Keycloak vs Logto
A side-by-side comparison of two self-hosted identity & sso options — licensing, setup difficulty, resource needs, and what each one replaces.
Keycloak
Open-source identity and access management for modern apps
VS
Logto
Developer-friendly authentication and authorization platform
| Feature | Keycloak | Logto |
|---|---|---|
| Deploy effort | Under-an-hour setup | Under-an-hour setup |
| Health score | 99 · Excellent | 94 · Excellent |
| Category | Identity & SSO | Identity & SSO |
| License | Apache-2.0 | MPL-2.0 |
| Language | Java | TypeScript |
| Setup difficulty | Hard | Medium |
| Min. RAM | 1,024 MB | 512 MB |
| Deployment | docker, kubernetes, bare-metal | docker, kubernetes, binary |
| GitHub stars | ★ 36,967 | ★ 14,621 |
| First released | 2014 | 2022 |
| Replaces | Okta, Auth0, Microsoft Entra ID | Auth0, Firebase Auth, Clerk |
What are Keycloak and Logto?
Keycloak
Keycloak is an enterprise-grade identity and access management solution backed by Red Hat. It provides single sign-on, identity brokering, social login and fine-grained authorization for applications and services.
- SSO with OpenID Connect and SAML 2.0
- Identity brokering and social login
- User federation with LDAP and Active Directory
- Fine-grained authorization services
Logto
Logto is an open-source identity solution built for developers, offering passwordless sign-in, social login and enterprise SSO. It provides prebuilt sign-in experiences and SDKs for many frameworks.
- Prebuilt customizable sign-in experiences
- Passwordless and social authentication
- Multi-framework SDKs
- Role-based access control
Keycloak vs Logto: key differences
Keycloak is written in Java, while Logto is built with TypeScript. Licensing differs — Apache-2.0 for Keycloak versus MPL-2.0 for Logto. Logto is the lighter option, starting around 512 MB of RAM against 1,024 MB for Keycloak. Keycloak is the more established project (first released 2014), while Logto arrived in 2022. Keycloak has the considerably larger community, at 36,967 GitHub stars versus 14,621.
Why pick each one
Choose Keycloak if…
- Mature and battle-tested
- Strong enterprise feature set
Watch out for
- Steep learning curve
- Resource intensive
Choose Logto if…
- Great developer experience
- Modern UI and SDKs
Watch out for
- Younger project with evolving APIs
Frequently asked questions
Is Keycloak or Logto better?
Neither is universally better. Keycloak has the larger community, while Logto is simpler to set up (medium difficulty). Choose based on the comparison table above and your own setup.
Are Keycloak and Logto free and open-source?
Yes. Keycloak is licensed under Apache-2.0 and Logto under MPL-2.0. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.
Can I run Keycloak and Logto with Docker?
Keycloak: yes. Logto: yes.
Which is lighter on resources, Keycloak or Logto?
Logto has the smaller minimum footprint at 512 MB of RAM, compared to about 1,024 MB for Keycloak. Real-world usage depends on library size, user count, and enabled features.