Ory Oathkeeper vs ZITADEL
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 Oathkeeper
Identity and access proxy for zero-trust networks
VS
ZITADEL
Cloud-native identity infrastructure with multi-tenancy built in
| Feature | Ory Oathkeeper | ZITADEL |
|---|---|---|
| Category | Identity & SSO | Identity & SSO |
| License | Apache-2.0 | Apache-2.0 |
| Language | Go | Go |
| Setup difficulty | Medium | Medium |
| Min. RAM | 256 MB | 512 MB |
| Deployment | docker, kubernetes, binary | docker, kubernetes, binary |
| GitHub stars | ★ 3,590 | ★ 14,671 |
| First released | 2017 | 2020 |
| Replaces | Cloudflare Access | Auth0, Okta, Firebase Auth |
Why pick each one
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 Oathkeeper or ZITADEL better?
Neither is universally better. ZITADEL has the larger community; both share a medium setup difficulty, so the decision comes down to features and licensing.
Are Ory Oathkeeper and ZITADEL free and open-source?
Yes. Ory Oathkeeper is licensed under Apache-2.0 and ZITADEL under Apache-2.0. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.
Can I run Ory Oathkeeper and ZITADEL with Docker?
Ory Oathkeeper: yes. ZITADEL: yes.