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.
Not the right match-up?
Dex
OpenID Connect identity provider with pluggable connectors
VS
Ory Hydra
Certified OAuth 2.0 and OpenID Connect server
| Feature | Dex | Ory Hydra |
|---|---|---|
| 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 | ★ 11,019 | ★ 17,462 |
| First released | 2016 | 2015 |
| Replaces | Okta, Auth0 | Okta, Auth0 |
Why pick each one
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.