SHSelfHostIndex

Open Policy Agent vs Samba Active Directory DC

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?
OP Open Policy Agent General-purpose policy engine for cloud-native stacks VS SA Samba Active Directory DC Open-source Active Directory compatible domain controller
FeatureOpen Policy AgentSamba Active Directory DC
CategoryIdentity & SSOIdentity & SSO
LicenseApache-2.0GPL-3.0
LanguageGoC
Setup difficultyMediumHard
Min. RAM256 MB512 MB
Deploymentdocker, kubernetes, binarydocker, bare-metal, source
GitHub stars★ 12,086★ 1,000
First released20161992
ReplacesAWS IAM policiesActive Directory, Windows Server

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
Open Policy Agent details

Choose Samba Active Directory DC if…

  • Drop-in AD replacement
  • Mature and widely deployed
Samba Active Directory DC details

Frequently asked questions

Is Open Policy Agent or Samba Active Directory DC better?

Open Policy Agent is the stronger all-round pick: it has both the larger community and the simpler medium setup. Consider Samba Active Directory DC if its specific feature set fits your needs better.

Are Open Policy Agent and Samba Active Directory DC free and open-source?

Yes. Open Policy Agent is licensed under Apache-2.0 and Samba Active Directory DC under GPL-3.0. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.

Can I run Open Policy Agent and Samba Active Directory DC with Docker?

Open Policy Agent: yes. Samba Active Directory DC: yes.

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