Casbin 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?
Casbin
Authorization library supporting many access control models
VS
Hanko
Passkey-first authentication for modern applications
| Feature | Casbin | Hanko |
|---|---|---|
| Category | Identity & SSO | Identity & SSO |
| License | Apache-2.0 | AGPL-3.0 |
| Language | Go | Go |
| Setup difficulty | Medium | Medium |
| Min. RAM | 128 MB | 512 MB |
| Deployment | source | docker, binary |
| GitHub stars | ★ 20,311 | ★ 9,002 |
| First released | 2017 | 2022 |
| Replaces | Auth0 RBAC | Auth0, Clerk |
Why pick each one
Choose Casbin if…
- Released under the Apache-2.0 license
- Mature project with 20.3k GitHub stars
- Written in Go
- Tiny footprint — runs in 128 MB RAM
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 Casbin or Hanko better?
Neither is universally better. Casbin has the larger community; both share a medium setup difficulty, so the decision comes down to features and licensing.
Are Casbin and Hanko free and open-source?
Yes. Casbin is licensed under Apache-2.0 and Hanko under AGPL-3.0. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.
Can I run Casbin and Hanko with Docker?
Casbin: check the project docs for container support. Hanko: yes.