Hanko vs Hello Identity Coop
A side-by-side comparison of two self-hosted identity & sso options — licensing, setup difficulty, resource needs, and what each one replaces.
Hanko
Passkey-first authentication for modern applications
VS
Hello Identity Coop
Open-source authentication broker for passwordless login
| Feature | Hanko | Hello Identity Coop |
|---|---|---|
| Deploy effort | Under-an-hour setup | Under-an-hour setup |
| Health score | 92 · Excellent | 69 · Good |
| Category | Identity & SSO | Identity & SSO |
| License | AGPL-3.0 | MIT |
| Language | Go | TypeScript |
| Setup difficulty | Medium | Medium |
| Min. RAM | 512 MB | 256 MB |
| Deployment | docker, binary | docker, binary |
| GitHub stars | ★ 9,036 | ★ 7 |
| First released | 2022 | 2022 |
| Replaces | Auth0, Clerk | Auth0, Firebase Auth |
What are Hanko and Hello Identity Coop?
Hanko
Hanko is an open-source authentication solution built around passkeys and passwordless login. It can be self-hosted to provide modern, phishing-resistant authentication to web and mobile applications.
- Passkey-first login
- Passwordless flows
- Embeddable web component
- Self-hosted API
Hello Identity Coop
Hello is an open-source identity and login service that lets users authenticate with email, phone or social providers without passwords. The wallet and broker components can be self-hosted.
- Passwordless login flows
- Email, phone and social providers
- Standard OpenID Connect
- Developer SDKs and integrations
Hanko vs Hello Identity Coop: key differences
Hanko is written in Go, while Hello Identity Coop is built with TypeScript. Licensing differs — AGPL-3.0 for Hanko versus MIT for Hello Identity Coop. Hello Identity Coop is the lighter option, starting around 256 MB of RAM against 512 MB for Hanko. Hanko has the considerably larger community, at 9,036 GitHub stars versus 7.
Why pick each one
Choose Hanko if…
- Released under the AGPL-3.0 license
- First-class Docker support for quick deployment
- Mature project with 9k GitHub stars
- Written in Go
Choose Hello Identity Coop if…
- Simple passwordless onboarding
- Open standards
Watch out for
- Younger project
Frequently asked questions
Is Hanko or Hello Identity Coop better?
Neither is universally better. Hanko has the larger community; both share a medium setup difficulty, so the decision comes down to features and licensing.
Are Hanko and Hello Identity Coop free and open-source?
Yes. Hanko is licensed under AGPL-3.0 and Hello Identity Coop under MIT. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.
Can I run Hanko and Hello Identity Coop with Docker?
Hanko: yes. Hello Identity Coop: yes.
Which is lighter on resources, Hanko or Hello Identity Coop?
Hello Identity Coop has the smaller minimum footprint at 256 MB of RAM, compared to about 512 MB for Hanko. Real-world usage depends on library size, user count, and enabled features.