Ory Kratos vs Traefik Forward Auth
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
Traefik Forward Auth
Minimal forward authentication service for Traefik
| Feature | Ory Kratos | Traefik Forward Auth |
|---|---|---|
| Category | Identity & SSO | Identity & SSO |
| License | Apache-2.0 | MIT |
| Language | Go | Go |
| Setup difficulty | Hard | Easy |
| Min. RAM | 256 MB | 64 MB |
| Deployment | docker, kubernetes, binary | docker, binary |
| GitHub stars | ★ 13,815 | ★ 2,390 |
| First released | 2020 | 2018 |
| Replaces | Auth0, Firebase Auth | Cloudflare Access |
Why pick each one
Choose Ory Kratos if…
- Extremely flexible architecture
- Excellent for custom frontends
Choose Traefik Forward Auth if…
- Released under the MIT license
- Easy to set up — beginner-friendly
- First-class Docker support for quick deployment
- Active community (2.4k GitHub stars)
Frequently asked questions
Is Ory Kratos or Traefik Forward Auth better?
Neither is universally better. Ory Kratos has the larger community, while Traefik Forward Auth is simpler to set up (easy difficulty). Choose based on the comparison table above and your own setup.
Are Ory Kratos and Traefik Forward Auth free and open-source?
Yes. Ory Kratos is licensed under Apache-2.0 and Traefik Forward Auth under MIT. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.
Can I run Ory Kratos and Traefik Forward Auth with Docker?
Ory Kratos: yes. Traefik Forward Auth: yes.