Hanko vs Keycloak
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
Keycloak
Open-source identity and access management for modern apps
| Feature | Hanko | Keycloak |
|---|---|---|
| Deploy effort | Under-an-hour setup | Under-an-hour setup |
| Health score | 92 · Excellent | 99 · Excellent |
| Category | Identity & SSO | Identity & SSO |
| License | AGPL-3.0 | Apache-2.0 |
| Language | Go | Java |
| Setup difficulty | Medium | Hard |
| Min. RAM | 512 MB | 1,024 MB |
| Deployment | docker, binary | docker, kubernetes, bare-metal |
| GitHub stars | ★ 9,036 | ★ 36,967 |
| First released | 2022 | 2014 |
| Replaces | Auth0, Clerk | Okta, Auth0, Microsoft Entra ID |
What are Hanko and Keycloak?
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
Keycloak
Keycloak is an enterprise-grade identity and access management solution backed by Red Hat. It provides single sign-on, identity brokering, social login and fine-grained authorization for applications and services.
- SSO with OpenID Connect and SAML 2.0
- Identity brokering and social login
- User federation with LDAP and Active Directory
- Fine-grained authorization services
Hanko vs Keycloak: key differences
Hanko is written in Go, while Keycloak is built with Java. Licensing differs — AGPL-3.0 for Hanko versus Apache-2.0 for Keycloak. Hanko is the lighter option, starting around 512 MB of RAM against 1,024 MB for Keycloak. Keycloak is the more established project (first released 2014), while Hanko arrived in 2022. Keycloak has the considerably larger community, at 36,967 GitHub stars versus 9,036.
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 Keycloak if…
- Mature and battle-tested
- Strong enterprise feature set
Watch out for
- Steep learning curve
- Resource intensive
Frequently asked questions
Is Hanko or Keycloak better?
Neither is universally better. Keycloak has the larger community, while Hanko is simpler to set up (medium difficulty). Choose based on the comparison table above and your own setup.
Are Hanko and Keycloak free and open-source?
Yes. Hanko is licensed under AGPL-3.0 and Keycloak under Apache-2.0. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.
Can I run Hanko and Keycloak with Docker?
Hanko: yes. Keycloak: yes.
Which is lighter on resources, Hanko or Keycloak?
Hanko has the smaller minimum footprint at 512 MB of RAM, compared to about 1,024 MB for Keycloak. Real-world usage depends on library size, user count, and enabled features.