FusionAuth vs SimpleSAMLphp
A side-by-side comparison of two self-hosted identity & sso options — licensing, setup difficulty, resource needs, and what each one replaces.
FusionAuth
Complete authentication and authorization platform
VS
SimpleSAMLphp
PHP implementation of SAML and identity federation
| Feature | FusionAuth | SimpleSAMLphp |
|---|---|---|
| Deploy effort | Under-an-hour setup | Under-an-hour setup |
| Health score | 70 · Good | 83 · Excellent |
| Category | Identity & SSO | Identity & SSO |
| License | Apache-2.0 | LGPL-2.1 |
| Language | Dockerfile | PHP |
| Setup difficulty | Medium | Medium |
| Min. RAM | 1,024 MB | 256 MB |
| Deployment | docker, kubernetes, bare-metal | bare-metal, source, docker |
| GitHub stars | ★ 241 | ★ 1,142 |
| First released | 2018 | 2007 |
| Replaces | Auth0, Okta | Okta, PingFederate |
What are FusionAuth and SimpleSAMLphp?
FusionAuth
FusionAuth is a self-hostable customer identity and access management platform supporting OAuth, OIDC, SAML, MFA, and user management. The community edition runs free on your own infrastructure.
- OAuth, OIDC and SAML support
- Multi-factor authentication
- User and tenant management
- Themable login pages
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
FusionAuth vs SimpleSAMLphp: key differences
FusionAuth is written in Dockerfile, while SimpleSAMLphp is built with PHP. Licensing differs — Apache-2.0 for FusionAuth versus LGPL-2.1 for SimpleSAMLphp. SimpleSAMLphp is the lighter option, starting around 256 MB of RAM against 1,024 MB for FusionAuth. SimpleSAMLphp is the more established project (first released 2007), while FusionAuth arrived in 2018. SimpleSAMLphp has the considerably larger community, at 1,142 GitHub stars versus 241.
Why pick each one
Choose FusionAuth if…
- Released under the Apache-2.0 license
- First-class Docker support for quick deployment
- Kubernetes-ready with Helm charts available
- Written in Dockerfile
Choose SimpleSAMLphp if…
- Proven and widely deployed
- Flexible modules
Watch out for
- Configuration is intricate
- PHP performance limits
Frequently asked questions
Is FusionAuth or SimpleSAMLphp better?
Neither is universally better. SimpleSAMLphp has the larger community; both share a medium setup difficulty, so the decision comes down to features and licensing.
Are FusionAuth and SimpleSAMLphp free and open-source?
Yes. FusionAuth is licensed under Apache-2.0 and SimpleSAMLphp under LGPL-2.1. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.
Can I run FusionAuth and SimpleSAMLphp with Docker?
FusionAuth: yes. SimpleSAMLphp: yes.
Which is lighter on resources, FusionAuth or SimpleSAMLphp?
SimpleSAMLphp has the smaller minimum footprint at 256 MB of RAM, compared to about 1,024 MB for FusionAuth. Real-world usage depends on library size, user count, and enabled features.