Login.gov
Ranked 6 of 7 digital IDs by recommenders
People recommend it as a government sign-in option that is more secure than alternatives like ID.me, especially for federal services, with in-person ID checks cited as a strength.
People recommend it as a government sign-in option that is more secure than alternatives like ID.me, especially for federal services, with in-person ID checks cited as a strength.
13 people gave an opinion
- recommend it
- 8
- criticize it
- 5
- approval share
- 62%
Recommended in 2 of 13 months
- November 2025: not recommended
- December 2025: not recommended
- January 2026: not recommended
- February 2026: not recommended
- March 2026: not recommended
- April 2026: not recommended
- May 2026: not recommended
- June 2026: recommended
- July 2026: not recommended
- August 2026: recommended
- September 2026: not recommended
- October 2026: not recommended
- November 2026: not recommended (month in progress)
Why it doesn’t carry the badge
- 8 people recommend itNeeds 10 or more, not met.
- 1.6 recommenders for every criticNeeds 2 to 1 or better, not met.
- Recommended in 2 of 13 monthsNeeds 4 or more, not met.
The same three rules apply to every product, and the badge can’t be bought. How the badge works
What people say about it
The reasons people give, with the number of comments that give each one. Open a reason to read what they said.
Why people recommend it
Each mark is one comment
Seen as more secure than alternatives
“physically going to a federally owned building with cameras and providing ID has got to be one of the more secure ways to handle it”
Comment from 2 Jun 2026 in “The newest Instagram "exploit" is the goofiest I've seen” “When given the option (like this case), I recommend Login.gov over ID.me.”
Comment from 22 Jun 2026 in “Never Give Them Your Face” “it is good enough (based on all available evidence)”
Comment from 2 Jun 2026 in “The newest Instagram "exploit" is the goofiest I've seen” Good enough for large user base
“if its good enough for ~342M Americans, its good enough for our customer base”
Comment from 1 Jun 2026 in “The newest Instagram "exploit" is the goofiest I've seen” “cover everyone 18+ in the US eventually”
Comment from 3 Aug 2026 in “New York Will Require Digital ID Checks for Social Feeds” Wanted for federal service logins
“Under the prior administration things were moving slowly toward login.gov for every federal service.”
Comment from 15 Aug 2026 in “TreasuryDirect: Prepare for ID.me – Your New Way to Log In” “Why on earth are they not using login.gov”
Comment from 17 Aug 2026 in “TreasuryDirect: Prepare for ID.me – Your New Way to Log In” “Unfortunate it's not login.gov”
Comment from 15 Aug 2026 in “TreasuryDirect: Prepare for ID.me – Your New Way to Log In”
Other digital IDs people recommend
The four most recommended other digital IDs, with the same counts for each, so you can compare like for like. The tick on each bar marks the 2 to 1 line the badge needs.
| Product | Recommend | Criticize | Approval | Months | Owned | Badge |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| BankID | 25 | 28 | 47% | 9 | — | — |
| EU Digital Identity Wallet | 13 | 20 | 39% | 8 | — | — |
| DigiD | 11 | 9 | 55% | 7 | — | — |
| MitID | 11 | 21 | 34% | 4 | — | — |
| Login.govThis page | 8 | 5 | 62% | 2 | — | — |
What people said
15 of the 16 comments that mention it, newest first. Each links to the original comment.
“the federal government is backpedaling on login.gov”
“Really neither is a good solution.”
“Why on earth are they not using login.gov”
“Under the prior administration things were moving slowly toward login.gov for every federal service.”
“And we even have login.gov, too!”
“Login.gov has some technical gaps for agency customer identity use cases”
“Unfortunate it's not login.gov”
“cover everyone 18+ in the US eventually”
“When given the option (like this case), I recommend Login.gov over ID.me.”
“it is good enough (based on all available evidence)”
“Turn over access to all your personal accounts to the US government? Sure. What could possibly go wrong.”
“It would be a very useful service for them to provide a "User forgot password and can't log in" flow”
“physically going to a federally owned building with cameras and providing ID has got to be one of the more secure ways to handle it”
“my experience was … negative to the point of actively avoiding it”
“if its good enough for ~342M Americans, its good enough for our customer base”
Counts come from 1,795,640 Hacker News comments, November 2025 to November 2026. How we count. Report a mistake.