Apereo CAS vs step-ca
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
step-ca
Private online certificate authority for internal PKI
| Feature | Apereo CAS | step-ca |
|---|---|---|
| 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, binary |
| GitHub stars | ★ 11,354 | ★ 8,734 |
| First released | 2004 | 2019 |
| Replaces | Okta, Ping Identity | DigiCert |
Why pick each one
Choose Apereo CAS if…
- Mature SSO with broad protocol support
- Widely adopted in academia
Choose step-ca if…
- Released under the Apache-2.0 license
- First-class Docker support for quick deployment
- Mature project with 8.7k GitHub stars
- Written in Go
Frequently asked questions
Is Apereo CAS or step-ca better?
Neither is universally better. Apereo CAS has the larger community, while step-ca is simpler to set up (medium difficulty). Choose based on the comparison table above and your own setup.
Are Apereo CAS and step-ca free and open-source?
Yes. Apereo CAS is licensed under Apache-2.0 and step-ca under Apache-2.0. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.
Can I run Apereo CAS and step-ca with Docker?
Apereo CAS: yes. step-ca: yes.