head to head · open source
Keycloak vs HashiCorp Vault
Keycloak has 37,657 GitHub stars, 9,129 forks, 3,292 open issues and last shipped yesterday. HashiCorp Vault has 36,462 stars, 4,801 forks, 1,435 open issues and last shipped yesterday. Keycloak leads on adoption by 3% (37,657 vs 36,462 stars). Keycloak is written in Java under Apache-2.0; HashiCorp Vault is written in Go under a custom or non-standard licence. Keycloak has attracted 24% as many forks as stars, HashiCorp Vault 13%. HashiCorp Vault 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 | HashiCorp Vault | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 38K | ★ 36K |
| License | Apache-2.0 | Custom / other |
| Written in | Java | Go |
| Last push | 2026-11-02 | 2026-11-02 |
| Forks | ⑂ 9.1K | ⑂ 4.8K |
| 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 HashiCorp Vault if
- You want the HashiCorp Vault feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the Custom / other license terms
- Your stack matches Go
- You evaluated both and HashiCorp Vault 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 HashiCorp Vault
Vault Please note : We take Vault's security and our users' trust very seriously. If you believe you have found a security issue in Vault, please responsibly disclose by contacting us at security@hashicorp.com. Website: developer.hashicorp.com/vault Announcement list: Google Groups Discussion forum: Discuss Documentation: Tutorials: Certification exam: Documentation source: Vault is a tool for securely accessing secrets. A secret is anything that you want to tightly control access to, such as API keys, passwords, certificates, and more. Vault provides a unified interface to any secret, while providing tight…
read the full HashiCorp Vault overview →
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Frequently asked questions
Is Keycloak or HashiCorp Vault more popular?
Keycloak has 37,657 GitHub stars and HashiCorp Vault has 36,462. Keycloak has the larger community by that measure.
Are Keycloak and HashiCorp Vault free?
Both are open source. Keycloak is licensed under Apache-2.0, and HashiCorp Vault has no licence declared in this registry. Both are free to self-host.
What is the difference between Keycloak and HashiCorp Vault?
Keycloak is written in Java and HashiCorp Vault 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 HashiCorp Vault?
Choose Keycloak if you want the larger community (37,657 stars) or its Apache-2.0 licence terms. Choose HashiCorp Vault if its feature set, stack or Custom / other licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.