SHSelfHostIndex

Ipsilon vs Shibboleth Identity Provider

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?
IP Ipsilon Identity provider for federated single sign-on VS SH Shibboleth Identity Provider Standards-based SAML identity provider for federations
FeatureIpsilonShibboleth Identity Provider
Deploy effortRead-the-docs projectUnder-an-hour setup
CategoryIdentity & SSOIdentity & SSO
LicenseGPL-3.0Apache-2.0
LanguagePythonJava
Setup difficultyHardHard
Min. RAM512 MB1,024 MB
Deploymentbare-metal, sourcebare-metal, docker, source
GitHub stars★ 80★ 200
First released20142003
ReplacesOkta, PingFederateOkta, Ping Identity

What are Ipsilon and Shibboleth Identity 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

Shibboleth Identity Provider

The Shibboleth Identity Provider is an open-source SAML identity provider widely used in research and education federations. It enables secure single sign-on and attribute release across organizations.

  • SAML 2.0 identity provider
  • Attribute resolution and release policies
  • Federation metadata support
  • Used by academic federations worldwide

Ipsilon vs Shibboleth Identity Provider: key differences

Ipsilon is written in Python, while Shibboleth Identity Provider is built with Java. Licensing differs — GPL-3.0 for Ipsilon versus Apache-2.0 for Shibboleth Identity Provider. Ipsilon is the lighter option, starting around 512 MB of RAM against 1,024 MB for Shibboleth Identity Provider. Shibboleth Identity Provider is the more established project (first released 2003), while Ipsilon arrived in 2014. Shibboleth Identity Provider has the considerably larger community, at 200 GitHub stars versus 80. Shibboleth Identity 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
Ipsilon details

Choose Shibboleth Identity Provider if…

  • Gold standard for SAML federations
  • Highly configurable

Watch out for

  • Complex setup
  • SAML-centric
Shibboleth Identity Provider details

Frequently asked questions

Is Ipsilon or Shibboleth Identity Provider better?

Neither is universally better. Shibboleth Identity Provider has the larger community; both share a hard setup difficulty, so the decision comes down to features and licensing.

Are Ipsilon and Shibboleth Identity Provider free and open-source?

Yes. Ipsilon is licensed under GPL-3.0 and Shibboleth Identity Provider under Apache-2.0. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.

Can I run Ipsilon and Shibboleth Identity Provider with Docker?

Ipsilon: check the project docs for container support. Shibboleth Identity Provider: yes.

Which is lighter on resources, Ipsilon or Shibboleth Identity Provider?

Ipsilon has the smaller minimum footprint at 512 MB of RAM, compared to about 1,024 MB for Shibboleth Identity Provider. Real-world usage depends on library size, user count, and enabled features.

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