SHSelfHostIndex

Keywhiz 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?
KE Keywhiz Secret management and distribution system VS ZI ZITADEL Cloud-native identity infrastructure with multi-tenancy built in
FeatureKeywhizZITADEL
CategoryIdentity & SSOIdentity & SSO
LicenseApache-2.0Apache-2.0
LanguageJavaGo
Setup difficultyHardMedium
Min. RAM512 MB512 MB
Deploymentdocker, sourcedocker, kubernetes, binary
GitHub stars★ 2,625★ 14,671
First released20152020
ReplacesHashiCorp VaultAuth0, Okta, Firebase Auth

Why pick each one

Choose Keywhiz if…

  • Released under the Apache-2.0 license
  • First-class Docker support for quick deployment
  • Active community (2.6k GitHub stars)
  • Written in Java
Keywhiz details

Choose ZITADEL if…

  • Strong multi-tenant model
  • Modern Go codebase
ZITADEL details

Frequently asked questions

Is Keywhiz or ZITADEL better?

ZITADEL is the stronger all-round pick: it has both the larger community and the simpler medium setup. Consider Keywhiz if its specific feature set fits your needs better.

Are Keywhiz and ZITADEL free and open-source?

Yes. Keywhiz is licensed under Apache-2.0 and ZITADEL under Apache-2.0. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.

Can I run Keywhiz and ZITADEL with Docker?

Keywhiz: yes. ZITADEL: yes.

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