head to head · open source
Keycloak vs samlify
Keycloak has 36,855 GitHub stars, 8,942 forks, 3,292 open issues and last shipped yesterday. samlify has 661 stars, 233 forks, 53 open issues and last shipped 1 months ago. Keycloak leads on adoption by 5,476% (36,855 vs 661 stars). Keycloak is written in Java under Apache-2.0; samlify is written in TypeScript under MIT. Keycloak has attracted 24% as many forks as stars, samlify 35%. Keycloak was the more recently maintained of the two, and both are self-hostable with no licence fee. The two share 1 topic tag (saml), 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 | samlify | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 37K | ★ 661 |
| License | Apache-2.0 | MIT |
| Written in | Java | TypeScript |
| Last push | 2026-09-18 | 2026-08-11 |
| Forks | ⑂ 8.9K | ⑂ 233 |
| 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 samlify if
- You want the samlify feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the MIT license terms
- Your stack matches TypeScript
- You evaluated both and samlify 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 samlify
Node.js SAML 2.0 library for Single Sign On, written in TypeScript under the MIT licence, for developers adding SAML SSO to Node.js applications as either a Service Provider or an Identity Provider.
read the full samlify overview →
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Frequently asked questions
Is Keycloak or samlify more popular?
Keycloak has 36,855 GitHub stars and samlify has 661. Keycloak has the larger community by that measure.
Are Keycloak and samlify free?
Both are open source. Keycloak is licensed under Apache-2.0 and samlify under MIT. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between Keycloak and samlify?
Keycloak is written in Java and samlify 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 samlify?
Choose Keycloak if you want the larger community (36,855 stars) or its Apache-2.0 licence terms. Choose samlify if its feature set, stack or MIT licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.