head to head · open source
Keycloak vs dex
Keycloak has 36,855 GitHub stars, 8,942 forks, 3,292 open issues and last shipped yesterday. dex has 11,097 stars, 1,981 forks, 547 open issues and last shipped yesterday. Keycloak leads on adoption by 232% (36,855 vs 11,097 stars). Keycloak is written in Java under Apache-2.0; dex is written in Go under Apache-2.0. Keycloak has attracted 24% as many forks as stars, dex 18%. Keycloak was the more recently maintained of the two, and both are self-hostable with no licence fee. The two share 1 topic tag (oidc), 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
| Keycloak | dex | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 37K | ★ 11K |
| License | Apache-2.0 | Apache-2.0 |
| Written in | Java | Go |
| Last push | 2026-09-18 | 2026-09-18 |
| Forks | ⑂ 8.9K | ⑂ 2.0K |
| Self-hosting | Yes | Yes |
| Data ownership | Your server | Your server |
pick Keycloak if
- You weight community size — 37K stars and counting
- You want the Apache-2.0 license terms
- Your stack matches Java
- You value the larger contributor base for long-term maintenance
pick dex if
- You want the dex 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 dex fits your workflow better
About Keycloak
Keycloak is an open source identity and access management server, written in Java and licensed under Apache 2.0, that adds authentication and access control to applications and services, and it is intended for teams and organisations that want to own their user store rather than rent one.
read the full Keycloak overview →
About dex
Dex is an OpenID Connect (OIDC) and OAuth 2.0 identity provider written in Go and released under the Apache 2.0 licence, built for teams that want one authentication endpoint in front of many upstream identity sources instead of one integration per application.
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Frequently asked questions
Is Keycloak or dex more popular?
Keycloak has 36,855 GitHub stars and dex has 11,097. Keycloak has the larger community by that measure.
Are Keycloak and dex free?
Both are open source. Keycloak is licensed under Apache-2.0 and dex under Apache-2.0. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between Keycloak and dex?
Keycloak is written in Java and dex 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, Keycloak or dex?
Choose Keycloak if you want the larger community (36,855 stars) or its Apache-2.0 licence terms. Choose dex if its feature set, stack or Apache-2.0 licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.