SHSelfHostIndex

Pocket ID vs Rauthy

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?
Pocket ID Simple OIDC provider that uses only passkeys VS Rauthy Lightweight OpenID Connect provider written in Rust
FeaturePocket IDRauthy
Deploy effort≈5-minute setupUnder-an-hour setup
Health score92 · Excellent84 · Excellent
CategoryIdentity & SSOIdentity & SSO
LicenseBSD-2-ClauseApache-2.0
LanguageGoRust
Setup difficultyEasyMedium
Min. RAM128 MB128 MB
Deploymentdockerdocker, binary
GitHub stars★ 9,266★ 1,339
First released20242023
ReplacesAuth0, AutheliaKeycloak, Auth0

What are Pocket ID and Rauthy?

Pocket ID

Pocket ID is an open-source, simple OpenID Connect provider that authenticates users exclusively with passkeys. It is self-hosted to add passwordless SSO to applications with minimal configuration.

  • Passkey-only authentication
  • Simple OIDC provider
  • Minimal configuration
  • Lightweight

Rauthy

Rauthy is an open-source, security-focused OpenID Connect provider and single sign-on solution written in Rust. It is designed to be lightweight and fully self-hosted with minimal resource usage.

  • Lightweight OIDC provider
  • Passkey support
  • Low memory footprint
  • Single binary option

Pocket ID vs Rauthy: key differences

Pocket ID is written in Go, while Rauthy is built with Rust. Licensing differs — BSD-2-Clause for Pocket ID versus Apache-2.0 for Rauthy. Pocket ID has the considerably larger community, at 9,266 GitHub stars versus 1,339.

Why pick each one

Choose Pocket ID if…

  • Released under the BSD-2-Clause license
  • Easy to set up — beginner-friendly
  • First-class Docker support for quick deployment
  • Mature project with 9.3k GitHub stars
Pocket ID details

Choose Rauthy if…

  • Released under the Apache-2.0 license
  • First-class Docker support for quick deployment
  • Active community (1.3k GitHub stars)
  • Written in Rust
Rauthy details

Frequently asked questions

Is Pocket ID or Rauthy better?

Pocket ID is the stronger all-round pick: it has both the larger community and the simpler easy setup. Consider Rauthy if its specific feature set fits your needs better.

Are Pocket ID and Rauthy free and open-source?

Yes. Pocket ID is licensed under BSD-2-Clause and Rauthy under Apache-2.0. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.

Can I run Pocket ID and Rauthy with Docker?

Pocket ID: yes. Rauthy: yes.

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