Hanko vs Logto
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
Logto
Developer-friendly authentication and authorization platform
| Feature | Hanko | Logto |
|---|---|---|
| Deploy effort | Under-an-hour setup | Under-an-hour setup |
| Health score | 92 · Excellent | 94 · Excellent |
| Category | Identity & SSO | Identity & SSO |
| License | AGPL-3.0 | MPL-2.0 |
| Language | Go | TypeScript |
| Setup difficulty | Medium | Medium |
| Min. RAM | 512 MB | 512 MB |
| Deployment | docker, binary | docker, kubernetes, binary |
| GitHub stars | ★ 9,036 | ★ 14,621 |
| First released | 2022 | 2022 |
| Replaces | Auth0, Clerk | Auth0, Firebase Auth, Clerk |
What are Hanko and Logto?
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
Logto
Logto is an open-source identity solution built for developers, offering passwordless sign-in, social login and enterprise SSO. It provides prebuilt sign-in experiences and SDKs for many frameworks.
- Prebuilt customizable sign-in experiences
- Passwordless and social authentication
- Multi-framework SDKs
- Role-based access control
Hanko vs Logto: key differences
Hanko is written in Go, while Logto is built with TypeScript. Licensing differs — AGPL-3.0 for Hanko versus MPL-2.0 for Logto.
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 Logto if…
- Great developer experience
- Modern UI and SDKs
Watch out for
- Younger project with evolving APIs
Frequently asked questions
Is Hanko or Logto better?
Neither is universally better. Logto has the larger community; both share a medium setup difficulty, so the decision comes down to features and licensing.
Are Hanko and Logto free and open-source?
Yes. Hanko is licensed under AGPL-3.0 and Logto under MPL-2.0. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.
Can I run Hanko and Logto with Docker?
Hanko: yes. Logto: yes.