OpenFGA vs Ory Kratos
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
Ory Kratos
Headless identity and user management API server
| Feature | OpenFGA | Ory Kratos |
|---|---|---|
| Category | Identity & SSO | Identity & SSO |
| License | Apache-2.0 | Apache-2.0 |
| Language | Go | Go |
| Setup difficulty | Medium | Hard |
| Min. RAM | 256 MB | 256 MB |
| Deployment | docker, kubernetes, binary | docker, kubernetes, binary |
| GitHub stars | ★ 5,564 | ★ 13,815 |
| First released | 2022 | 2020 |
| Replaces | Auth0 FGA | Auth0, Firebase Auth |
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 5.6k GitHub stars
Choose Ory Kratos if…
- Extremely flexible architecture
- Excellent for custom frontends
Frequently asked questions
Is OpenFGA or Ory Kratos better?
Neither is universally better. Ory Kratos has the larger community, while OpenFGA is simpler to set up (medium difficulty). Choose based on the comparison table above and your own setup.
Are OpenFGA and Ory Kratos free and open-source?
Yes. OpenFGA is licensed under Apache-2.0 and Ory Kratos under Apache-2.0. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.
Can I run OpenFGA and Ory Kratos with Docker?
OpenFGA: yes. Ory Kratos: yes.