SHSelfHostIndex

Cerbos vs Ory Keto

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 OR Ory Keto Permission and authorization server based on Zanzibar
FeatureCerbosOry Keto
Deploy effortUnder-an-hour setupUnder-an-hour setup
Health score89 · Excellent87 · Excellent
CategoryIdentity & SSOIdentity & SSO
LicenseApache-2.0Apache-2.0
LanguageGoGo
Setup difficultyMediumMedium
Min. RAM256 MB256 MB
Deploymentdocker, kubernetes, binarydocker, kubernetes, binary
GitHub stars★ 4,592★ 5,402
First released20212018
ReplacesAuth0 FGA, OPAAuth0 FGA, OpenFGA

What are Cerbos and Ory Keto?

Cerbos

Cerbos is an open-source, stateless authorization layer that decouples access control logic from application code. It is self-hosted to evaluate context-aware permission policies for any application.

  • Decoupled authorization
  • Policy as code
  • gRPC and REST APIs
  • Stateless and scalable

Ory Keto

Ory Keto is an open-source permission server inspired by Google's Zanzibar paper. It answers fine-grained authorization questions and is self-hosted to manage access control for applications.

  • Zanzibar-style permissions
  • Relationship-based access
  • gRPC and REST APIs
  • Fast checks

Cerbos vs Ory Keto: key differences

Both projects are written in Go. Ory Keto is the more established project (first released 2018), while Cerbos arrived in 2021.

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 (4.6k GitHub stars)
Cerbos details

Choose Ory Keto if…

  • Released under the Apache-2.0 license
  • First-class Docker support for quick deployment
  • Kubernetes-ready with Helm charts available
  • Mature project with 5.4k GitHub stars
Ory Keto details

Frequently asked questions

Is Cerbos or Ory Keto better?

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

Are Cerbos and Ory Keto free and open-source?

Yes. Cerbos is licensed under Apache-2.0 and Ory Keto under Apache-2.0. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.

Can I run Cerbos and Ory Keto with Docker?

Cerbos: yes. Ory Keto: yes.

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