Caddy Security vs Keycloak
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?
Caddy Security
Authentication and authorization plugin for Caddy
VS
Keycloak
Open-source identity and access management for modern apps
| Feature | Caddy Security | Keycloak |
|---|---|---|
| Category | Identity & SSO | Identity & SSO |
| License | Apache-2.0 | Apache-2.0 |
| Language | Go | Java |
| Setup difficulty | Medium | Hard |
| Min. RAM | 128 MB | 1,024 MB |
| Deployment | binary, source | docker, kubernetes, bare-metal |
| GitHub stars | ★ 2,213 | ★ 36,058 |
| First released | 2021 | 2014 |
| Replaces | Cloudflare Access | Okta, Auth0, Microsoft Entra ID |
Why pick each one
Choose Caddy Security if…
- Released under the Apache-2.0 license
- Active community (2.2k GitHub stars)
- Written in Go
- Tiny footprint — runs in 128 MB RAM
Frequently asked questions
Is Caddy Security or Keycloak better?
Neither is universally better. Keycloak has the larger community, while Caddy Security is simpler to set up (medium difficulty). Choose based on the comparison table above and your own setup.
Are Caddy Security and Keycloak free and open-source?
Yes. Caddy Security is licensed under Apache-2.0 and Keycloak under Apache-2.0. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.
Can I run Caddy Security and Keycloak with Docker?
Caddy Security: check the project docs for container support. Keycloak: yes.