Cerbos vs SpiceDB
A side-by-side comparison of two self-hosted identity & sso options — licensing, setup difficulty, resource needs, and what each one replaces.
Cerbos
Scalable, decoupled authorization service
VS
SpiceDB
Open-source Zanzibar-inspired permissions database
| Feature | Cerbos | SpiceDB |
|---|---|---|
| Deploy effort | Under-an-hour setup | Under-an-hour setup |
| Health score | 89 · Excellent | 91 · Excellent |
| Category | Identity & SSO | Identity & SSO |
| License | Apache-2.0 | Apache-2.0 |
| Language | Go | Go |
| Setup difficulty | Medium | Hard |
| Min. RAM | 256 MB | 512 MB |
| Deployment | docker, kubernetes, binary | docker, kubernetes, binary |
| GitHub stars | ★ 4,592 | ★ 7,086 |
| First released | 2021 | 2021 |
| Replaces | Auth0 FGA, OPA | Auth0 FGA, OpenFGA |
What are Cerbos and SpiceDB?
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
SpiceDB
SpiceDB is an open-source database system for managing security-critical application permissions inspired by Google Zanzibar. It is self-hosted to provide consistent, fine-grained authorization at scale.
- Zanzibar-inspired model
- Consistency guarantees
- Schema language
- Horizontal scaling
Cerbos vs SpiceDB: key differences
Both projects are written in Go. Cerbos is the lighter option, starting around 256 MB of RAM against 512 MB for SpiceDB.
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)
Choose SpiceDB if…
- Released under the Apache-2.0 license
- First-class Docker support for quick deployment
- Kubernetes-ready with Helm charts available
- Mature project with 7.1k GitHub stars
Frequently asked questions
Is Cerbos or SpiceDB better?
Neither is universally better. SpiceDB 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 SpiceDB free and open-source?
Yes. Cerbos is licensed under Apache-2.0 and SpiceDB under Apache-2.0. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.
Can I run Cerbos and SpiceDB with Docker?
Cerbos: yes. SpiceDB: yes.
Which is lighter on resources, Cerbos or SpiceDB?
Cerbos has the smaller minimum footprint at 256 MB of RAM, compared to about 512 MB for SpiceDB. Real-world usage depends on library size, user count, and enabled features.