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TOTP vs Passkeys

Understand where TOTP still helps, where passkeys are stronger, and how high-risk accounts should combine methods.

Passkeys are phishing-resistant because the authenticator signs a challenge for the site you are actually on.
TOTP remains widely supported, simple to deploy, and useful as a fallback where passkeys are not yet available.
For high-value accounts, the best strategy is often passkey first, TOTP second, SMS only as a last resort.

Why passkeys are stronger

Passkeys use asymmetric cryptography and bind the response to the site you are authenticating to. That design blocks the classic copy-and-paste phishing flow that manual OTP entry allows.

Why TOTP still matters

TOTP is still valuable because it works across many platforms, can run offline, and is still better than SMS for many accounts. It is especially useful where passkeys are not supported yet.

How to combine them

Use passkeys or security keys where available, keep TOTP as a fallback where the platform still needs it, and avoid weakening the recovery path by leaving SMS as the only backup.

Comparison checklist

  • Enable passkeys on the accounts that support them.
  • Keep a TOTP method on legacy services that do not yet support passkeys.
  • Review whether your team can disable SMS once better methods are in place.

Watch-outs

  • Passkeys still depend on account recovery, device security, and policy choices.
  • TOTP is not the same thing as phishing resistance.

Related pages

What Is TOTP? Learn how time-based one-time passwords use a shared secret and clock window to generate changing 2FA codes. How to Set Up 2FA on AWS Configure MFA for AWS root and IAM users, compare virtual MFA with hardware keys, and reduce recovery risk.