Apereo CAS vs SimpleSAMLphp
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
SimpleSAMLphp
PHP implementation of SAML and identity federation
| Feature | Apereo CAS | SimpleSAMLphp |
|---|---|---|
| Category | Identity & SSO | Identity & SSO |
| License | Apache-2.0 | LGPL-2.1 |
| Language | Java | PHP |
| Setup difficulty | Hard | Medium |
| Min. RAM | 1,024 MB | 256 MB |
| Deployment | docker, kubernetes, bare-metal | bare-metal, source, docker |
| GitHub stars | ★ 11,354 | ★ 1,139 |
| First released | 2004 | 2007 |
| Replaces | Okta, Ping Identity | Okta, PingFederate |
Why pick each one
Choose Apereo CAS if…
- Mature SSO with broad protocol support
- Widely adopted in academia
Frequently asked questions
Is Apereo CAS or SimpleSAMLphp better?
Neither is universally better. Apereo CAS has the larger community, while SimpleSAMLphp is simpler to set up (medium difficulty). Choose based on the comparison table above and your own setup.
Are Apereo CAS and SimpleSAMLphp free and open-source?
Yes. Apereo CAS is licensed under Apache-2.0 and SimpleSAMLphp under LGPL-2.1. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.
Can I run Apereo CAS and SimpleSAMLphp with Docker?
Apereo CAS: yes. SimpleSAMLphp: yes.