Authorizer vs Pocket ID
A side-by-side comparison of two self-hosted identity & sso options — licensing, setup difficulty, resource needs, and what each one replaces.
Pocket ID
Simple OIDC provider that uses only passkeys
| Feature | Authorizer | Pocket ID |
|---|---|---|
| Deploy effort | Under-an-hour setup | ≈5-minute setup |
| Health score | 85 · Excellent | 92 · Excellent |
| Category | Identity & SSO | Identity & SSO |
| License | Apache-2.0 | BSD-2-Clause |
| Language | Go | Go |
| Setup difficulty | Easy | Easy |
| Min. RAM | 256 MB | 128 MB |
| Deployment | docker, binary | docker |
| GitHub stars | ★ 2,007 | ★ 9,266 |
| First released | 2021 | 2024 |
| Replaces | Auth0, Firebase Authentication | Auth0, Authelia |
What are Authorizer and Pocket ID?
Authorizer
Authorizer is a self-hosted authentication and authorization service that provides social login, email and OTP login, and roles through a GraphQL API. It ships with prebuilt login pages and SDKs.
- Social and email login
- GraphQL auth API
- Prebuilt login UI
- Role-based access control
Pocket ID
Pocket ID is an open-source, simple OpenID Connect provider that authenticates users exclusively with passkeys. It is self-hosted to add passwordless SSO to applications with minimal configuration.
- Passkey-only authentication
- Simple OIDC provider
- Minimal configuration
- Lightweight
Authorizer vs Pocket ID: key differences
Both projects are written in Go. Licensing differs — Apache-2.0 for Authorizer versus BSD-2-Clause for Pocket ID. Pocket ID is the lighter option, starting around 128 MB of RAM against 256 MB for Authorizer. Authorizer is the more established project (first released 2021), while Pocket ID arrived in 2024. Pocket ID has the considerably larger community, at 9,266 GitHub stars versus 2,007.
Why pick each one
Choose Authorizer if…
- Released under the Apache-2.0 license
- Easy to set up — beginner-friendly
- First-class Docker support for quick deployment
- Active community (2k GitHub stars)
Choose Pocket ID if…
- Released under the BSD-2-Clause license
- Easy to set up — beginner-friendly
- First-class Docker support for quick deployment
- Mature project with 9.3k GitHub stars
Frequently asked questions
Is Authorizer or Pocket ID better?
Neither is universally better. Pocket ID has the larger community; both share a easy setup difficulty, so the decision comes down to features and licensing.
Are Authorizer and Pocket ID free and open-source?
Yes. Authorizer is licensed under Apache-2.0 and Pocket ID under BSD-2-Clause. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.
Can I run Authorizer and Pocket ID with Docker?
Authorizer: yes. Pocket ID: yes.
Which is lighter on resources, Authorizer or Pocket ID?
Pocket ID has the smaller minimum footprint at 128 MB of RAM, compared to about 256 MB for Authorizer. Real-world usage depends on library size, user count, and enabled features.