Dex vs Kanidm
A side-by-side comparison of two self-hosted identity & sso options — licensing, setup difficulty, resource needs, and what each one replaces.
Kanidm
Modern, simple and secure identity management server
| Feature | Dex | Kanidm |
|---|---|---|
| Deploy effort | Under-an-hour setup | Under-an-hour setup |
| Health score | 90 · Excellent | 90 · Excellent |
| Category | Identity & SSO | Identity & SSO |
| License | Apache-2.0 | MPL-2.0 |
| Language | Go | Rust |
| Setup difficulty | Medium | Medium |
| Min. RAM | 128 MB | 256 MB |
| Deployment | docker, kubernetes, binary | docker, binary |
| GitHub stars | ★ 11,112 | ★ 5,401 |
| First released | 2016 | 2019 |
| Replaces | Okta, Auth0 | Active Directory, Okta |
What are Dex and Kanidm?
Dex
Dex is an identity service that uses OpenID Connect to drive authentication for other applications. It acts as a portal to other identity providers through connectors such as LDAP, SAML and GitHub.
- OIDC federation broker
- Connectors for LDAP, SAML and GitHub
- Popular in Kubernetes environments
- Lightweight and stateless
Kanidm
Kanidm is an identity management platform written in Rust, focused on simplicity, security and correctness. It provides authentication for web applications, Unix systems and LDAP-aware services.
- OAuth2 and OpenID Connect provider
- Passkey-first authentication
- Unix and LDAP integration
- Strong security defaults
Dex vs Kanidm: key differences
Dex is written in Go, while Kanidm is built with Rust. Licensing differs — Apache-2.0 for Dex versus MPL-2.0 for Kanidm. Dex is the lighter option, starting around 128 MB of RAM against 256 MB for Kanidm. Dex is the more established project (first released 2016), while Kanidm arrived in 2019. Dex has the considerably larger community, at 11,112 GitHub stars versus 5,401.
Why pick each one
Choose Dex if…
- Great Kubernetes integration
- Simple and reliable
Watch out for
- No user management of its own
Choose Kanidm if…
- Memory safe and lightweight
- Excellent passwordless support
Watch out for
- Smaller ecosystem and tooling
Frequently asked questions
Is Dex or Kanidm better?
Neither is universally better. Dex has the larger community; both share a medium setup difficulty, so the decision comes down to features and licensing.
Are Dex and Kanidm free and open-source?
Yes. Dex is licensed under Apache-2.0 and Kanidm under MPL-2.0. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.
Can I run Dex and Kanidm with Docker?
Dex: yes. Kanidm: yes.
Which is lighter on resources, Dex or Kanidm?
Dex has the smaller minimum footprint at 128 MB of RAM, compared to about 256 MB for Kanidm. Real-world usage depends on library size, user count, and enabled features.