head to head · open source
Keycloak vs tinyauth
Keycloak has 36,891 GitHub stars, 8,945 forks, 3,292 open issues and last shipped yesterday. tinyauth has 8,271 stars, 272 forks, 41 open issues and last shipped yesterday. Keycloak leads on adoption by 346% (36,891 vs 8,271 stars). Keycloak is written in Java under Apache-2.0; tinyauth is written in Go under AGPL-3.0. Keycloak has attracted 24% as many forks as stars, tinyauth 3%. 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 | tinyauth | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 37K | ★ 8.3K |
| License | Apache-2.0 | AGPL-3.0 |
| Written in | Java | Go |
| Last push | 2026-09-21 | 2026-09-21 |
| Forks | ⑂ 8.9K | ⑂ 272 |
| 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 tinyauth if
- You want the tinyauth feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the AGPL-3.0 license terms
- Your stack matches Go
- You evaluated both and tinyauth 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 tinyauth
Tinyauth is a small Go authentication and authorization server that runs either as authentication middleware in front of self hosted applications or as a standalone authentication server, and it is aimed at self hosters and homelab operators who want OpenID Certified™ single sign on without deploying a large identity platform.
read the full tinyauth overview →
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Frequently asked questions
Is Keycloak or tinyauth more popular?
Keycloak has 36,891 GitHub stars and tinyauth has 8,271. Keycloak has the larger community by that measure.
Are Keycloak and tinyauth free?
Both are open source. Keycloak is licensed under Apache-2.0 and tinyauth under AGPL-3.0. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between Keycloak and tinyauth?
Keycloak is written in Java and tinyauth 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 tinyauth?
Choose Keycloak if you want the larger community (36,891 stars) or its Apache-2.0 licence terms. Choose tinyauth if its feature set, stack or AGPL-3.0 licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.