Hanko vs node-oidc-provider
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
node-oidc-provider
Certified OpenID Connect and OAuth 2.0 provider for Node.js
| Feature | Hanko | node-oidc-provider |
|---|---|---|
| Deploy effort | Under-an-hour setup | Under-an-hour setup |
| Health score | 92 · Excellent | 88 · Excellent |
| Category | Identity & SSO | Identity & SSO |
| License | AGPL-3.0 | MIT |
| Language | Go | JavaScript |
| Setup difficulty | Medium | Hard |
| Min. RAM | 512 MB | 256 MB |
| Deployment | docker, binary | source, docker |
| GitHub stars | ★ 9,036 | ★ 3,816 |
| First released | 2022 | 2016 |
| Replaces | Auth0, Clerk | Auth0, Okta |
What are Hanko and node-oidc-provider?
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
node-oidc-provider
node-oidc-provider is an open-source, certified OpenID Connect and OAuth 2.0 provider implementation for Node.js. It can be self-hosted to issue tokens and act as an identity provider for applications.
- Certified OIDC provider
- OAuth 2.0 support
- Embeddable in Node apps
- Standards compliant
Hanko vs node-oidc-provider: key differences
Hanko is written in Go, while node-oidc-provider is built with JavaScript. Licensing differs — AGPL-3.0 for Hanko versus MIT for node-oidc-provider. Node-oidc-provider is the lighter option, starting around 256 MB of RAM against 512 MB for Hanko. Node-oidc-provider is the more established project (first released 2016), while Hanko arrived in 2022. Hanko has the considerably larger community, at 9,036 GitHub stars versus 3,816.
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 node-oidc-provider if…
- Released under the MIT license
- First-class Docker support for quick deployment
- Active community (3.8k GitHub stars)
- Written in JavaScript
Frequently asked questions
Is Hanko or node-oidc-provider better?
Hanko is the stronger all-round pick: it has both the larger community and the simpler medium setup. Consider node-oidc-provider if its specific feature set fits your needs better.
Are Hanko and node-oidc-provider free and open-source?
Yes. Hanko is licensed under AGPL-3.0 and node-oidc-provider under MIT. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.
Can I run Hanko and node-oidc-provider with Docker?
Hanko: yes. node-oidc-provider: yes.
Which is lighter on resources, Hanko or node-oidc-provider?
node-oidc-provider 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.