Cerbos vs Open Policy Agent
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?
Cerbos
Scalable, decoupled authorization service
VS
Open Policy Agent
General-purpose policy engine for cloud-native stacks
| Feature | Cerbos | Open Policy Agent |
|---|---|---|
| Category | Identity & SSO | Identity & SSO |
| License | Apache-2.0 | Apache-2.0 |
| Language | Go | Go |
| Setup difficulty | Medium | Medium |
| Min. RAM | 256 MB | 256 MB |
| Deployment | docker, kubernetes, binary | docker, kubernetes, binary |
| GitHub stars | ★ 4,529 | ★ 12,086 |
| First released | 2021 | 2016 |
| Replaces | Auth0 FGA, OPA | AWS IAM policies |
Why pick each one
Choose Cerbos if…
- Released under the Apache-2.0 license
- First-class Docker support for quick deployment
- Kubernetes-ready with Helm charts available
- Active community (4.5k GitHub stars)
Choose Open Policy Agent if…
- Released under the Apache-2.0 license
- First-class Docker support for quick deployment
- Kubernetes-ready with Helm charts available
- Mature project with 12.1k GitHub stars
Frequently asked questions
Is Cerbos or Open Policy Agent better?
Neither is universally better. Open Policy Agent has the larger community; both share a medium setup difficulty, so the decision comes down to features and licensing.
Are Cerbos and Open Policy Agent free and open-source?
Yes. Cerbos is licensed under Apache-2.0 and Open Policy Agent under Apache-2.0. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.
Can I run Cerbos and Open Policy Agent with Docker?
Cerbos: yes. Open Policy Agent: yes.