SHSelfHostIndex

OpenLDAP 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?
OP OpenLDAP The classic open-source Lightweight Directory Access Protocol server VS ZI ZITADEL Cloud-native identity infrastructure with multi-tenancy built in
FeatureOpenLDAPZITADEL
CategoryIdentity & SSOIdentity & SSO
LicenseOLDAP-2.8Apache-2.0
LanguageCGo
Setup difficultyHardMedium
Min. RAM128 MB512 MB
Deploymentdocker, bare-metal, sourcedocker, kubernetes, binary
GitHub stars★ 400★ 14,671
First released19982020
ReplacesActive DirectoryAuth0, Okta, Firebase Auth

Why pick each one

Choose OpenLDAP if…

  • Extremely mature and stable
  • Universally compatible
OpenLDAP details

Choose ZITADEL if…

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

Frequently asked questions

Is OpenLDAP or ZITADEL better?

ZITADEL is the stronger all-round pick: it has both the larger community and the simpler medium setup. Consider OpenLDAP if its specific feature set fits your needs better.

Are OpenLDAP and ZITADEL free and open-source?

Yes. OpenLDAP is licensed under OLDAP-2.8 and ZITADEL under Apache-2.0. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.

Can I run OpenLDAP and ZITADEL with Docker?

OpenLDAP: yes. ZITADEL: yes.

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