Keycloak vs OpenUnison
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
OpenUnison
Identity management and SSO portal for Kubernetes
| Feature | Keycloak | OpenUnison |
|---|---|---|
| Deploy effort | Under-an-hour setup | Read-the-docs project |
| Health score | 99 · Excellent | 67 · Good |
| Category | Identity & SSO | Identity & SSO |
| License | Apache-2.0 | Apache-2.0 |
| Language | Java | Less |
| Setup difficulty | Hard | Hard |
| Min. RAM | 1,024 MB | 1,024 MB |
| Deployment | docker, kubernetes, bare-metal | kubernetes, helm |
| GitHub stars | ★ 36,967 | ★ 136 |
| First released | 2014 | 2018 |
| Replaces | Okta, Auth0, Microsoft Entra ID | Okta |
What are Keycloak and OpenUnison?
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
OpenUnison
OpenUnison is an open-source identity manager and single sign-on portal that integrates Kubernetes and applications with enterprise identity providers. It is self-hosted in the cluster.
- Kubernetes SSO portal
- Identity provisioning
- LDAP and SAML integration
- Self-service workflows
Keycloak vs OpenUnison: key differences
Keycloak is written in Java, while OpenUnison is built with Less. Keycloak is the more established project (first released 2014), while OpenUnison arrived in 2018. Keycloak has the considerably larger community, at 36,967 GitHub stars versus 136. Keycloak lists first-class Docker deployment; OpenUnison does not.
Why pick each one
Choose Keycloak if…
- Mature and battle-tested
- Strong enterprise feature set
Watch out for
- Steep learning curve
- Resource intensive
Choose OpenUnison if…
- Released under the Apache-2.0 license
- Kubernetes-ready with Helm charts available
- Written in Less
Frequently asked questions
Is Keycloak or OpenUnison better?
Neither is universally better. Keycloak has the larger community; both share a hard setup difficulty, so the decision comes down to features and licensing.
Are Keycloak and OpenUnison free and open-source?
Yes. Keycloak is licensed under Apache-2.0 and OpenUnison under Apache-2.0. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.
Can I run Keycloak and OpenUnison with Docker?
Keycloak: yes. OpenUnison: check the project docs for container support.