference between SWA and SSO

SSO is a standard method where the app delegates authentication to the IdP, and SWA is a method that safely enters credentials on the app's login screen for you. SWA's advantage is that you do not need to modify the app, but it is not as deep an integration as standard protocol connection. So a realistic combination is to manage apps that can use standard SSO with SSO, and apps that cannot with SWA. Handling both methods in one console lets you gather all internal apps under the same access policy and audit standard.

AxiPass's SWA keeps credentials under Lockbox column encryption and lets you grant and revoke them per user, so you can turn a shared account into individual-level access (in-app activity records can be turned on as an option when needed). The practical approach continues in Managing Accounts for Apps Without SSO, and you can start for free to see it for yourself.