LLDAP vs Open Policy Agent
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?
LLDAP
Lightweight LDAP server with a simple web interface
VS
Open Policy Agent
General-purpose policy engine for cloud-native stacks
| Feature | LLDAP | Open Policy Agent |
|---|---|---|
| Category | Identity & SSO | Identity & SSO |
| License | GPL-3.0 | Apache-2.0 |
| Language | Rust | Go |
| Setup difficulty | Easy | Medium |
| Min. RAM | 64 MB | 256 MB |
| Deployment | docker, binary | docker, kubernetes, binary |
| GitHub stars | ★ 6,421 | ★ 12,086 |
| First released | 2021 | 2016 |
| Replaces | Active Directory, OpenLDAP | AWS IAM policies |
Why pick each one
Choose Open Policy Agent if…
- Released under the Apache-2.0 license
- First-class Docker support for quick deployment
- Kubernetes-ready with Helm charts available
- Mature project with 12.1k GitHub stars
Frequently asked questions
Is LLDAP or Open Policy Agent better?
Neither is universally better. Open Policy Agent has the larger community, while LLDAP is simpler to set up (easy difficulty). Choose based on the comparison table above and your own setup.
Are LLDAP and Open Policy Agent free and open-source?
Yes. LLDAP is licensed under GPL-3.0 and Open Policy Agent under Apache-2.0. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.
Can I run LLDAP and Open Policy Agent with Docker?
LLDAP: yes. Open Policy Agent: yes.