step-ca vs Vouch Proxy
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?
step-ca
Private online certificate authority for internal PKI
VS
Vouch Proxy
SSO authentication helper for reverse proxies
| Feature | step-ca | Vouch Proxy |
|---|---|---|
| Category | Identity & SSO | Identity & SSO |
| License | Apache-2.0 | MIT |
| Language | Go | Go |
| Setup difficulty | Medium | Medium |
| Min. RAM | 256 MB | 64 MB |
| Deployment | docker, binary | docker, binary |
| GitHub stars | ★ 8,734 | ★ 3,278 |
| First released | 2019 | 2017 |
| Replaces | DigiCert | Okta Access Gateway |
Why pick each one
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 step-ca or Vouch Proxy better?
Neither is universally better. step-ca has the larger community; both share a medium setup difficulty, so the decision comes down to features and licensing.
Are step-ca and Vouch Proxy free and open-source?
Yes. step-ca is licensed under Apache-2.0 and Vouch Proxy under MIT. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.
Can I run step-ca and Vouch Proxy with Docker?
step-ca: yes. Vouch Proxy: yes.