# Keycloak Alternatives: 7 Options Compared

Source: https://startwithidentity.com/articles/keycloak-alternatives/
Last updated: 2026-09-20
License: content by Start with Identity. Cite the source URL.

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Keycloak is free, Apache 2.0, and covers OIDC, OAuth 2.0, SAML, LDAP and Active Directory federation, identity brokering and authorization services in a single package. Very few alternatives match that without a paid tier.

So the question is almost never cost. It is whether you want to keep running it.

## Name the actual objection first

**Operational burden.** Running Keycloak in production means owning high availability, database tuning, major-version upgrades, realm design and theming. That is a standing engineering commitment. If this is your objection, another self-hosted project will not fix it, and you should be looking at managed services.

**Fit.** Keycloak was built around enterprise realms and classic federation. Teams building B2B SaaS multi-tenancy or developer-first flows sometimes find themselves working against its grain rather than with it.

**Licence.** This one is rarely the reason to leave Keycloak, because its terms are better than most of what gets recommended as an alternative. Worth saying plainly: several products marketed as open-source Keycloak alternatives keep an enterprise directory under a separate licence requiring a paid subscription for production use. Read the LICENSE files, not the landing page.

## If you want genuinely open components: Ory

[Ory](https://startwithidentity.com/vendors/open-source/ory/) is the closest licence position to Keycloak, with Kratos, Hydra, Keto, Oathkeeper and Polis all Apache 2.0 and no relicensing event. Each runs standalone, so you can adopt Hydra purely as a certified OAuth 2.0 and OIDC provider without taking a platform. The caveat is feature gating rather than licence gating: B2B organisations and multi-tenancy in Kratos ship only in commercial binaries.

## If you want self-hosted with a modern interface

[Zitadel](https://startwithidentity.com/vendors/open-source/zitadel/) and [Authentik](https://startwithidentity.com/vendors/open-source/authentik/) are the usual shortlist, both self-hostable with more contemporary defaults. [FusionAuth](https://startwithidentity.com/vendors/ciam/fusionauth/) suits teams wanting self-hosted with straightforward commercial licensing and real support. Compare [Keycloak vs Zitadel](https://startwithidentity.com/compare/keycloak-vs-zitadel/) and [FusionAuth vs Keycloak](https://startwithidentity.com/compare/fusionauth-vs-keycloak/).

## If you want to stop operating identity

[Auth0](https://startwithidentity.com/vendors/ciam/auth0/) and [WorkOS](https://startwithidentity.com/vendors/ciam/workos/) remove the burden and add what self-hosted projects structurally lack: an SLA, published compliance certifications, and someone accountable. You pay per user and take a dependency you cannot patch yourself.

## If you only need application login

[Better Auth](https://startwithidentity.com/vendors/open-source/better-auth/) is now the strongest open-source TypeScript authentication library, MIT licensed, covering 2FA, passkeys, organisations, SAML and inbound SCIM. Vercel acquired it in July 2026 and the library stays MIT. It replaces Keycloak only if Keycloak was doing application login rather than acting as a central identity provider.

## Before you migrate

Check SAML support and LDAP federation specifically, since those are the two capabilities most often thinner in newer alternatives. See [top 10 open-source IAM solutions](https://startwithidentity.com/articles/top-10-open-source-iam-solutions/) and [top 8 open-source CIAM platforms](https://startwithidentity.com/articles/top-8-open-source-ciam-platforms/) for the wider field.