Nearly every web application prompts users to create an account and log in. In order to create an account, users are asked to provide their name, their email address, a password, and password confirmation. Not only does this take a lot of effort for the user (50+ keystrokes), but it also creates security concerns, as users often create the same password on multiple sites and some sites do not properly secure these credentials.

OpenID exists to enable federated identity, where users are able to authenticate with the same identity across multiple web applications. Both users and web applications trust identity providers, such as Google, Yahoo!, and Facebook, to store user profile information and authenticate users on behalf of the application. This eliminates the need for each web application to build its own custom authentication system, and it makes it much easier and faster for users to sign up and sign into sites around the Web.