Janssen Project 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.
| Feature | Janssen Project | Ory Kratos |
|---|---|---|
| Deploy effort | Read-the-docs project | Under-an-hour setup |
| Health score | 80 · Excellent | 89 · Excellent |
| Category | Identity & SSO | Identity & SSO |
| License | Apache-2.0 | Apache-2.0 |
| Language | Java | Go |
| Setup difficulty | Hard | Hard |
| Min. RAM | 4,096 MB | 256 MB |
| Deployment | kubernetes, helm | docker, kubernetes, binary |
| GitHub stars | ★ 649 | ★ 13,888 |
| First released | 2020 | 2020 |
| Replaces | Okta, Auth0 | Auth0, Firebase Auth |
What are Janssen Project and Ory Kratos?
Janssen Project
The Janssen Project is a Linux Foundation effort delivering a scalable, cloud-native identity and access management platform. It implements OpenID Connect, OAuth 2.0, and FIDO standards for authentication and authorization.
- OpenID Connect provider
- OAuth 2.0 server
- FIDO2 and passkeys
- Cloud-native deployment
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
Janssen Project vs Ory Kratos: key differences
Janssen Project is written in Java, while Ory Kratos is built with Go. Ory Kratos is the lighter option, starting around 256 MB of RAM against 4,096 MB for Janssen Project. Ory Kratos has the considerably larger community, at 13,888 GitHub stars versus 649. Ory Kratos lists first-class Docker deployment; Janssen Project does not.
Why pick each one
Choose Janssen Project if…
- Standards complete
- Built for scale
Watch out for
- Complex to operate
- Heavy resource needs
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 Janssen Project or Ory Kratos better?
Neither is universally better. Ory Kratos has the larger community; both share a hard setup difficulty, so the decision comes down to features and licensing.
Are Janssen Project and Ory Kratos free and open-source?
Yes. Janssen Project is licensed under Apache-2.0 and Ory Kratos under Apache-2.0. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.
Can I run Janssen Project and Ory Kratos with Docker?
Janssen Project: check the project docs for container support. Ory Kratos: yes.
Which is lighter on resources, Janssen Project or Ory Kratos?
Ory Kratos has the smaller minimum footprint at 256 MB of RAM, compared to about 4,096 MB for Janssen Project. Real-world usage depends on library size, user count, and enabled features.