Ory Kratos vs Ory Oathkeeper
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 Kratos
Headless identity and user management API server
VS
Ory Oathkeeper
Identity and access proxy for zero-trust networks
| Feature | Ory Kratos | Ory Oathkeeper |
|---|---|---|
| Category | Identity & SSO | Identity & SSO |
| License | Apache-2.0 | Apache-2.0 |
| Language | Go | Go |
| Setup difficulty | Hard | Medium |
| Min. RAM | 256 MB | 256 MB |
| Deployment | docker, kubernetes, binary | docker, kubernetes, binary |
| GitHub stars | ★ 13,815 | ★ 3,590 |
| First released | 2020 | 2017 |
| Replaces | Auth0, Firebase Auth | Cloudflare Access |
Why pick each one
Choose Ory Kratos if…
- Extremely flexible architecture
- Excellent for custom frontends
Choose Ory Oathkeeper if…
- Released under the Apache-2.0 license
- First-class Docker support for quick deployment
- Kubernetes-ready with Helm charts available
- Active community (3.6k GitHub stars)
Frequently asked questions
Is Ory Kratos or Ory Oathkeeper better?
Neither is universally better. Ory Kratos has the larger community, while Ory Oathkeeper is simpler to set up (medium difficulty). Choose based on the comparison table above and your own setup.
Are Ory Kratos and Ory Oathkeeper free and open-source?
Yes. Ory Kratos is licensed under Apache-2.0 and Ory Oathkeeper under Apache-2.0. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.
Can I run Ory Kratos and Ory Oathkeeper with Docker?
Ory Kratos: yes. Ory Oathkeeper: yes.