Dex vs SimpleSAMLphp
A side-by-side comparison of two self-hosted identity & sso options — licensing, setup difficulty, resource needs, and what each one replaces.
| Feature | Dex | SimpleSAMLphp |
|---|---|---|
| Deploy effort | Under-an-hour setup | Under-an-hour setup |
| Health score | 90 · Excellent | 83 · Excellent |
| Category | Identity & SSO | Identity & SSO |
| License | Apache-2.0 | LGPL-2.1 |
| Language | Go | PHP |
| Setup difficulty | Medium | Medium |
| Min. RAM | 128 MB | 256 MB |
| Deployment | docker, kubernetes, binary | bare-metal, source, docker |
| GitHub stars | ★ 11,120 | ★ 1,142 |
| First released | 2016 | 2007 |
| Replaces | Okta, Auth0 | Okta, PingFederate |
What are Dex and SimpleSAMLphp?
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
SimpleSAMLphp
SimpleSAMLphp is a widely used PHP application for implementing SAML 2.0 identity and service providers. It enables web single sign-on and federation for PHP environments and beyond.
- SAML 2.0 IdP and SP
- Identity federation
- Many auth backends
- Module ecosystem
Dex vs SimpleSAMLphp: key differences
Dex is written in Go, while SimpleSAMLphp is built with PHP. Licensing differs — Apache-2.0 for Dex versus LGPL-2.1 for SimpleSAMLphp. Dex is the lighter option, starting around 128 MB of RAM against 256 MB for SimpleSAMLphp. SimpleSAMLphp is the more established project (first released 2007), while Dex arrived in 2016. Dex has the considerably larger community, at 11,120 GitHub stars versus 1,142.
Why pick each one
Choose Dex if…
- Great Kubernetes integration
- Simple and reliable
Watch out for
- No user management of its own
Choose SimpleSAMLphp if…
- Proven and widely deployed
- Flexible modules
Watch out for
- Configuration is intricate
- PHP performance limits
Frequently asked questions
Is Dex or SimpleSAMLphp 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 SimpleSAMLphp free and open-source?
Yes. Dex is licensed under Apache-2.0 and SimpleSAMLphp under LGPL-2.1. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.
Can I run Dex and SimpleSAMLphp with Docker?
Dex: yes. SimpleSAMLphp: yes.
Which is lighter on resources, Dex or SimpleSAMLphp?
Dex has the smaller minimum footprint at 128 MB of RAM, compared to about 256 MB for SimpleSAMLphp. Real-world usage depends on library size, user count, and enabled features.