Boundary vs Apereo CAS
A side-by-side comparison of two self-hosted identity & sso options — licensing, setup difficulty, resource needs, and what each one replaces.
Not the right match-up?
Boundary
Identity-based secure access to systems and services
VS
Apereo CAS
Enterprise single sign-on server for web applications
| Feature | Boundary | Apereo CAS |
|---|---|---|
| Category | Identity & SSO | Identity & SSO |
| License | BUSL-1.1 | Apache-2.0 |
| Language | Go | Java |
| Setup difficulty | Medium | Hard |
| Min. RAM | 512 MB | 1,024 MB |
| Deployment | docker, binary | docker, kubernetes, bare-metal |
| GitHub stars | ★ 4,055 | ★ 11,354 |
| First released | 2020 | 2004 |
| Replaces | Teleport, StrongDM | Okta, Ping Identity |
Why pick each one
Choose Boundary if…
- Released under the BUSL-1.1 license
- First-class Docker support for quick deployment
- Active community (4.1k GitHub stars)
- Written in Go
Choose Apereo CAS if…
- Mature SSO with broad protocol support
- Widely adopted in academia
Frequently asked questions
Is Boundary or Apereo CAS better?
Neither is universally better. Apereo CAS has the larger community, while Boundary is simpler to set up (medium difficulty). Choose based on the comparison table above and your own setup.
Are Boundary and Apereo CAS free and open-source?
Yes. Boundary is licensed under BUSL-1.1 and Apereo CAS under Apache-2.0. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.
Can I run Boundary and Apereo CAS with Docker?
Boundary: yes. Apereo CAS: yes.