head to head · open source
Keycloak vs Ory
Keycloak has 36,832 GitHub stars, 8,941 forks, 3,292 open issues and last shipped yesterday. Ory has 13,880 stars, 1,186 forks, 224 open issues and last shipped 2 months ago. Keycloak leads on adoption by 165% (36,832 vs 13,880 stars). Keycloak is written in Java under Apache-2.0; Ory is written in Go under Apache-2.0. Keycloak has attracted 24% as many forks as stars, Ory 9%. 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 | Ory | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 37K | ★ 14K |
| License | Apache-2.0 | Apache-2.0 |
| Written in | Java | Go |
| Last push | 2026-09-17 | 2026-07-29 |
| Forks | ⑂ 8.9K | ⑂ 1.2K |
| 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 Ory if
- You want the Ory 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 Ory 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 Ory
Ory Kratos is headless cloud native authentication and identity management system written in Go. It sits inside Ory stack and Security & Privacy / Identity & Access Management category. It exposes identity work over HTTP APIs. Services consume login, registration, recovery, verification, profile management instead of reimplementing them.
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Frequently asked questions
Is Keycloak or Ory more popular?
Keycloak has 36,832 GitHub stars and Ory has 13,880. Keycloak has the larger community by that measure.
Are Keycloak and Ory free?
Both are open source. Keycloak is licensed under Apache-2.0 and Ory under Apache-2.0. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between Keycloak and Ory?
Keycloak is written in Java and Ory 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 Ory?
Choose Keycloak if you want the larger community (36,832 stars) or its Apache-2.0 licence terms. Choose Ory if its feature set, stack or Apache-2.0 licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.