OpenZiti vs Pomerium
A side-by-side comparison of two self-hosted apps from related categories — licensing, setup difficulty, resource needs, and what each one replaces.
Not the right match-up?
OpenZiti
Programmable zero-trust networking platform
VS
Pomerium
Identity-aware reverse proxy for zero-trust access
| Feature | OpenZiti | Pomerium |
|---|---|---|
| Category | Remote Access & VPN | Reverse Proxy & Gateways |
| License | Apache-2.0 | Apache-2.0 |
| Language | Go | Go |
| Setup difficulty | Hard | Medium |
| Min. RAM | 512 MB | 256 MB |
| Deployment | docker, kubernetes, binary | docker, kubernetes, helm |
| GitHub stars | ★ 4,336 | ★ 4,944 |
| First released | 2020 | 2019 |
| Replaces | Cloudflare Access | Cloudflare Access, BeyondCorp |
Why pick each one
Choose OpenZiti if…
- Released under the Apache-2.0 license
- First-class Docker support for quick deployment
- Kubernetes-ready with Helm charts available
- Active community (4.3k GitHub stars)
Choose Pomerium if…
- Released under the Apache-2.0 license
- First-class Docker support for quick deployment
- Kubernetes-ready with Helm charts available
- Active community (4.9k GitHub stars)
Frequently asked questions
Is OpenZiti or Pomerium better?
Pomerium is the stronger all-round pick: it has both the larger community and the simpler medium setup. Consider OpenZiti if its specific feature set fits your needs better.
Are OpenZiti and Pomerium free and open-source?
Yes. OpenZiti is licensed under Apache-2.0 and Pomerium under Apache-2.0. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.
Can I run OpenZiti and Pomerium with Docker?
OpenZiti: yes. Pomerium: yes.