head to head · open source
Keycloak vs gokey
Keycloak has 36,876 GitHub stars, 8,945 forks, 3,292 open issues and last shipped today. gokey has 2,435 stars, 109 forks, 8 open issues and last shipped 2 months ago. Keycloak leads on adoption by 1,414% (36,876 vs 2,435 stars). Keycloak is written in Java under Apache-2.0; gokey is written in Go under BSD-3-Clause. Keycloak has attracted 24% as many forks as stars, gokey 4%. Keycloak was the more recently maintained of the two, and both are self-hostable with no licence fee.
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 | gokey | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 37K | ★ 2.4K |
| License | Apache-2.0 | BSD-3-Clause |
| Written in | Java | Go |
| Last push | 2026-09-20 | 2026-07-10 |
| Forks | ⑂ 8.9K | ⑂ 109 |
| 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 gokey if
- You want the gokey feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the BSD-3-Clause license terms
- Your stack matches Go
- You evaluated both and gokey 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 gokey
gokey is a vaultless password and key generator written in Go that derives passwords and cryptographic private keys on demand from a master password or a seed file instead of storing them in a vault, aimed at developers and system administrators who want deterministic credentials available anywhere without managing, backing up, or syncing a password store.
read the full gokey overview →
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Frequently asked questions
Is Keycloak or gokey more popular?
Keycloak has 36,876 GitHub stars and gokey has 2,435. Keycloak has the larger community by that measure.
Are Keycloak and gokey free?
Both are open source. Keycloak is licensed under Apache-2.0 and gokey under BSD-3-Clause. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between Keycloak and gokey?
Keycloak is written in Java and gokey 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 gokey?
Choose Keycloak if you want the larger community (36,876 stars) or its Apache-2.0 licence terms. Choose gokey if its feature set, stack or BSD-3-Clause licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.