Apereo CAS vs Cerbos
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?
Apereo CAS
Enterprise single sign-on server for web applications
VS
Cerbos
Scalable, decoupled authorization service
| Feature | Apereo CAS | Cerbos |
|---|---|---|
| Category | Identity & SSO | Identity & SSO |
| License | Apache-2.0 | Apache-2.0 |
| Language | Java | Go |
| Setup difficulty | Hard | Medium |
| Min. RAM | 1,024 MB | 256 MB |
| Deployment | docker, kubernetes, bare-metal | docker, kubernetes, binary |
| GitHub stars | ★ 11,354 | ★ 4,529 |
| First released | 2004 | 2021 |
| Replaces | Okta, Ping Identity | Auth0 FGA, OPA |
Why pick each one
Choose Apereo CAS if…
- Mature SSO with broad protocol support
- Widely adopted in academia
Choose Cerbos if…
- Released under the Apache-2.0 license
- First-class Docker support for quick deployment
- Kubernetes-ready with Helm charts available
- Active community (4.5k GitHub stars)
Frequently asked questions
Is Apereo CAS or Cerbos better?
Neither is universally better. Apereo CAS has the larger community, while Cerbos is simpler to set up (medium difficulty). Choose based on the comparison table above and your own setup.
Are Apereo CAS and Cerbos free and open-source?
Yes. Apereo CAS is licensed under Apache-2.0 and Cerbos under Apache-2.0. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.
Can I run Apereo CAS and Cerbos with Docker?
Apereo CAS: yes. Cerbos: yes.