Cerbos vs Topaz
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
Topaz
Open-source authorization with fine-grained access control
| Feature | Cerbos | Topaz |
|---|---|---|
| Deploy effort | Under-an-hour setup | Under-an-hour setup |
| Health score | 89 · Excellent | 84 · Excellent |
| 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, binary |
| GitHub stars | ★ 4,592 | ★ 1,361 |
| First released | 2021 | 2022 |
| Replaces | Auth0 FGA, OPA | Auth0 FGA |
What are Cerbos and Topaz?
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
Topaz
Topaz is an open-source authorization service that combines OPA policy evaluation with a relationship-based data model for fine-grained access control. It runs self-hosted as a sidecar or service.
- Combines RBAC and ReBAC
- OPA-based policies
- Local decision engine
- Sidecar deployment
Cerbos vs Topaz: key differences
Both projects are written in Go. Cerbos has the considerably larger community, at 4,592 GitHub stars versus 1,361.
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 Topaz if…
- Released under the Apache-2.0 license
- First-class Docker support for quick deployment
- Active community (1.4k GitHub stars)
- Written in Go
Frequently asked questions
Is Cerbos or Topaz better?
Neither is universally better. Cerbos has the larger community; both share a medium setup difficulty, so the decision comes down to features and licensing.
Are Cerbos and Topaz free and open-source?
Yes. Cerbos is licensed under Apache-2.0 and Topaz under Apache-2.0. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.
Can I run Cerbos and Topaz with Docker?
Cerbos: yes. Topaz: yes.