head to head · open source
Keycloak vs Tracecat
Keycloak has 37,657 GitHub stars, 9,129 forks, 3,292 open issues and last shipped yesterday. Tracecat has 3,884 stars, 439 forks, 137 open issues and last shipped yesterday. Keycloak leads on adoption by 870% (37,657 vs 3,884 stars). Keycloak is written in Java under Apache-2.0; Tracecat is written in Python under AGPL-3.0. Keycloak has attracted 24% as many forks as stars, Tracecat 11%. Tracecat 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 | Tracecat | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 38K | ★ 3.9K |
| License | Apache-2.0 | AGPL-3.0 |
| Written in | Java | Python |
| Last push | 2026-11-02 | 2026-11-02 |
| Forks | ⑂ 9.1K | ⑂ 439 |
| Self-hosting | Yes | Yes |
| Data ownership | Your server | Your server |
pick Keycloak if
- You weight community size — 38K 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 Tracecat if
- You want the Tracecat 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 Tracecat fits your workflow better
About Keycloak
Open Source Identity and Access Management Add authentication to applications and secure services with minimum effort. No need to deal with storing users or authenticating users. Keycloak provides user federation, strong authentication, user management, fine grained authorization, and more. Help and Documentation Documentation User Mailing List Mailing list for help and general questions about Keycloak Join keycloak for general questions, or keycloak dev on Slack for design and development discussions, by creating an account at Reporting Security Vulnerabilities If you have found a security vulnerability, please…
read the full Keycloak overview →
About Tracecat
The agentic security automation platform. Introduction Tracecat is the open source security automation platform for teams and AI agents. Prompt to automations : build end to end automations with agents, workflows, cases, and tables from your own agent harness (e.g. Claude code, Codex, OpenCode). Code native : sync custom Python scripts from your Git repo into Tracecat. All in one : agents, workflows, lookup tables, and case management. Everything security teams need to automate work in one place. Deployment options : sign up for Tracecat managed Cloud, or self host with Docker, AWS Fargate, or Kubernetes Helm…
read the full Tracecat overview →
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Frequently asked questions
Is Keycloak or Tracecat more popular?
Keycloak has 37,657 GitHub stars and Tracecat has 3,884. Keycloak has the larger community by that measure.
Are Keycloak and Tracecat free?
Both are open source. Keycloak is licensed under Apache-2.0 and Tracecat under AGPL-3.0. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between Keycloak and Tracecat?
Keycloak is written in Java and Tracecat 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 Tracecat?
Choose Keycloak if you want the larger community (37,657 stars) or its Apache-2.0 licence terms. Choose Tracecat if its feature set, stack or AGPL-3.0 licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.