Keycloak vs Logto
Both are alternatives to Okta. Here's how they stack up — verified facts, no spin.
Also searched as Logto vs Keycloak — same comparison, one verdict.
Keycloak
TOP PICKApache-2.0 identity, backed by Red Hat, running at enterprise scale.
Keycloak is the serious open answer to Okta: OpenID Connect, SAML, OAuth2, user federation to LDAP and Active Directory, fine-grained authorisation, MFA and an admin console that covers all of it. It is Apache-2.0, sponsored by Red Hat, a CNCF incubating project, and it already runs identity for organisations far larger than yours. Around 36k stars. Nothing about it is a compromise on capability — the cost is entirely in operating it, and identity is the service where operating it badly hurts most.
Logto
The fastest route from nothing to working sign-in.
Logto is the pragmatic middle: pre-built sign-in UI, SDKs for the common frameworks, social logins, MFA and multi-tenancy, deployable with Docker in well under an hour. It is aimed squarely at product teams who need authentication to work this week rather than an identity platform to administer for a decade. MPL-2.0 with a paid cloud tier. It is the smallest and youngest option here, which is the honest caveat, but for a startup replacing Auth0 it removes the most friction.
Side by side
| Keycloak | Logto | |
|---|---|---|
| Sovereignty Score | 93 | 87 |
| Open source | Yes | Yes |
| Self-hostable | Yes | Yes |
| Local-first | Yes | Yes |
| License | Apache-2.0 | MPL-2.0 (open core; paid cloud tier) |
| Pricing | Free and open source. Red Hat build with commercial support available. | Free and self-hostable. Logto Cloud is paid with a free tier. |
Keycloak is Macrostack's recommended Okta alternative, so it's our pick here.
Keycloak
Strengths
- +Apache-2.0 with Red Hat behind it and CNCF governance
- +Genuinely enterprise-grade — SAML, OIDC, LDAP federation, fine-grained authz
- +No per-user cost, so growth does not raise the bill
- +Commercial support available if you need someone accountable
Trade-offs
- −Operating it well is a real skill — clustering, upgrades, database tuning
- −Admin console is powerful and not friendly
- −No pre-built integration catalogue on Okta's scale
- −Major version upgrades have broken things historically
Logto
Strengths
- +Fastest of these from zero to a working sign-in flow
- +Sign-in UI included — no screens to build
- +Good SDKs for React, Next.js, Vue and the mobile frameworks
- +MPL-2.0 is permissive and easy to reason about
Trade-offs
- −Youngest and smallest project on this page
- −Not built for employee SSO across hundreds of apps
- −Fewer enterprise features than Keycloak
- −Multi-tenancy is newer and less proven than ZITADEL's
Related alternative guides
Facts verified 2026-08-03. Licenses and pricing change — spotted something out of date? That's a correction we want.