head to head · open source
Keycloak vs privacyidea
Keycloak has 36,859 GitHub stars, 8,942 forks, 3,292 open issues and last shipped today. privacyidea has 1,774 stars, 361 forks, 193 open issues and last shipped today. Keycloak leads on adoption by 1,978% (36,859 vs 1,774 stars). Keycloak is written in Java under Apache-2.0; privacyidea is written in Python under AGPL-3.0. Keycloak has attracted 24% as many forks as stars, privacyidea 20%. 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 | privacyidea | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 37K | ★ 1.8K |
| License | Apache-2.0 | AGPL-3.0 |
| Written in | Java | Python |
| Last push | 2026-09-19 | 2026-09-19 |
| Forks | ⑂ 8.9K | ⑂ 361 |
| 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 privacyidea if
- You want the privacyidea feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the AGPL-3.0 license terms
- Your stack matches Python
- You evaluated both and privacyidea 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 privacyidea
privacyIDEA is an open source, self hosted multi factor authentication platform, written in Python and licensed under AGPL 3.0, for organisations that need to add a second factor to many different applications at once while keeping sensitive user data inside their own infrastructure.
read the full privacyidea overview →
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Frequently asked questions
Is Keycloak or privacyidea more popular?
Keycloak has 36,859 GitHub stars and privacyidea has 1,774. Keycloak has the larger community by that measure.
Are Keycloak and privacyidea free?
Both are open source. Keycloak is licensed under Apache-2.0 and privacyidea under AGPL-3.0. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between Keycloak and privacyidea?
Keycloak is written in Java and privacyidea in Python. 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 privacyidea?
Choose Keycloak if you want the larger community (36,859 stars) or its Apache-2.0 licence terms. Choose privacyidea if its feature set, stack or AGPL-3.0 licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.