head to head · open source
casbin vs hydra
casbin has 20,475 GitHub stars, 1,767 forks, 38 open issues and last shipped 3 days ago. hydra has 17,646 stars, 1,619 forks, 98 open issues and last shipped 3 months ago. casbin leads on adoption by 16% (20,475 vs 17,646 stars). casbin is written in Go under Apache-2.0; hydra is written in Go under Apache-2.0. casbin has attracted 9% as many forks as stars, hydra 9%. casbin was the more recently maintained of the two, and both are self-hostable with no licence fee. The two share 1 topic tag (authorization), so they are genuine substitutes rather than adjacent tools.
Two open source projects, one decision. Both are free and self-hostable — the differences are community size, license terms, language stack and release pace.
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Side by side
| casbin | hydra | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 20K | ★ 18K |
| License | Apache-2.0 | Apache-2.0 |
| Written in | Go | Go |
| Last push | 2026-11-02 | 2026-07-29 |
| Forks | ⑂ 1.8K | ⑂ 1.6K |
| Self-hosting | Yes | Yes |
| Data ownership | Your server | Your server |
pick casbin if
- You weight community size — 20K stars and counting
- You want the Apache-2.0 license terms
- Your stack matches Go
- You value the larger contributor base for long-term maintenance
pick hydra if
- You want the hydra feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the Apache-2.0 license terms
- Your stack matches Go
- You evaluated both and hydra fits your workflow better
About casbin
Apache Casbin ==== News : still worry about how to write the correct Apache Casbin policy? Apache Casbin online editor is coming to help! Try it at: Apache Casbin is a powerful and efficient open source access control library for Golang projects. It provides support for enforcing authorization based on various access control models. All the languages supported by Apache Casbin: Table of contents Supported models How it works? Features Installation Documentation Online editor Tutorials Get started Policy management Policy persistence Policy consistence between multiple nodes Role manager Benchmarks Examples…
read the full casbin overview →
About hydra
Chat · Discussions · Newsletter · Docs · Try Ory Network · Jobs Ory Hydra is a hardened, OpenID Certified OAuth 2.0 Server and OpenID Connect Provider optimized for low latency, high throughput, and low resource consumption. It connects to your existing identity provider through a login and consent app, giving you absolute control over the user interface and experience. What is Ory Hydra? Why Ory Hydra OAuth2 and OpenID Connect: Open Standards OpenID Connect Certified Deployment options Use Ory Hydra on the Ory Network Self host Ory Hydra Quickstart Who is using Ory Hydra Ecosystem Ory Kratos: Identity and User…
read the full hydra overview →
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Frequently asked questions
Is casbin or hydra more popular?
casbin has 20,475 GitHub stars and hydra has 17,646. casbin has the larger community by that measure.
Are casbin and hydra free?
Both are open source. casbin is licensed under Apache-2.0 and hydra under Apache-2.0. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between casbin and hydra?
casbin is written in Go and hydra in Go. The practical differences are community size, licence terms, language stack and release cadence — all compared in the table above.
Which should I choose, casbin or hydra?
Choose casbin if you want the larger community (20,475 stars) or its Apache-2.0 licence terms. Choose hydra if its feature set, stack or Apache-2.0 licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.