head to head · open source
Zitadel vs Logto
Zitadel has 15,041 GitHub stars, 1,309 forks, 1,171 open issues and last shipped yesterday. Logto has 14,580 stars, 1,206 forks, 183 open issues and last shipped yesterday. Zitadel leads on adoption by 3% (15,041 vs 14,580 stars). Zitadel is written in Go under AGPL-3.0; Logto is written in TypeScript under MPL-2.0. Zitadel has attracted 9% as many forks as stars, Logto 8%. Zitadel was the more recently maintained of the two, and both are self-hostable with no licence fee. The two share 7 topic tags (authentication, authorization, identity, login), 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
| Zitadel | Logto | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 15K | ★ 15K |
| License | AGPL-3.0 | MPL-2.0 |
| Written in | Go | TypeScript |
| Last push | 2026-09-17 | 2026-09-17 |
| Forks | ⑂ 1.3K | ⑂ 1.2K |
| Self-hosting | Yes | Yes |
| Data ownership | Your server | Your server |
pick Zitadel if
- You weight community size — 15K stars and counting
- You want the AGPL-3.0 license terms
- Your stack matches Go
- You value the larger contributor base for long-term maintenance
pick Logto if
- You want the Logto feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the MPL-2.0 license terms
- Your stack matches TypeScript
- You evaluated both and Logto fits your workflow better
About Zitadel
Zitadel is an open source identity and access management platform written in Go and released under the AGPL 3.0 license. It lives in the open source IAM ecosystem and provides identity infrastructure for developers who need to operate an authentication and authorization layer themselves.
read the full Zitadel overview →
About Logto
Logto is an open source authentication and authorization infrastructure for SaaS and AI applications. It is written in TypeScript, licensed under MPL 2.0, and positioned as an open alternative to Auth0. The project sits in the identity and access management ecosystem, where it provides a central service for login, consent, tokens, user directories, and access control.
read the full Logto overview →
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Frequently asked questions
Is Zitadel or Logto more popular?
Zitadel has 15,041 GitHub stars and Logto has 14,580. Zitadel has the larger community by that measure.
Are Zitadel and Logto free?
Both are open source. Zitadel is licensed under AGPL-3.0 and Logto under MPL-2.0. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between Zitadel and Logto?
Zitadel is written in Go and Logto 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, Zitadel or Logto?
Choose Zitadel if you want the larger community (15,041 stars) or its AGPL-3.0 licence terms. Choose Logto if its feature set, stack or MPL-2.0 licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.