Ipsilon 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.
| Feature | Ipsilon | node-oidc-provider |
|---|---|---|
| Deploy effort | Read-the-docs project | Under-an-hour setup |
| Category | Identity & SSO | Identity & SSO |
| License | GPL-3.0 | MIT |
| Language | Python | JavaScript |
| Setup difficulty | Hard | Hard |
| Min. RAM | 512 MB | 256 MB |
| Deployment | bare-metal, source | source, docker |
| GitHub stars | ★ 80 | ★ 3,816 |
| First released | 2014 | 2016 |
| Replaces | Okta, PingFederate | Auth0, Okta |
What are Ipsilon and node-oidc-provider?
Ipsilon
Ipsilon is an identity provider service that supports SAML and OpenID for federated single sign-on. It plugs into existing authentication backends like FreeIPA to centralize login for web applications.
- SAML identity provider
- OpenID support
- FreeIPA integration
- Pluggable backends
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
Ipsilon vs node-oidc-provider: key differences
Ipsilon is written in Python, while node-oidc-provider is built with JavaScript. Licensing differs — GPL-3.0 for Ipsilon versus MIT for node-oidc-provider. Node-oidc-provider is the lighter option, starting around 256 MB of RAM against 512 MB for Ipsilon. Ipsilon is the more established project (first released 2014), while node-oidc-provider arrived in 2016. Node-oidc-provider has the considerably larger community, at 3,816 GitHub stars versus 80. Node-oidc-provider lists first-class Docker deployment; Ipsilon does not.
Why pick each one
Choose Ipsilon if…
- Good FreeIPA companion
- Federation focused
Watch out for
- Small community
- Limited recent activity
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 Ipsilon or node-oidc-provider better?
Neither is universally better. node-oidc-provider has the larger community; both share a hard setup difficulty, so the decision comes down to features and licensing.
Are Ipsilon and node-oidc-provider free and open-source?
Yes. Ipsilon is licensed under GPL-3.0 and node-oidc-provider under MIT. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.
Can I run Ipsilon and node-oidc-provider with Docker?
Ipsilon: check the project docs for container support. node-oidc-provider: yes.
Which is lighter on resources, Ipsilon or node-oidc-provider?
node-oidc-provider has the smaller minimum footprint at 256 MB of RAM, compared to about 512 MB for Ipsilon. Real-world usage depends on library size, user count, and enabled features.