Ory Keto vs SpiceDB
A side-by-side comparison of two self-hosted identity & sso options — licensing, setup difficulty, resource needs, and what each one replaces.
| Feature | Ory Keto | SpiceDB |
|---|---|---|
| Deploy effort | Under-an-hour setup | Under-an-hour setup |
| Health score | 87 · Excellent | 91 · Excellent |
| Category | Identity & SSO | Identity & SSO |
| License | Apache-2.0 | Apache-2.0 |
| Language | Go | Go |
| Setup difficulty | Medium | Hard |
| Min. RAM | 256 MB | 512 MB |
| Deployment | docker, kubernetes, binary | docker, kubernetes, binary |
| GitHub stars | ★ 5,402 | ★ 7,086 |
| First released | 2018 | 2021 |
| Replaces | Auth0 FGA, OpenFGA | Auth0 FGA, OpenFGA |
What are Ory Keto and SpiceDB?
Ory Keto
Ory Keto is an open-source permission server inspired by Google's Zanzibar paper. It answers fine-grained authorization questions and is self-hosted to manage access control for applications.
- Zanzibar-style permissions
- Relationship-based access
- gRPC and REST APIs
- Fast checks
SpiceDB
SpiceDB is an open-source database system for managing security-critical application permissions inspired by Google Zanzibar. It is self-hosted to provide consistent, fine-grained authorization at scale.
- Zanzibar-inspired model
- Consistency guarantees
- Schema language
- Horizontal scaling
Ory Keto vs SpiceDB: key differences
Both projects are written in Go. Ory Keto is the lighter option, starting around 256 MB of RAM against 512 MB for SpiceDB. Ory Keto is the more established project (first released 2018), while SpiceDB arrived in 2021.
Why pick each one
Choose Ory Keto if…
- Released under the Apache-2.0 license
- First-class Docker support for quick deployment
- Kubernetes-ready with Helm charts available
- Mature project with 5.4k GitHub stars
Choose SpiceDB if…
- Released under the Apache-2.0 license
- First-class Docker support for quick deployment
- Kubernetes-ready with Helm charts available
- Mature project with 7.1k GitHub stars
Frequently asked questions
Is Ory Keto or SpiceDB better?
Neither is universally better. SpiceDB has the larger community, while Ory Keto is simpler to set up (medium difficulty). Choose based on the comparison table above and your own setup.
Are Ory Keto and SpiceDB free and open-source?
Yes. Ory Keto is licensed under Apache-2.0 and SpiceDB under Apache-2.0. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.
Can I run Ory Keto and SpiceDB with Docker?
Ory Keto: yes. SpiceDB: yes.
Which is lighter on resources, Ory Keto or SpiceDB?
Ory Keto has the smaller minimum footprint at 256 MB of RAM, compared to about 512 MB for SpiceDB. Real-world usage depends on library size, user count, and enabled features.