Casdoor vs Ipsilon
A side-by-side comparison of two self-hosted identity & sso options — licensing, setup difficulty, resource needs, and what each one replaces.
| Feature | Casdoor | Ipsilon |
|---|---|---|
| Deploy effort | Under-an-hour setup | Read-the-docs project |
| Category | Identity & SSO | Identity & SSO |
| License | Apache-2.0 | GPL-3.0 |
| Language | Go | Python |
| Setup difficulty | Medium | Hard |
| Min. RAM | 256 MB | 512 MB |
| Deployment | docker, kubernetes, binary | bare-metal, source |
| GitHub stars | ★ 14,465 | ★ 80 |
| First released | 2021 | 2014 |
| Replaces | Auth0, Okta | Okta, PingFederate |
What are Casdoor and Ipsilon?
Casdoor
Casdoor is an open-source identity and access management platform with a strong focus on a friendly user interface. It supports OAuth2, OIDC, SAML, CAS, LDAP and many social login providers.
- Supports OAuth, SAML, CAS and LDAP
- Dozens of built-in social login providers
- Multi-tenant organization support
- Web-based admin and login UI
Ipsilon
Ipsilon is an identity provider service that supports SAML and OpenID for federated single sign-on. It plugs into existing authentication backends like FreeIPA to centralize login for web applications.
- SAML identity provider
- OpenID support
- FreeIPA integration
- Pluggable backends
Casdoor vs Ipsilon: key differences
Casdoor is written in Go, while Ipsilon is built with Python. Licensing differs — Apache-2.0 for Casdoor versus GPL-3.0 for Ipsilon. Casdoor is the lighter option, starting around 256 MB of RAM against 512 MB for Ipsilon. Ipsilon is the more established project (first released 2014), while Casdoor arrived in 2021. Casdoor has the considerably larger community, at 14,465 GitHub stars versus 80. Casdoor lists first-class Docker deployment; Ipsilon does not.
Why pick each one
Choose Casdoor if…
- Polished out-of-the-box UI
- Broad protocol support
Watch out for
- Documentation can be uneven
Choose Ipsilon if…
- Good FreeIPA companion
- Federation focused
Watch out for
- Small community
- Limited recent activity
Frequently asked questions
Is Casdoor or Ipsilon better?
Casdoor is the stronger all-round pick: it has both the larger community and the simpler medium setup. Consider Ipsilon if its specific feature set fits your needs better.
Are Casdoor and Ipsilon free and open-source?
Yes. Casdoor is licensed under Apache-2.0 and Ipsilon under GPL-3.0. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.
Can I run Casdoor and Ipsilon with Docker?
Casdoor: yes. Ipsilon: check the project docs for container support.
Which is lighter on resources, Casdoor or Ipsilon?
Casdoor has the smaller minimum footprint at 256 MB of RAM, compared to about 512 MB for Ipsilon. Real-world usage depends on library size, user count, and enabled features.