Apereo CAS vs Hanko
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
Hanko
Passkey-first authentication for modern applications
| Feature | Apereo CAS | Hanko |
|---|---|---|
| Category | Identity & SSO | Identity & SSO |
| License | Apache-2.0 | AGPL-3.0 |
| Language | Java | Go |
| Setup difficulty | Hard | Medium |
| Min. RAM | 1,024 MB | 512 MB |
| Deployment | docker, kubernetes, bare-metal | docker, binary |
| GitHub stars | ★ 11,354 | ★ 9,002 |
| First released | 2004 | 2022 |
| Replaces | Okta, Ping Identity | Auth0, Clerk |
Why pick each one
Choose Apereo CAS if…
- Mature SSO with broad protocol support
- Widely adopted in academia
Choose Hanko if…
- Released under the AGPL-3.0 license
- First-class Docker support for quick deployment
- Mature project with 9k GitHub stars
- Written in Go
Frequently asked questions
Is Apereo CAS or Hanko better?
Neither is universally better. Apereo CAS has the larger community, while Hanko is simpler to set up (medium difficulty). Choose based on the comparison table above and your own setup.
Are Apereo CAS and Hanko free and open-source?
Yes. Apereo CAS is licensed under Apache-2.0 and Hanko under AGPL-3.0. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.
Can I run Apereo CAS and Hanko with Docker?
Apereo CAS: yes. Hanko: yes.