Dex vs Ory Hydra
A side-by-side comparison of two self-hosted identity & sso options — licensing, setup difficulty, resource needs, and what each one replaces.
| Feature | Dex | Ory Hydra |
|---|---|---|
| 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 | Apache-2.0 |
| Language | Go | Go |
| Setup difficulty | Medium | Hard |
| Min. RAM | 128 MB | 256 MB |
| Deployment | docker, kubernetes, binary | docker, kubernetes, binary |
| GitHub stars | ★ 11,120 | ★ 17,563 |
| First released | 2016 | 2015 |
| Replaces | Okta, Auth0 | Okta, Auth0 |
What are Dex and Ory Hydra?
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
Ory Hydra
Ory Hydra is an OpenID Certified OAuth 2.0 and OpenID Connect provider. It is built to integrate with any existing identity system and issues tokens without managing user accounts itself.
- OpenID Certified implementation
- Low memory footprint
- Bring your own login and consent UI
- Scales horizontally
Dex vs Ory Hydra: key differences
Both projects are written in Go. Dex is the lighter option, starting around 128 MB of RAM against 256 MB for Ory Hydra.
Why pick each one
Choose Dex if…
- Great Kubernetes integration
- Simple and reliable
Watch out for
- No user management of its own
Choose Ory Hydra if…
- Security focused and certified
- Integrates with any user store
Watch out for
- Only handles OAuth, not user management
Frequently asked questions
Is Dex or Ory Hydra better?
Neither is universally better. Ory Hydra 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 Ory Hydra free and open-source?
Yes. Dex is licensed under Apache-2.0 and Ory Hydra under Apache-2.0. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.
Can I run Dex and Ory Hydra with Docker?
Dex: yes. Ory Hydra: yes.
Which is lighter on resources, Dex or Ory Hydra?
Dex has the smaller minimum footprint at 128 MB of RAM, compared to about 256 MB for Ory Hydra. Real-world usage depends on library size, user count, and enabled features.