Apereo CAS vs Univention Corporate Server
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
Univention Corporate Server
Integrated identity and infrastructure management platform
| Feature | Apereo CAS | Univention Corporate Server |
|---|---|---|
| Category | Identity & SSO | Identity & SSO |
| License | Apache-2.0 | AGPL-3.0 |
| Language | Java | Python |
| Setup difficulty | Hard | Hard |
| Min. RAM | 1,024 MB | 2,048 MB |
| Deployment | docker, kubernetes, bare-metal | bare-metal, one-click |
| GitHub stars | ★ 11,354 | ★ 293 |
| First released | 2004 | 2004 |
| Replaces | Okta, Ping Identity | Microsoft Active Directory |
Why pick each one
Choose Apereo CAS if…
- Mature SSO with broad protocol support
- Widely adopted in academia
Choose Univention Corporate Server if…
- Comprehensive platform
- Web-based administration
Frequently asked questions
Is Apereo CAS or Univention Corporate Server better?
Neither is universally better. Apereo CAS has the larger community; both share a hard setup difficulty, so the decision comes down to features and licensing.
Are Apereo CAS and Univention Corporate Server free and open-source?
Yes. Apereo CAS is licensed under Apache-2.0 and Univention Corporate Server under AGPL-3.0. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.
Can I run Apereo CAS and Univention Corporate Server with Docker?
Apereo CAS: yes. Univention Corporate Server: check the project docs for container support.