# What is authentication using a Personal Access Token?

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**Note:** This feature is available **available only to customers on sipgate classic** . On sipgate neo, the feature is integrated in a different form.
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You can use personal access tokens for authentication with the sipgate [REST API](https://www.sipgate.io/rest-api) use. This method is intended to replace the previous basic auth method.

Instead of a username and password, authentication with the sipgate REST API uses a unique combination of token ID and token.

**Personal access tokens** offer more security than authentication via username and password:

* More **control options** through management of permissions (scopes)
* The areas of use for tokens can be specified via the scopes, so that access is granted only to a limited area of the account
* If a token has been compromised, it can be deleted
* Username and password do not have to be sent over the network
* The creation of a token is secured by **two-factor authentication** if this is enabled

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**Note:** You can create, manage and delete your personal access tokens in your [account](https://app.sipgate.com/personal-access-token) When assigning permissions (scopes), make sure that you only grant the permissions required for your application. Unnecessarily granted permissions pose a security risk.
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Examples of how you can use a personal access token for authentication with the API can be found in our [documentation](https://www.sipgate.io/rest-api/authentication/#personalAccessToken).


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