Compare open source agent identity management with AWS IAM's resource access control. Different scopes, complementary purposes.
by OpenA2A
Purpose-built for AI agents. Cryptographic identity, capability-based access, and continuous trust scoring. Open source and self-hosted.
by Amazon Web Services
Resource-level access control for AWS. Manage who (principals) can do what (actions) on which AWS resources. IAM roles for cross-service access.
AWS IAM controls access to AWS resources (who can call which AWS APIs). AIM manages AI agent identity (cryptographic proof, behavioral trust, capabilities). AWS IAM asks "can this principal invoke this action on this resource?" while AIM asks "is this agent trustworthy to perform this capability?" IAM roles provide machine identity for AWS access, but not AI-specific trust scoring or capability enforcement.
| Feature | AIM | AWS IAM |
|---|---|---|
| Primary Focus | AI agent identity | AWS resource access control |
| Licensing | Apache-2.0 (Free) | Included with AWS (pay for resources) |
| Deployment | Self-hosted or Cloud | AWS managed only |
| Cryptographic Agent Identity | Ed25519 per agent | Access keys / Role assumption |
| Continuous Trust Scoring | 8-factor real-time | Not available |
| Capability-Based Access | Code-level enforcement | Policy-based (JSON documents) |
| MCP Server Attestation | Native support | Not supported |
| AI Framework Integration | LangChain, CrewAI, etc. | Not applicable |
| IAM Roles | Not applicable | Core feature |
| Cross-Account Access | Not applicable | Role assumption |
| Service Control Policies | Not applicable | Org-wide controls |
| Vendor Lock-in | None (portable) | AWS ecosystem |
| Source Code Access | Full access | Closed source |
| Cost Model | Free forever | Free (pay for AWS resources) |
AIM asks: "Is this AI agent trustworthy?"
AWS IAM asks: "Can this principal access this resource?"
with AIM
with AWS IAM
AIM secures the agent itself. AWS IAM controls what AWS resources it can access.
from aim_sdk import secure
# Secure the AI agent itself
# Cryptographic identity + trust
agent = secure(
"data-processor",
capabilities=[
"database:read",
"api:call"
]
)
# Agent identity is verified
# before any action# Grant access to AWS resources
# via IAM policy
{
"Effect": "Allow",
"Action": [
"s3:GetObject",
"dynamodb:Query"
],
"Resource": "*"
}
# Controls AWS API access
# Not agent-level identityAIM and AWS IAM operate at different layers and complement each other:
Agent identity (AIM) + Resource access (AWS IAM) = Defense in depth for AI agents on AWS.
If you're building AI agents with Amazon Bedrock, AWS IAM controls access to Bedrock APIs, but it doesn't manage the identity of the AI agents themselves. AIM provides the missing layer: cryptographic identity, capability enforcement, and trust scoring for your Bedrock-powered agents. Use IAM for Bedrock API access, AIM for agent identity.
AIM provides what AWS IAM can't: purpose-built identity for AI agents. Open source, self-hosted, free forever.
Apache-2.0 license • Self-hosted • Works alongside AWS IAM