SHSelfHostIndex

LLDAP 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?
LL LLDAP Lightweight LDAP server with a simple web interface VS ZI ZITADEL Cloud-native identity infrastructure with multi-tenancy built in
FeatureLLDAPZITADEL
CategoryIdentity & SSOIdentity & SSO
LicenseGPL-3.0Apache-2.0
LanguageRustGo
Setup difficultyEasyMedium
Min. RAM64 MB512 MB
Deploymentdocker, binarydocker, kubernetes, binary
GitHub stars★ 6,421★ 14,671
First released20212020
ReplacesActive Directory, OpenLDAPAuth0, Okta, Firebase Auth

Why pick each one

Choose LLDAP if…

  • Very easy to deploy
  • Lightweight Rust binary
LLDAP details

Choose ZITADEL if…

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

Frequently asked questions

Is LLDAP or ZITADEL better?

Neither is universally better. ZITADEL 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 ZITADEL free and open-source?

Yes. LLDAP is licensed under GPL-3.0 and ZITADEL under Apache-2.0. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.

Can I run LLDAP and ZITADEL with Docker?

LLDAP: yes. ZITADEL: yes.

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