Ory Hydra vs SimpleSAMLphp
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
SimpleSAMLphp
PHP implementation of SAML and identity federation
| Feature | Ory Hydra | SimpleSAMLphp |
|---|---|---|
| Category | Identity & SSO | Identity & SSO |
| License | Apache-2.0 | LGPL-2.1 |
| Language | Go | PHP |
| Setup difficulty | Hard | Medium |
| Min. RAM | 256 MB | 256 MB |
| Deployment | docker, kubernetes, binary | bare-metal, source, docker |
| GitHub stars | ★ 17,462 | ★ 1,139 |
| First released | 2015 | 2007 |
| Replaces | Okta, Auth0 | Okta, PingFederate |
Why pick each one
Frequently asked questions
Is Ory Hydra or SimpleSAMLphp better?
Neither is universally better. Ory Hydra has the larger community, while SimpleSAMLphp is simpler to set up (medium difficulty). Choose based on the comparison table above and your own setup.
Are Ory Hydra and SimpleSAMLphp free and open-source?
Yes. Ory Hydra is licensed under Apache-2.0 and SimpleSAMLphp under LGPL-2.1. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.
Can I run Ory Hydra and SimpleSAMLphp with Docker?
Ory Hydra: yes. SimpleSAMLphp: yes.