head to head · open source
Keycloak vs melody-auth
Keycloak has 36,859 GitHub stars, 8,942 forks, 3,292 open issues and last shipped today. melody-auth has 638 stars, 66 forks, 3 open issues and last shipped 17 days ago. Keycloak leads on adoption by 5,677% (36,859 vs 638 stars). Keycloak is written in Java under Apache-2.0; melody-auth is written in TypeScript under MIT. Keycloak has attracted 24% as many forks as stars, melody-auth 10%. 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 | melody-auth | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 37K | ★ 638 |
| License | Apache-2.0 | MIT |
| Written in | Java | TypeScript |
| Last push | 2026-09-19 | 2026-09-02 |
| Forks | ⑂ 8.9K | ⑂ 66 |
| 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 melody-auth if
- You want the melody-auth feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the MIT license terms
- Your stack matches TypeScript
- You evaluated both and melody-auth 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 melody-auth
Melody Auth is an MIT licensed, TypeScript written OAuth 2.0 and authentication server that runs on both Cloudflare Workers and Node.js, and it is aimed at teams that want to host their own identity provider instead of renting one.
read the full melody-auth overview →
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Frequently asked questions
Is Keycloak or melody-auth more popular?
Keycloak has 36,859 GitHub stars and melody-auth has 638. Keycloak has the larger community by that measure.
Are Keycloak and melody-auth free?
Both are open source. Keycloak is licensed under Apache-2.0 and melody-auth under MIT. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between Keycloak and melody-auth?
Keycloak is written in Java and melody-auth in TypeScript. 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 melody-auth?
Choose Keycloak if you want the larger community (36,859 stars) or its Apache-2.0 licence terms. Choose melody-auth if its feature set, stack or MIT licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.