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.
Hanko
Passkey-first authentication for modern applications
VS
Ory Kratos
Headless identity and user management API server
| Feature | Hanko | Ory Kratos |
|---|---|---|
| Deploy effort | Under-an-hour setup | Under-an-hour setup |
| Health score | 92 · Excellent | 89 · Excellent |
| 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 | ★ 9,036 | ★ 13,888 |
| First released | 2022 | 2020 |
| Replaces | Auth0, Clerk | Auth0, Firebase Auth |
What are Hanko and Ory Kratos?
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
Ory Kratos
Ory Kratos is an API-first identity and user management system. It handles login, registration, profile management, account recovery and multi-factor authentication without prescribing a user interface.
- Headless API for full UI control
- Self-service flows for login and recovery
- Pluggable MFA including TOTP and WebAuthn
- Cloud-native and stateless design
Hanko vs Ory Kratos: key differences
Both projects are written in Go. Licensing differs — AGPL-3.0 for Hanko versus Apache-2.0 for Ory Kratos. Ory Kratos is the lighter option, starting around 256 MB of RAM against 512 MB for Hanko. Ory Kratos is the more established project (first released 2020), while Hanko arrived in 2022.
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
Watch out for
- Requires building your own UI
- Complex initial setup
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.
Which is lighter on resources, Hanko or Ory Kratos?
Ory Kratos 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.