4 open source alternatives to Okta
Enterprise identity, SSO and MFA cloud. Here are the open source projects real teams use instead — ranked by fit, with honest pros and cons for each.
What people don't love about Okta
- Per-user per-feature pricing balloons past 200 seats.
- Every outage takes down everything your team signs into.
- Breach history has eroded trust for security-conscious teams.
Current Okta pricing (for reference): SSO from $2/user/month; MFA, Lifecycle Management tiers climb quickly.
Quick comparison
| Alternative | Best for | License | Self-host | Hosted cloud? |
|---|---|---|---|---|
|
Keycloak Enterprise-grade identity and access management from Red Hat. |
The enterprise-grade replacement when you need SAML, OIDC and LDAP in one place. | Apache-2.0 | ★★★★☆ | Self-host only |
|
Authentik Modern identity provider with a polished admin UI. |
A modern admin UX and flow-based policies without the Keycloak learning curve. | MIT | ★★★☆☆ | Yes |
|
Zitadel Cloud-native identity platform built in Go with event sourcing. |
Multi-tenant B2B SaaS builders who want event-sourced identity. | Apache-2.0 | ★★★☆☆ | Yes |
|
Authelia Single sign-on portal designed for reverse proxies. |
Smaller setups that want SSO on top of a reverse proxy like Traefik or nginx. | Apache-2.0 | ★★☆☆☆ | Self-host only |
1. Keycloak — The enterprise-grade replacement when you need SAML, OIDC and LDAP in one place.
Enterprise-grade identity and access management from Red Hat.
Strengths
- SAML, OIDC, OAuth2, LDAP federation — the full kit.
- Fine-grained RBAC, scopes and client management.
- Backed by Red Hat with a mature release cadence.
Weaknesses
- Admin console is complex — real operational learning curve.
- Memory-hungry under load; not trivial to right-size.
- Upgrades between major versions require careful migration.
2. Authentik — A modern admin UX and flow-based policies without the Keycloak learning curve.
Modern identity provider with a polished admin UI.
Strengths
- SAML, OIDC, LDAP, proxy-auth flows in one binary.
- Flow-based policies make complex auth readable.
- Active development and friendly docs.
Weaknesses
- Newer than Keycloak — fewer integrations in the wild.
- Some enterprise features are Enterprise-tier only.
- Postgres + Redis + worker — still multi-service to operate.
3. Zitadel — Multi-tenant B2B SaaS builders who want event-sourced identity.
Cloud-native identity platform built in Go with event sourcing.
Strengths
- Multi-tenant from day one — good for B2B SaaS builders.
- Event-sourced audit trail for compliance.
- Swiss hosted option if you prefer managed.
Weaknesses
- Younger than Keycloak — integration guides are thinner.
- Operational model differs from traditional IAM.
- Advanced features (actions, custom flows) still maturing.
4. Authelia — Smaller setups that want SSO on top of a reverse proxy like Traefik or nginx.
Single sign-on portal designed for reverse proxies.
Strengths
- Lightweight Go binary; pairs cleanly with nginx, Traefik, Caddy.
- Good 2FA flows out of the box (TOTP, WebAuthn).
- Config is YAML — easy to version-control.
Weaknesses
- Not a full identity provider — best when fronting existing auth.
- SAML support lags OIDC/proxy use cases.
- Smaller community than Keycloak.
Not what you're looking for?
Browse other tools in Identity & SSO, or check out open source projects by category on the full category index.
Recommended reading
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