Casdoor vs ZITADEL
A side-by-side comparison of two self-hosted identity & sso options — licensing, setup difficulty, resource needs, and what each one replaces.
ZITADEL
Cloud-native identity infrastructure with multi-tenancy built
| Feature | Casdoor | ZITADEL |
|---|---|---|
| Deploy effort | Under-an-hour setup | Under-an-hour setup |
| Health score | 94 · Excellent | 95 · Excellent |
| Category | Identity & SSO | Identity & SSO |
| License | Apache-2.0 | Apache-2.0 |
| Language | Go | Go |
| Setup difficulty | Medium | Medium |
| Min. RAM | 256 MB | 512 MB |
| Deployment | docker, kubernetes, binary | docker, kubernetes, binary |
| GitHub stars | ★ 14,465 | ★ 15,083 |
| First released | 2021 | 2020 |
| Replaces | Auth0, Okta | Auth0, Okta, Firebase Auth |
What are Casdoor and ZITADEL?
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
ZITADEL
ZITADEL is an open-source identity and access management platform built for multi-tenant applications. It offers OpenID Connect, OAuth2, SAML, passwordless login and a powerful management API.
- Multi-tenancy as a first-class concept
- Passwordless and FIDO2 authentication
- Event-sourced audit trail
- Comprehensive gRPC and REST APIs
Casdoor vs ZITADEL: key differences
Both projects are written in Go. Casdoor is the lighter option, starting around 256 MB of RAM against 512 MB for ZITADEL.
Why pick each one
Choose Casdoor if…
- Polished out-of-the-box UI
- Broad protocol support
Watch out for
- Documentation can be uneven
Choose ZITADEL if…
- Strong multi-tenant model
- Modern Go codebase
Watch out for
- Smaller community than Keycloak
Frequently asked questions
Is Casdoor or ZITADEL better?
Neither is universally better. ZITADEL has the larger community; both share a medium setup difficulty, so the decision comes down to features and licensing.
Are Casdoor and ZITADEL free and open-source?
Yes. Casdoor is licensed under Apache-2.0 and ZITADEL under Apache-2.0. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.
Can I run Casdoor and ZITADEL with Docker?
Casdoor: yes. ZITADEL: yes.
Which is lighter on resources, Casdoor or ZITADEL?
Casdoor has the smaller minimum footprint at 256 MB of RAM, compared to about 512 MB for ZITADEL. Real-world usage depends on library size, user count, and enabled features.