SHSelfHostIndex

Samba Active Directory DC 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?
SA Samba Active Directory DC Open-source Active Directory compatible domain controller VS ZI ZITADEL Cloud-native identity infrastructure with multi-tenancy built in
FeatureSamba Active Directory DCZITADEL
CategoryIdentity & SSOIdentity & SSO
LicenseGPL-3.0Apache-2.0
LanguageCGo
Setup difficultyHardMedium
Min. RAM512 MB512 MB
Deploymentdocker, bare-metal, sourcedocker, kubernetes, binary
GitHub stars★ 1,000★ 14,671
First released19922020
ReplacesActive Directory, Windows ServerAuth0, Okta, Firebase Auth

Why pick each one

Choose Samba Active Directory DC if…

  • Drop-in AD replacement
  • Mature and widely deployed
Samba Active Directory DC details

Choose ZITADEL if…

  • Strong multi-tenant model
  • Modern Go codebase
ZITADEL details

Frequently asked questions

Is Samba Active Directory DC or ZITADEL better?

ZITADEL is the stronger all-round pick: it has both the larger community and the simpler medium setup. Consider Samba Active Directory DC if its specific feature set fits your needs better.

Are Samba Active Directory DC and ZITADEL free and open-source?

Yes. Samba Active Directory DC is licensed under GPL-3.0 and ZITADEL under Apache-2.0. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.

Can I run Samba Active Directory DC and ZITADEL with Docker?

Samba Active Directory DC: yes. ZITADEL: yes.

Related comparisons