A standard controller consists of the same functionality and logic that is used for a standard Salesforce page. For example, if you use the standard Accounts controller, clicking a Save button in a Visualforce page results in the same behavior as clicking Save on a standard Account edit page.

If you use a standard controller on a page and the user doesn’t have access to the object, the page will display an insufficient privileges error message. You can avoid this by checking the user’s accessibility for an object and displaying components appropriately.

A standard list controller enables you to create Visualforce pages that can display or act on a set of records. Examples of existing Salesforce pages that work with a set of records include list pages, related lists, and mass action pages.