Hanko vs Ory Hydra
A side-by-side comparison of two self-hosted identity & sso options — licensing, setup difficulty, resource needs, and what each one replaces.
Not the right match-up?
Hanko
Passkey-first authentication for modern applications
VS
Ory Hydra
Certified OAuth 2.0 and OpenID Connect server
| Feature | Hanko | Ory Hydra |
|---|---|---|
| Category | Identity & SSO | Identity & SSO |
| License | AGPL-3.0 | Apache-2.0 |
| Language | Go | Go |
| Setup difficulty | Medium | Hard |
| Min. RAM | 512 MB | 256 MB |
| Deployment | docker, binary | docker, kubernetes, binary |
| GitHub stars | ★ 9,002 | ★ 17,462 |
| First released | 2022 | 2015 |
| Replaces | Auth0, Clerk | Okta, Auth0 |
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
Frequently asked questions
Is Hanko or Ory Hydra better?
Neither is universally better. Ory Hydra 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 Ory Hydra free and open-source?
Yes. Hanko is licensed under AGPL-3.0 and Ory Hydra under Apache-2.0. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.
Can I run Hanko and Ory Hydra with Docker?
Hanko: yes. Ory Hydra: yes.