Dex vs Keycloak
A side-by-side comparison of two self-hosted identity & sso options — licensing, setup difficulty, resource needs, and what each one replaces.
Keycloak
Open-source identity and access management for modern apps
| Feature | Dex | Keycloak |
|---|---|---|
| Deploy effort | Under-an-hour setup | Under-an-hour setup |
| Health score | 90 · Excellent | 99 · Excellent |
| Category | Identity & SSO | Identity & SSO |
| License | Apache-2.0 | Apache-2.0 |
| Language | Go | Java |
| Setup difficulty | Medium | Hard |
| Min. RAM | 128 MB | 1,024 MB |
| Deployment | docker, kubernetes, binary | docker, kubernetes, bare-metal |
| GitHub stars | ★ 11,120 | ★ 36,967 |
| First released | 2016 | 2014 |
| Replaces | Okta, Auth0 | Okta, Auth0, Microsoft Entra ID |
What are Dex and Keycloak?
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
Keycloak
Keycloak is an enterprise-grade identity and access management solution backed by Red Hat. It provides single sign-on, identity brokering, social login and fine-grained authorization for applications and services.
- SSO with OpenID Connect and SAML 2.0
- Identity brokering and social login
- User federation with LDAP and Active Directory
- Fine-grained authorization services
Dex vs Keycloak: key differences
Dex is written in Go, while Keycloak is built with Java. Dex is the lighter option, starting around 128 MB of RAM against 1,024 MB for Keycloak. Keycloak is the more established project (first released 2014), while Dex arrived in 2016. Keycloak has the considerably larger community, at 36,967 GitHub stars versus 11,120.
Why pick each one
Choose Dex if…
- Great Kubernetes integration
- Simple and reliable
Watch out for
- No user management of its own
Choose Keycloak if…
- Mature and battle-tested
- Strong enterprise feature set
Watch out for
- Steep learning curve
- Resource intensive
Frequently asked questions
Is Dex or Keycloak better?
Neither is universally better. Keycloak has the larger community, while Dex is simpler to set up (medium difficulty). Choose based on the comparison table above and your own setup.
Are Dex and Keycloak free and open-source?
Yes. Dex is licensed under Apache-2.0 and Keycloak under Apache-2.0. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.
Can I run Dex and Keycloak with Docker?
Dex: yes. Keycloak: yes.
Which is lighter on resources, Dex or Keycloak?
Dex has the smaller minimum footprint at 128 MB of RAM, compared to about 1,024 MB for Keycloak. Real-world usage depends on library size, user count, and enabled features.