Casdoor vs Keycloak
A side-by-side comparison of two self-hosted identity & sso options — licensing, setup difficulty, resource needs, and what each one replaces.
Keycloak
Open-source identity and access management for modern apps
| Feature | Casdoor | Keycloak |
|---|---|---|
| Deploy effort | Under-an-hour setup | Under-an-hour setup |
| Health score | 94 · Excellent | 99 · Excellent |
| Category | Identity & SSO | Identity & SSO |
| License | Apache-2.0 | Apache-2.0 |
| Language | Go | Java |
| Setup difficulty | Medium | Hard |
| Min. RAM | 256 MB | 1,024 MB |
| Deployment | docker, kubernetes, binary | docker, kubernetes, bare-metal |
| GitHub stars | ★ 14,465 | ★ 36,967 |
| First released | 2021 | 2014 |
| Replaces | Auth0, Okta | Okta, Auth0, Microsoft Entra ID |
What are Casdoor and Keycloak?
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
Keycloak
Keycloak is an enterprise-grade identity and access management solution backed by Red Hat. It provides single sign-on, identity brokering, social login and fine-grained authorization for applications and services.
- SSO with OpenID Connect and SAML 2.0
- Identity brokering and social login
- User federation with LDAP and Active Directory
- Fine-grained authorization services
Casdoor vs Keycloak: key differences
Casdoor is written in Go, while Keycloak is built with Java. Casdoor is the lighter option, starting around 256 MB of RAM against 1,024 MB for Keycloak. Keycloak is the more established project (first released 2014), while Casdoor arrived in 2021. Keycloak has the considerably larger community, at 36,967 GitHub stars versus 14,465.
Why pick each one
Choose Casdoor if…
- Polished out-of-the-box UI
- Broad protocol support
Watch out for
- Documentation can be uneven
Choose Keycloak if…
- Mature and battle-tested
- Strong enterprise feature set
Watch out for
- Steep learning curve
- Resource intensive
Frequently asked questions
Is Casdoor or Keycloak better?
Neither is universally better. Keycloak has the larger community, while Casdoor is simpler to set up (medium difficulty). Choose based on the comparison table above and your own setup.
Are Casdoor and Keycloak free and open-source?
Yes. Casdoor is licensed under Apache-2.0 and Keycloak under Apache-2.0. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.
Can I run Casdoor and Keycloak with Docker?
Casdoor: yes. Keycloak: yes.
Which is lighter on resources, Casdoor or Keycloak?
Casdoor has the smaller minimum footprint at 256 MB of RAM, compared to about 1,024 MB for Keycloak. Real-world usage depends on library size, user count, and enabled features.