Cerbos vs Ory Kratos
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
Ory Kratos
Headless identity and user management API server
| Feature | Cerbos | Ory Kratos |
|---|---|---|
| Category | Identity & SSO | Identity & SSO |
| License | Apache-2.0 | Apache-2.0 |
| Language | Go | Go |
| Setup difficulty | Medium | Hard |
| Min. RAM | 256 MB | 256 MB |
| Deployment | docker, kubernetes, binary | docker, kubernetes, binary |
| GitHub stars | ★ 4,529 | ★ 13,815 |
| First released | 2021 | 2020 |
| Replaces | Auth0 FGA, OPA | Auth0, Firebase Auth |
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 Ory Kratos if…
- Extremely flexible architecture
- Excellent for custom frontends
Frequently asked questions
Is Cerbos or Ory Kratos better?
Neither is universally better. Ory Kratos has the larger community, while Cerbos is simpler to set up (medium difficulty). Choose based on the comparison table above and your own setup.
Are Cerbos and Ory Kratos free and open-source?
Yes. Cerbos is licensed under Apache-2.0 and Ory Kratos under Apache-2.0. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.
Can I run Cerbos and Ory Kratos with Docker?
Cerbos: yes. Ory Kratos: yes.