Kanidm vs ZITADEL
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?
Kanidm
Modern, simple and secure identity management server
VS
ZITADEL
Cloud-native identity infrastructure with multi-tenancy built in
| Feature | Kanidm | ZITADEL |
|---|---|---|
| Category | Identity & SSO | Identity & SSO |
| License | MPL-2.0 | Apache-2.0 |
| Language | Rust | Go |
| Setup difficulty | Medium | Medium |
| Min. RAM | 256 MB | 512 MB |
| Deployment | docker, binary | docker, kubernetes, binary |
| GitHub stars | ★ 5,214 | ★ 14,671 |
| First released | 2019 | 2020 |
| Replaces | Active Directory, Okta | Auth0, Okta, Firebase Auth |
Why pick each one
Frequently asked questions
Is Kanidm or ZITADEL better?
Neither is universally better. ZITADEL has the larger community; both share a medium setup difficulty, so the decision comes down to features and licensing.
Are Kanidm and ZITADEL free and open-source?
Yes. Kanidm is licensed under MPL-2.0 and ZITADEL under Apache-2.0. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.
Can I run Kanidm and ZITADEL with Docker?
Kanidm: yes. ZITADEL: yes.