Boundary vs Ory Hydra
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
Ory Hydra
Certified OAuth 2.0 and OpenID Connect server
| Feature | Boundary | Ory Hydra |
|---|---|---|
| Category | Identity & SSO | Identity & SSO |
| License | BUSL-1.1 | Apache-2.0 |
| Language | Go | Go |
| Setup difficulty | Medium | Hard |
| Min. RAM | 512 MB | 256 MB |
| Deployment | docker, binary | docker, kubernetes, binary |
| GitHub stars | ★ 4,055 | ★ 17,462 |
| First released | 2020 | 2015 |
| Replaces | Teleport, StrongDM | Okta, Auth0 |
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
Frequently asked questions
Is Boundary or Ory Hydra better?
Neither is universally better. Ory Hydra 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 Ory Hydra free and open-source?
Yes. Boundary is licensed under BUSL-1.1 and Ory Hydra under Apache-2.0. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.
Can I run Boundary and Ory Hydra with Docker?
Boundary: yes. Ory Hydra: yes.