# Alternatives to Zitadel 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 products. It can be self-hosted or used as a managed cloud service. It differentiates from Java-based Keycloak by being lighter-weight and from Auth0 by being fully open source with a generous free cloud tier. Zitadel ranks #3 of 12 in Authentication & identity providers, with an Alt Score of 93. It is licensed under AGPL-3.0, freemium from US$100/mo and available on Linux, macOS and Web. 12 of 12 checklist rows are verified against a public source. Source: https://altcatalog.com/alternatives/zitadel/ Category: Authentication & identity providers ## Where Zitadel stands out - **Open source** — 3 of 12 apps with a verified answer have this - **Self-hostable** — 4 of 11 apps with a verified answer have this ## Overview - **Who it's for**: Development teams building B2B SaaS, enterprise, or consumer applications that need customer and workforce identity and access management, including organizations that require self-hosting for data-residency or compliance reasons. - **What you get**: An open-source (AGPL-3.0) identity platform providing single sign-on, MFA, passkey/WebAuthn passwordless login, social and enterprise identity brokering via OIDC, SAML, and LDAP, SCIM 2.0 user provisioning, role-based access control, and a native multi-tenant B2B organization model, delivered as either a managed cloud service or a self-hosted deployment running the same codebase. - **How it works**: ZITADEL runs as an API-first server (gRPC, connectRPC, and REST) backed by PostgreSQL, recording every change as an immutable event to produce a complete audit trail. Applications integrate through a hosted or customizable login UI and authenticate users via OIDC or SAML, while access and role management can be delegated down through a hierarchy of Identity System, Organizations, and Projects. ## Profile - **License**: AGPL-3.0 (verified 2026-07-30) - **Pricing model**: Freemium (verified 2026-07-30) - **Starts at**: US$100/mo (verified 2026-07-30) - **Platforms**: Linux, macOS, Web - **Status**: active (verified 2026-07-30) ## Ranked alternatives | # | App | Alt Score | Licence | Platforms | |---|-----|-----------|---------|-----------| | 1 | [FusionAuth](https://altcatalog.com/alternatives/fusionauth.md) | 93 | Proprietary | Windows, macOS, Linux, Web | | 2 | [Ory](https://altcatalog.com/alternatives/ory.md) | 93 | Apache-2.0 | Linux, macOS, Windows | | 3 | [Auth0](https://altcatalog.com/alternatives/auth0.md) | 89 | Proprietary | Web | | 4 | [Clerk](https://altcatalog.com/alternatives/clerk.md) | 89 | Proprietary | Web, iOS, Android | | 5 | [Frontegg](https://altcatalog.com/alternatives/frontegg.md) | 89 | Proprietary | Web, iOS, Android | | 6 | [Stytch](https://altcatalog.com/alternatives/stytch.md) | 89 | Proprietary | Web, iOS, Android | | 7 | [Descope](https://altcatalog.com/alternatives/descope.md) | 85 | Proprietary | Web, iOS, Android | | 8 | [WorkOS](https://altcatalog.com/alternatives/workos.md) | 85 | Proprietary | Web | | 9 | [Keycloak](https://altcatalog.com/alternatives/keycloak.md) | 81 | Apache License 2.0 | Linux, Windows, Web | | 10 | [Amazon Cognito](https://altcatalog.com/alternatives/cognito.md) | 78 | ? | Web | | 11 | [Kinde](https://altcatalog.com/alternatives/kinde.md) | 74 | Proprietary | Web | Alt Score = Verified coverage (90%) + Visibility (10%). See https://altcatalog.com/how-alt-score-works/ ## Feature comparison Legend: Yes / No / Partial / ? (not verified). | Authentication & identity providers checklist | Zitadel | FusionAuth | Ory | Auth0 | Clerk | Frontegg | |---|---|---|---|---|---|---| | Pricing model | Freemium | Freemium | OSS + paid hosting | Freemium | Freemium | Usage-based | | Starts at | US$100/mo | $162/mo | $770/yr | $35/mo | $25/mo | $0/mo | | License | AGPL-3.0 | Proprietary | Apache-2.0 | Proprietary | Proprietary | Proprietary | | Platforms | Linux, macOS, Web | Windows, macOS, Linux, Web | Linux, macOS, Windows | Web | Web, iOS, Android | Web, iOS, Android | | Social login | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | | Passwordless / magic links | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | | Passkeys / WebAuthn | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | | MFA | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | | Enterprise SSO (SAML / OIDC) | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | | SCIM provisioning | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | | B2B org / multi-tenant | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | | Self-hostable | Yes | Yes | Yes | Partial | No | Partial | | Pre-built UI components | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | | RBAC / permissions | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | | Open source | Yes | No | Yes | No | Partial | No | | Generous free tier (MAUs) | No | Yes | No | Yes | Yes | Yes | ## Sources Sources for Zitadel. Each alternative is sourced on its own page. - **License**: AGPL-3.0 — (verified 2026-07-30) - Note: Zitadel moved from Apache-2.0 to AGPL-3.0 starting with V3 (per zitadel.com/license-faq). LICENSING.md notes Apache-2.0/MIT exceptions for specific directories, but the repo's top-level LICENSE file i - Quote: “GNU AFFERO GENERAL PUBLIC LICENSE Version 3, 19 November 2007” - **Starts at**: US$100/mo — (verified 2026-07-30) - Note: Cheapest paid (non-free) cloud tier; Enterprise tier is custom-quoted. - Quote: “PRO Our cloud plan that scales with your needs. US$ 100 /Month” - **Platforms**: Linux, macOS, Web — (verified 2026-07-30) - Note: Self-hosted deploy targets are Linux/macOS (plus Docker Compose/Kubernetes, not in the platform vocabulary); ZITADEL Cloud is also offered as a browser-based SaaS console (see README 'ZITADEL Cloud (S - Quote: “Choose your platform and run ZITADEL with the most minimal configuration possible. Linux MacOS Docker Compose Kubernetes” - **Pricing model**: Freemium — (verified 2026-07-30) - Note: Same page also lists a paid PRO tier (US$100/mo) and a custom-quote ENTERPRISE tier alongside the Free plan. - Quote: “FREE Try out all features US$ 0 /Month” - **Status**: active — (verified 2026-07-30) - Note: Latest tagged release (v4.16.2) was published 2026-07-29, one day before this research — active, frequent release cadence. - Quote: “v4.16.2” - **Social login**: Yes — (verified 2026-07-30) - Note: Shown as options on the hosted login preview under the 'Hosted Login' feature section. - Quote: “Login with Google Login with Microsoft Sign in with Github” - **Passwordless / magic links**: Yes — (verified 2026-07-30) - Note: Zitadel's passwordless method is passkey/WebAuthn-based; no separate emailed 'magic link' sign-in flow was found in the docs (Passwordless Registration Link APIs enroll a passkey rather than log a use - Quote: “Replace passwords with a phishing resistant and convenient authentication with Passkeys.” - **Passkeys / WebAuthn**: Yes — (verified 2026-07-30) - Note: Complies with FIDO2/WebAuthn standards per the same page. - Quote: “Passkeys, replacing traditional passwords, leverage public-key cryptography similar to FIDO2 and WebAuthn.” - **MFA**: Yes — (verified 2026-07-30) - Quote: “MFA: OTP, U2F, OTP Email, OTP SMS” - **Enterprise SSO (SAML / OIDC)**: Yes — (verified 2026-07-30) - Note: OIDC support is confirmed separately: README states 'OpenID Connect certified'. - Quote: “SAML stands for Security Assertion Markup Language. It is a standard commonly used for identity federation and single sign-on (SSO).” - **SCIM provisioning**: Yes — (verified 2026-07-30) - Note: Documented as 'SCIM v2.0 (Preview)' as of this writing. - Quote: “The Zitadel SCIM v2 service provider interface enables integration of identity and access management (instance) systems with Zitadel, following the System for Cross-domain Identity Management (SCIM) v” - **B2B org / multi-tenant**: Yes — (verified 2026-07-30) - Quote: “Strict multi-tenant hierarchy — Identity System → Organizations → Projects, with isolated data and policy scoping at multiple levels” - **Self-hostable**: Yes — (verified 2026-07-30) - Quote: “Choose your platform and run ZITADEL with the most minimal configuration possible.” - **Pre-built UI components**: Yes — (verified 2026-07-30) - Note: Refers to Zitadel's hosted/customizable Login UI rather than an installable frontend component library. - Quote: “Easily authenticate your users with a customizable hosted login page.” - **RBAC / permissions**: Yes — (verified 2026-07-30) - Quote: “A role assignment combines a user of your organization with one or multiple roles.” - **Open source**: Yes — (verified 2026-07-30) - Quote: “ZITADEL is an open-source identity and access management platform built for teams that need more than basic auth.” - **Generous free tier (MAUs)**: No — (verified 2026-07-30) - Note: Zitadel's free tier is metered in Daily Active Users, not Monthly Active Users, and is capped at 100 DAU — the paid Pro tier ($100/mo) is what includes 25,000 DAU/month. This doesn't match the checkli - Quote: “100 Daily Active Users” --- Ranked by verified data, never by who paid. https://altcatalog.com/trust/