Ory Kratos vs step-ca
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
step-ca
Private online certificate authority for internal PKI
| Feature | Ory Kratos | step-ca |
|---|---|---|
| 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, binary |
| GitHub stars | ★ 13,815 | ★ 8,734 |
| First released | 2020 | 2019 |
| Replaces | Auth0, Firebase Auth | DigiCert |
Why pick each one
Choose Ory Kratos if…
- Extremely flexible architecture
- Excellent for custom frontends
Choose step-ca if…
- Released under the Apache-2.0 license
- First-class Docker support for quick deployment
- Mature project with 8.7k GitHub stars
- Written in Go
Frequently asked questions
Is Ory Kratos or step-ca better?
Neither is universally better. Ory Kratos has the larger community, while step-ca is simpler to set up (medium difficulty). Choose based on the comparison table above and your own setup.
Are Ory Kratos and step-ca free and open-source?
Yes. Ory Kratos is licensed under Apache-2.0 and step-ca under Apache-2.0. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.
Can I run Ory Kratos and step-ca with Docker?
Ory Kratos: yes. step-ca: yes.