SHSelfHostIndex

OpenFGA vs Ory Keto

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?
OpenFGA High-performance fine-grained authorization engine VS OR Ory Keto Permission and authorization server based on Zanzibar
FeatureOpenFGAOry Keto
Deploy effortUnder-an-hour setupUnder-an-hour setup
Health score90 · Excellent87 · Excellent
CategoryIdentity & SSOIdentity & SSO
LicenseApache-2.0Apache-2.0
LanguageGoGo
Setup difficultyMediumMedium
Min. RAM256 MB256 MB
Deploymentdocker, kubernetes, binarydocker, kubernetes, binary
GitHub stars★ 5,846★ 5,402
First released20222018
ReplacesAuth0 FGAAuth0 FGA, OpenFGA

What are OpenFGA and Ory Keto?

OpenFGA

OpenFGA is an open-source, CNCF authorization engine inspired by Google Zanzibar for relationship-based access control. It can be self-hosted to centralize fine-grained permission decisions for applications.

  • Relationship-based access
  • High-throughput checks
  • Modeling language
  • gRPC and HTTP APIs

Ory Keto

Ory Keto is an open-source permission server inspired by Google's Zanzibar paper. It answers fine-grained authorization questions and is self-hosted to manage access control for applications.

  • Zanzibar-style permissions
  • Relationship-based access
  • gRPC and REST APIs
  • Fast checks

OpenFGA vs Ory Keto: key differences

Both projects are written in Go. Ory Keto is the more established project (first released 2018), while OpenFGA arrived in 2022.

Why pick each one

Choose OpenFGA if…

  • Released under the Apache-2.0 license
  • First-class Docker support for quick deployment
  • Kubernetes-ready with Helm charts available
  • Mature project with 5.8k GitHub stars
OpenFGA details

Choose Ory Keto if…

  • Released under the Apache-2.0 license
  • First-class Docker support for quick deployment
  • Kubernetes-ready with Helm charts available
  • Mature project with 5.4k GitHub stars
Ory Keto details

Frequently asked questions

Is OpenFGA or Ory Keto better?

Neither is universally better. OpenFGA has the larger community; both share a medium setup difficulty, so the decision comes down to features and licensing.

Are OpenFGA and Ory Keto free and open-source?

Yes. OpenFGA is licensed under Apache-2.0 and Ory Keto under Apache-2.0. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.

Can I run OpenFGA and Ory Keto with Docker?

OpenFGA: yes. Ory Keto: yes.

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