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Casdoor vs SimpleSAMLphp

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?
CA Casdoor UI-first identity and access management with SSO support VS SI SimpleSAMLphp PHP implementation of SAML and identity federation
FeatureCasdoorSimpleSAMLphp
Deploy effortUnder-an-hour setupUnder-an-hour setup
Health score94 · Excellent83 · Excellent
CategoryIdentity & SSOIdentity & SSO
LicenseApache-2.0LGPL-2.1
LanguageGoPHP
Setup difficultyMediumMedium
Min. RAM256 MB256 MB
Deploymentdocker, kubernetes, binarybare-metal, source, docker
GitHub stars★ 14,465★ 1,142
First released20212007
ReplacesAuth0, OktaOkta, PingFederate

What are Casdoor and SimpleSAMLphp?

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

Read the full Casdoor guide →

SimpleSAMLphp

SimpleSAMLphp is a widely used PHP application for implementing SAML 2.0 identity and service providers. It enables web single sign-on and federation for PHP environments and beyond.

  • SAML 2.0 IdP and SP
  • Identity federation
  • Many auth backends
  • Module ecosystem

Read the full SimpleSAMLphp guide →

Casdoor vs SimpleSAMLphp: key differences

Casdoor is written in Go, while SimpleSAMLphp is built with PHP. Licensing differs — Apache-2.0 for Casdoor versus LGPL-2.1 for SimpleSAMLphp. SimpleSAMLphp is the more established project (first released 2007), while Casdoor arrived in 2021. Casdoor has the considerably larger community, at 14,465 GitHub stars versus 1,142.

Why pick each one

Choose Casdoor if…

  • Polished out-of-the-box UI
  • Broad protocol support

Watch out for

  • Documentation can be uneven
Casdoor details

Choose SimpleSAMLphp if…

  • Proven and widely deployed
  • Flexible modules

Watch out for

  • Configuration is intricate
  • PHP performance limits
SimpleSAMLphp details

Frequently asked questions

Is Casdoor or SimpleSAMLphp better?

Neither is universally better. Casdoor has the larger community; both share a medium setup difficulty, so the decision comes down to features and licensing.

Are Casdoor and SimpleSAMLphp free and open-source?

Yes. Casdoor is licensed under Apache-2.0 and SimpleSAMLphp under LGPL-2.1. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.

Can I run Casdoor and SimpleSAMLphp with Docker?

Casdoor: yes. SimpleSAMLphp: yes.

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