LDAP Account Manager vs Ory Kratos
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?
LDAP Account Manager
Web frontend for managing entries in an LDAP directory
VS
Ory Kratos
Headless identity and user management API server
| Feature | LDAP Account Manager | Ory Kratos |
|---|---|---|
| Category | Identity & SSO | Identity & SSO |
| License | GPL-3.0 | Apache-2.0 |
| Language | PHP | Go |
| Setup difficulty | Medium | Hard |
| Min. RAM | 256 MB | 256 MB |
| Deployment | docker, bare-metal | docker, kubernetes, binary |
| GitHub stars | ★ 486 | ★ 13,815 |
| First released | 2003 | 2020 |
| Replaces | Active Directory Users and Computers | Auth0, Firebase Auth |
Why pick each one
Choose LDAP Account Manager if…
- Released under the GPL-3.0 license
- First-class Docker support for quick deployment
- Written in PHP
- Tiny footprint — runs in 256 MB RAM
Choose Ory Kratos if…
- Extremely flexible architecture
- Excellent for custom frontends
Frequently asked questions
Is LDAP Account Manager or Ory Kratos better?
Neither is universally better. Ory Kratos has the larger community, while LDAP Account Manager is simpler to set up (medium difficulty). Choose based on the comparison table above and your own setup.
Are LDAP Account Manager and Ory Kratos free and open-source?
Yes. LDAP Account Manager is licensed under GPL-3.0 and Ory Kratos under Apache-2.0. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.
Can I run LDAP Account Manager and Ory Kratos with Docker?
LDAP Account Manager: yes. Ory Kratos: yes.