Gluu Flex vs Ipsilon

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?
FeatureGluu FlexIpsilon
CategoryIdentity & SSOIdentity & SSO
LicenseApache-2.0GPL-3.0
LanguageTypeScriptPython
Setup difficultyHardHard
Min. RAM4,096 MB512 MB
Deploymentdocker, kubernetes, helmbare-metal, source
GitHub stars★ 31★ 80
First released20092014
ReplacesOkta, Ping IdentityOkta, PingFederate

Why pick each one

Choose Gluu Flex if…

  • Released under the Apache-2.0 license
  • First-class Docker support for quick deployment
  • Kubernetes-ready with Helm charts available
  • Written in TypeScript
Gluu Flex details

Choose Ipsilon if…

  • Good FreeIPA companion
  • Federation focused
Ipsilon details

Frequently asked questions

Is Gluu Flex or Ipsilon better?

Neither is universally better. Ipsilon has the larger community; both share a hard setup difficulty, so the decision comes down to features and licensing.

Are Gluu Flex and Ipsilon free and open-source?

Yes. Gluu Flex is licensed under Apache-2.0 and Ipsilon under GPL-3.0. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.

Can I run Gluu Flex and Ipsilon with Docker?

Gluu Flex: yes. Ipsilon: check the project docs for container support.

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