Pocket ID vs ZITADEL
A side-by-side comparison of two self-hosted identity & sso options — licensing, setup difficulty, resource needs, and what each one replaces.
Pocket ID
Simple OIDC provider that uses only passkeys
VS
ZITADEL
Cloud-native identity infrastructure with multi-tenancy built
| Feature | Pocket ID | ZITADEL |
|---|---|---|
| Deploy effort | ≈5-minute setup | Under-an-hour setup |
| Health score | 92 · Excellent | 95 · Excellent |
| Category | Identity & SSO | Identity & SSO |
| License | BSD-2-Clause | Apache-2.0 |
| Language | Go | Go |
| Setup difficulty | Easy | Medium |
| Min. RAM | 128 MB | 512 MB |
| Deployment | docker | docker, kubernetes, binary |
| GitHub stars | ★ 9,266 | ★ 15,083 |
| First released | 2024 | 2020 |
| Replaces | Auth0, Authelia | Auth0, Okta, Firebase Auth |
What are Pocket ID and ZITADEL?
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
ZITADEL
ZITADEL is an open-source identity and access management platform built for multi-tenant applications. It offers OpenID Connect, OAuth2, SAML, passwordless login and a powerful management API.
- Multi-tenancy as a first-class concept
- Passwordless and FIDO2 authentication
- Event-sourced audit trail
- Comprehensive gRPC and REST APIs
Pocket ID vs ZITADEL: key differences
Both projects are written in Go. Licensing differs — BSD-2-Clause for Pocket ID versus Apache-2.0 for ZITADEL. Pocket ID is the lighter option, starting around 128 MB of RAM against 512 MB for ZITADEL. ZITADEL is the more established project (first released 2020), while Pocket ID arrived in 2024.
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
Choose ZITADEL if…
- Strong multi-tenant model
- Modern Go codebase
Watch out for
- Smaller community than Keycloak
Frequently asked questions
Is Pocket ID or ZITADEL better?
Neither is universally better. ZITADEL has the larger community, while Pocket ID is simpler to set up (easy difficulty). Choose based on the comparison table above and your own setup.
Are Pocket ID and ZITADEL free and open-source?
Yes. Pocket ID is licensed under BSD-2-Clause and ZITADEL under Apache-2.0. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.
Can I run Pocket ID and ZITADEL with Docker?
Pocket ID: yes. ZITADEL: yes.
Which is lighter on resources, Pocket ID or ZITADEL?
Pocket ID has the smaller minimum footprint at 128 MB of RAM, compared to about 512 MB for ZITADEL. Real-world usage depends on library size, user count, and enabled features.