SHSelfHostIndex

Shibboleth Identity Provider 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?
SH Shibboleth Identity Provider Standards-based SAML identity provider for federations VS ZITADEL Cloud-native identity infrastructure with multi-tenancy built
FeatureShibboleth Identity ProviderZITADEL
Deploy effortUnder-an-hour setupUnder-an-hour setup
CategoryIdentity & SSOIdentity & SSO
LicenseApache-2.0Apache-2.0
LanguageJavaGo
Setup difficultyHardMedium
Min. RAM1,024 MB512 MB
Deploymentbare-metal, docker, sourcedocker, kubernetes, binary
GitHub stars★ 200★ 15,083
First released20032020
ReplacesOkta, Ping IdentityAuth0, Okta, Firebase Auth

What are Shibboleth Identity Provider and ZITADEL?

Shibboleth Identity Provider

The Shibboleth Identity Provider is an open-source SAML identity provider widely used in research and education federations. It enables secure single sign-on and attribute release across organizations.

  • SAML 2.0 identity provider
  • Attribute resolution and release policies
  • Federation metadata support
  • Used by academic federations worldwide

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

Read the full ZITADEL guide →

Shibboleth Identity Provider vs ZITADEL: key differences

Shibboleth Identity Provider is written in Java, while ZITADEL is built with Go. ZITADEL is the lighter option, starting around 512 MB of RAM against 1,024 MB for Shibboleth Identity Provider. Shibboleth Identity Provider is the more established project (first released 2003), while ZITADEL arrived in 2020. ZITADEL has the considerably larger community, at 15,083 GitHub stars versus 200.

Why pick each one

Choose Shibboleth Identity Provider if…

  • Gold standard for SAML federations
  • Highly configurable

Watch out for

  • Complex setup
  • SAML-centric
Shibboleth Identity Provider details

Choose ZITADEL if…

  • Strong multi-tenant model
  • Modern Go codebase

Watch out for

  • Smaller community than Keycloak
ZITADEL details

Frequently asked questions

Is Shibboleth Identity Provider or ZITADEL better?

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

Are Shibboleth Identity Provider and ZITADEL free and open-source?

Yes. Shibboleth Identity Provider is licensed under Apache-2.0 and ZITADEL under Apache-2.0. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.

Can I run Shibboleth Identity Provider and ZITADEL with Docker?

Shibboleth Identity Provider: yes. ZITADEL: yes.

Which is lighter on resources, Shibboleth Identity Provider or ZITADEL?

ZITADEL has the smaller minimum footprint at 512 MB of RAM, compared to about 1,024 MB for Shibboleth Identity Provider. Real-world usage depends on library size, user count, and enabled features.

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