node-oidc-provider vs Rauthy
A side-by-side comparison of two self-hosted identity & sso options — licensing, setup difficulty, resource needs, and what each one replaces.
Rauthy
Lightweight OpenID Connect provider written in Rust
| Feature | node-oidc-provider | Rauthy |
|---|---|---|
| Deploy effort | Under-an-hour setup | Under-an-hour setup |
| Health score | 88 · Excellent | 84 · Excellent |
| Category | Identity & SSO | Identity & SSO |
| License | MIT | Apache-2.0 |
| Language | JavaScript | Rust |
| Setup difficulty | Hard | Medium |
| Min. RAM | 256 MB | 128 MB |
| Deployment | source, docker | docker, binary |
| GitHub stars | ★ 3,816 | ★ 1,339 |
| First released | 2016 | 2023 |
| Replaces | Auth0, Okta | Keycloak, Auth0 |
What are node-oidc-provider and Rauthy?
node-oidc-provider
node-oidc-provider is an open-source, certified OpenID Connect and OAuth 2.0 provider implementation for Node.js. It can be self-hosted to issue tokens and act as an identity provider for applications.
- Certified OIDC provider
- OAuth 2.0 support
- Embeddable in Node apps
- Standards compliant
Rauthy
Rauthy is an open-source, security-focused OpenID Connect provider and single sign-on solution written in Rust. It is designed to be lightweight and fully self-hosted with minimal resource usage.
- Lightweight OIDC provider
- Passkey support
- Low memory footprint
- Single binary option
node-oidc-provider vs Rauthy: key differences
Node-oidc-provider is written in JavaScript, while Rauthy is built with Rust. Licensing differs — MIT for node-oidc-provider versus Apache-2.0 for Rauthy. Rauthy is the lighter option, starting around 128 MB of RAM against 256 MB for node-oidc-provider. Node-oidc-provider is the more established project (first released 2016), while Rauthy arrived in 2023. Node-oidc-provider has the considerably larger community, at 3,816 GitHub stars versus 1,339.
Why pick each one
Choose node-oidc-provider if…
- Released under the MIT license
- First-class Docker support for quick deployment
- Active community (3.8k GitHub stars)
- Written in JavaScript
Choose Rauthy if…
- Released under the Apache-2.0 license
- First-class Docker support for quick deployment
- Active community (1.3k GitHub stars)
- Written in Rust
Frequently asked questions
Is node-oidc-provider or Rauthy better?
Neither is universally better. node-oidc-provider has the larger community, while Rauthy is simpler to set up (medium difficulty). Choose based on the comparison table above and your own setup.
Are node-oidc-provider and Rauthy free and open-source?
Yes. node-oidc-provider is licensed under MIT and Rauthy under Apache-2.0. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.
Can I run node-oidc-provider and Rauthy with Docker?
node-oidc-provider: yes. Rauthy: yes.
Which is lighter on resources, node-oidc-provider or Rauthy?
Rauthy has the smaller minimum footprint at 128 MB of RAM, compared to about 256 MB for node-oidc-provider. Real-world usage depends on library size, user count, and enabled features.