Hanko vs Ory Kratos
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 Kratos
Headless identity and user management API server
| Feature | Hanko | Ory Kratos |
|---|---|---|
| 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 | ★ 13,815 |
| First released | 2022 | 2020 |
| Replaces | Auth0, Clerk | Auth0, Firebase Auth |
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 Ory Kratos if…
- Extremely flexible architecture
- Excellent for custom frontends
Frequently asked questions
Is Hanko or Ory Kratos better?
Neither is universally better. Ory Kratos 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 Kratos free and open-source?
Yes. Hanko is licensed under AGPL-3.0 and Ory Kratos under Apache-2.0. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.
Can I run Hanko and Ory Kratos with Docker?
Hanko: yes. Ory Kratos: yes.