Alternatives to Keycloak
Open-source identity and access management you self-host
Keycloak ranks #10 of 12 in Authentication & identity providers, with an Alt Score of 81. It is licensed under Apache License 2.0, free from Free and available on Linux, Windows and Web. 11 of 12 checklist rows are verified against a public source.
Keycloak is an open-source identity and access management server (a CNCF project) offering single sign-on, social and enterprise SSO, user federation, MFA, and fine-grained authorization, self-hosted and standards-based (OIDC, OAuth 2.0, SAML).
Engineering teams who need to self-host identity and access management rather than pay a per-MAU SaaS vendor, especially organizations with compliance, data-residency, or CNCF/open-source procurement requirements.
A free, open-source identity server providing single sign-on, social login and identity brokering, OTP/passkey MFA, fine-grained role- and attribute-based authorization, and an admin console for managing realms, users, and clients.
You download and run the Keycloak server (ZIP, container image, or Kubernetes Operator) on your own infrastructure, then register your applications as OpenID Connect or SAML clients so Keycloak issues and validates tokens for them.
Where Keycloak stands out
Verified capabilities most alternatives don't have.
Why people leave Keycloak
Dashed reasons are sourced facts; the rest are opinions. Vendors can dispute.
Sign in to add a reason — new reasons go through moderation before appearing.
Ranked alternatives
Ordered by Alt Score. Click any score to see the breakdown.
FusionAuth is a developer-focused authentication and user management platform that can be self-hosted for free (Community Edition) or run as a managed cloud service.
Ory is an open-source identity platform composed of modular services — Kratos for identity/authentication, Hydra for OAuth2/OIDC, and Keto for permissions — that can be self-hosted or consumed as a ma.
Zitadel is an open-source identity and access management platform, written in Go, offering OIDC/OAuth2/SAML, MFA, passwordless, and a native multi-tenant 'organizations' concept designed for SaaS prod.
Auth0 (an Okta company) is a developer-focused identity platform providing authentication, authorization, social and enterprise SSO, MFA, and user management via drop-in SDKs and a hosted login, for w.
Clerk is a developer-first authentication and user-management platform with pre-built React/Next.js UI components, social and passwordless login, passkeys, MFA, and B2B organizations, designed to add.
Frontegg is a B2B-focused identity platform that bundles authentication, tenant/org management, roles and entitlements, and a pre-built admin portal for end customers.
Stytch is a developer platform for authentication and fraud prevention, offering passwordless and passkey login, social and enterprise SSO, B2B multi-tenant auth, and device fingerprinting through API.
Descope is a customer identity and access management (CIAM) platform that lets developers build authentication journeys (social login, passwordless, MFA, passkeys) with a visual no-code/low-code flow.
WorkOS is a platform of enterprise-readiness APIs — SAML/OIDC single sign-on, SCIM directory sync, audit logs, and its AuthKit user management — that lets B2B SaaS apps add the features enterprise cus.
Amazon Cognito is AWS's managed customer identity and access management service, providing user pools for sign-up/sign-in, social and enterprise SSO federation, MFA, and native passkey support, plus f.
Feature comparison
Rows come from the Authentication & identity providers checklist (16 rows). Human-verified cells only. ? means the value has not been verified.
| Authentication & identity providers checklist | Keycloak | FusionAuth | Ory | Zitadel | Auth0 | Clerk |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pricing model | ||||||
| Starts at | ||||||
| License | ||||||
| Platforms | ||||||
| Social login | ||||||
| Passwordless / magic links | ||||||
| Passkeys / WebAuthn | ||||||
| MFA | ||||||
| Enterprise SSO (SAML / OIDC) | ||||||
| SCIM provisioning | ||||||
| B2B org / multi-tenant | ||||||
| Self-hostable | ||||||
| Pre-built UI components | ||||||
| RBAC / permissions | ||||||
| Open source | ||||||
| Generous free tier (MAUs) |
Every fact and feature listed for Keycloak is verified against its own pages. Each alternative is sourced on its own page.
-
License Apache License 2.0 verified 2026-07-13
Apache License Version 2.0, January 2004
https://raw.githubusercontent.com/keycloak/keycloak/main/LICENSE.txt -
Pricing model Free verified 2026-07-13
Open Source Identity and Access Management
https://github.com/keycloak/keycloak -
Status active verified 2026-07-13
Keycloak 26.7.0 released
https://www.keycloak.org/2026/07/keycloak-2670-released -
Starts at Free verified 2026-07-13
Add authentication to applications and secure services with minimum effort. No need to deal with storing users or authenticating users.
https://github.com/keycloak/keycloak -
Platforms Linux, Windows, Web verified 2026-07-13
Bare Metal / Virtual Machines - Direct installation on Linux or Windows servers
https://www.keycloak.org/server/supported-configurations -
Social login Yes verified 2026-07-13
Social Login - Enable login with Google, GitHub, Facebook, Twitter, and other social networks.
https://www.keycloak.org/docs/latest/server_admin/index.html -
Passwordless / magic links Yes verified 2026-07-13
Passkeys support is not enabled by default. It needs to be enabled in the WebAuthn Passwordless Policy
https://www.keycloak.org/2025/09/passkeys-support-26-4 -
Passkeys / WebAuthn Yes verified 2026-07-13
We are happy to announce official support for passkeys in upcoming Keycloak 26.4.0.
https://www.keycloak.org/2025/09/passkeys-support-26-4 -
MFA Yes verified 2026-07-13
Two-factor Authentication - Support for passkey, recovery codes and TOTP/HOTP via Google Authenticator or FreeOTP.
https://www.keycloak.org/docs/latest/server_admin/index.html -
Enterprise SSO (SAML / OIDC) Yes verified 2026-07-13
As an OAuth2, OpenID Connect and SAML compliant server, Keycloak can secure any application and service as long as the technology stack they are using supports any of these protocols.
https://www.keycloak.org/securing-apps/overview -
SCIM provisioning Partial verified 2026-07-13
We are excited to announce that the SCIM Realm API is now available as an experimental feature in Keycloak 26.6.
https://www.keycloak.org/2026/04/scim-as-experimental-feature -
B2B org / multi-tenant Partial verified 2026-07-13
Keycloak Organizations is a feature that leverages the existing Identity and Access Management (IAM) capabilities of Keycloak to address CIAM uses cases like Business-to-Business (B2B) and Business-to
https://www.keycloak.org/2024/06/announcement-keycloak-organizations -
Self-hostable Yes verified 2026-07-13
Get started with Keycloak on a physical or virtual server.
https://www.keycloak.org/getting-started/getting-started-zip -
Pre-built UI components Partial verified 2026-07-13
Theme support - Customize all user facing pages to integrate with your applications and branding.
https://www.keycloak.org/docs/latest/server_admin/index.html -
RBAC / permissions Yes verified 2026-07-13
Keycloak supports fine-grained authorization policies and is able to combine different access control mechanisms such as: ... Role-based access control (RBAC)
https://www.keycloak.org/docs/latest/authorization_services/index.html -
Open source Yes verified 2026-07-13
Open Source Identity and Access Management
https://github.com/keycloak/keycloak
FAQ
Yes. FusionAuth, Zitadel and Auth0 have a free tier or are fully free. Free-tier limits in the comparison table are verified and dated.
Ory and Zitadel — every license claim links its source.