SHSelfHostIndex

WSO2 Identity Server vs Shibboleth Identity Provider

A side-by-side comparison of two self-hosted identity & sso options — licensing, setup difficulty, resource needs, and what each one replaces.

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WS WSO2 Identity Server Open-source identity and access management server VS SH Shibboleth Identity Provider Standards-based SAML identity provider for federations
FeatureWSO2 Identity ServerShibboleth Identity Provider
CategoryIdentity & SSOIdentity & SSO
LicenseApache-2.0Apache-2.0
LanguageJavaJava
Setup difficultyHardHard
Min. RAM4,096 MB1,024 MB
Deploymentdocker, kubernetes, bare-metalbare-metal, docker, source
GitHub stars★ 870★ 200
First released20072003
ReplacesOkta, ForgeRockOkta, Ping Identity

Why pick each one

Choose WSO2 Identity Server if…

  • Enterprise feature set
  • Strong standards coverage
WSO2 Identity Server details

Choose Shibboleth Identity Provider if…

  • Gold standard for SAML federations
  • Highly configurable
Shibboleth Identity Provider details

Frequently asked questions

Is WSO2 Identity Server or Shibboleth Identity Provider better?

Neither is universally better. WSO2 Identity Server has the larger community; both share a hard setup difficulty, so the decision comes down to features and licensing.

Are WSO2 Identity Server and Shibboleth Identity Provider free and open-source?

Yes. WSO2 Identity Server is licensed under Apache-2.0 and Shibboleth Identity Provider under Apache-2.0. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.

Can I run WSO2 Identity Server and Shibboleth Identity Provider with Docker?

WSO2 Identity Server: yes. Shibboleth Identity Provider: yes.

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