Kanidm vs SimpleSAMLphp
A side-by-side comparison of two self-hosted identity & sso options — licensing, setup difficulty, resource needs, and what each one replaces.
Kanidm
Modern, simple and secure identity management server
VS
SimpleSAMLphp
PHP implementation of SAML and identity federation
| Feature | Kanidm | SimpleSAMLphp |
|---|---|---|
| Deploy effort | Under-an-hour setup | Under-an-hour setup |
| Health score | 90 · Excellent | 83 · Excellent |
| Category | Identity & SSO | Identity & SSO |
| License | MPL-2.0 | LGPL-2.1 |
| Language | Rust | PHP |
| Setup difficulty | Medium | Medium |
| Min. RAM | 256 MB | 256 MB |
| Deployment | docker, binary | bare-metal, source, docker |
| GitHub stars | ★ 5,404 | ★ 1,142 |
| First released | 2019 | 2007 |
| Replaces | Active Directory, Okta | Okta, PingFederate |
What are Kanidm and SimpleSAMLphp?
Kanidm
Kanidm is an identity management platform written in Rust, focused on simplicity, security and correctness. It provides authentication for web applications, Unix systems and LDAP-aware services.
- OAuth2 and OpenID Connect provider
- Passkey-first authentication
- Unix and LDAP integration
- Strong security defaults
SimpleSAMLphp
SimpleSAMLphp is a widely used PHP application for implementing SAML 2.0 identity and service providers. It enables web single sign-on and federation for PHP environments and beyond.
- SAML 2.0 IdP and SP
- Identity federation
- Many auth backends
- Module ecosystem
Kanidm vs SimpleSAMLphp: key differences
Kanidm is written in Rust, while SimpleSAMLphp is built with PHP. Licensing differs — MPL-2.0 for Kanidm versus LGPL-2.1 for SimpleSAMLphp. SimpleSAMLphp is the more established project (first released 2007), while Kanidm arrived in 2019. Kanidm has the considerably larger community, at 5,404 GitHub stars versus 1,142.
Why pick each one
Choose Kanidm if…
- Memory safe and lightweight
- Excellent passwordless support
Watch out for
- Smaller ecosystem and tooling
Choose SimpleSAMLphp if…
- Proven and widely deployed
- Flexible modules
Watch out for
- Configuration is intricate
- PHP performance limits
Frequently asked questions
Is Kanidm or SimpleSAMLphp better?
Neither is universally better. Kanidm has the larger community; both share a medium setup difficulty, so the decision comes down to features and licensing.
Are Kanidm and SimpleSAMLphp free and open-source?
Yes. Kanidm is licensed under MPL-2.0 and SimpleSAMLphp under LGPL-2.1. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.
Can I run Kanidm and SimpleSAMLphp with Docker?
Kanidm: yes. SimpleSAMLphp: yes.