Pocket ID 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?
Pocket ID
Simple OIDC provider that uses only passkeys
VS
step-ca
Private online certificate authority for internal PKI
| Feature | Pocket ID | step-ca |
|---|---|---|
| Category | Identity & SSO | Identity & SSO |
| License | BSD-2-Clause | Apache-2.0 |
| Language | Go | Go |
| Setup difficulty | Easy | Medium |
| Min. RAM | 128 MB | 256 MB |
| Deployment | docker | docker, binary |
| GitHub stars | ★ 8,737 | ★ 8,734 |
| First released | 2024 | 2019 |
| Replaces | Auth0, Authelia | DigiCert |
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 8.7k GitHub stars
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 Pocket ID or step-ca better?
Pocket ID is the stronger all-round pick: it has both the larger community and the simpler easy setup. Consider step-ca if its specific feature set fits your needs better.
Are Pocket ID and step-ca free and open-source?
Yes. Pocket ID is licensed under BSD-2-Clause and step-ca under Apache-2.0. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.
Can I run Pocket ID and step-ca with Docker?
Pocket ID: yes. step-ca: yes.