Ory Hydra 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?
Ory Hydra
Certified OAuth 2.0 and OpenID Connect server
VS
Ory Kratos
Headless identity and user management API server
| Feature | Ory Hydra | Ory Kratos |
|---|---|---|
| Category | Identity & SSO | Identity & SSO |
| License | Apache-2.0 | Apache-2.0 |
| Language | Go | Go |
| Setup difficulty | Hard | Hard |
| Min. RAM | 256 MB | 256 MB |
| Deployment | docker, kubernetes, binary | docker, kubernetes, binary |
| GitHub stars | ★ 17,462 | ★ 13,815 |
| First released | 2015 | 2020 |
| Replaces | Okta, Auth0 | Auth0, Firebase Auth |
Why pick each one
Choose Ory Kratos if…
- Extremely flexible architecture
- Excellent for custom frontends
Frequently asked questions
Is Ory Hydra or Ory Kratos better?
Neither is universally better. Ory Hydra has the larger community; both share a hard setup difficulty, so the decision comes down to features and licensing.
Are Ory Hydra and Ory Kratos free and open-source?
Yes. Ory Hydra 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 Ory Hydra and Ory Kratos with Docker?
Ory Hydra: yes. Ory Kratos: yes.