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 and Logto are closely matched on ownership (93 vs 87) — this one comes down to pricing and to which trade-offs below you can live with.
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
10 points of comparison, every one read from a verified field. Green marks the side that wins a row outright. A dash means we do not hold that fact — never that it is zero.
| Keycloak | Logto | |
|---|---|---|
| Sovereignty ScoreOur transparent 0–100 composite for data ownership and exit cost. | 93 | 87 |
| Open source | Yes | Yes |
| Self-hostable | Yes | Yes |
| Local-first data | 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. |
| RAM to run it wellThe figure that actually matters, not the vendor's minimum. | 4 GB | — |
| Realistic running costWhat the box costs each month if you run it yourself. | $24–40/mo plus a database, against Okta or Auth0 per-user pricing that becomes brutal above the free tier | — |
| Setup timeHonest first-install estimate, not the marketing quickstart. | A day to stand up, a week to configure realms and flows correctly | — |
| Ongoing maintenanceThe part nobody budgets for. | Moderate to high. It is enterprise software with an enterprise upgrade cadence and its own vocabulary. | — |
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
Which one fits you
The trade-offs above, turned into a decision. Find the line that describes your team.
Choose Keycloak
if a lower exit cost matters more to you than any single feature, and apache-2.0 with Red Hat behind it and CNCF governance.
Choose Logto
if fastest of these from zero to a working sign-in flow.
Neither, yet
if both carry a real cost you should weigh first — operating it well is a real skill — clustering, upgrades, database tuning, and youngest and smallest project on this page. If either of those is a dealbreaker for your team, the shortlist is wrong rather than the choice.
What it takes to run these yourself
Real requirements and honest running costs, not the vendor quickstart.
Keycloak vs Logto — common questions
Is Keycloak a better fit than Logto for identity & access management?
It depends on what you are optimising for, and the honest split is this: Keycloak scores 93 to Logto's 87 on data ownership and exit cost, so it is the safer choice if you care about being able to leave. Logto earns its place on a different axis — fastest of these from zero to a working sign-in flow. Neither is a wrong answer for every team; the table above is the actual comparison.
What happens if we want to switch later?
Keycloak keeps its data local or in open formats, so leaving is an export rather than a negotiation. Logto is still self-hostable, so the files stay on your server either way — but it is not local-first by design, so check what its export produces before you rely on it.
Can I self-host Keycloak or Logto?
Both can be self-hosted. The difference is what it costs you in time rather than whether it is possible — see the setup and maintenance rows above.
Are Keycloak and Logto both alternatives to Okta?
Yes — both appear in our Okta comparison, which is why they are worth putting side by side. People usually arrive here already having decided to move off Okta and now choosing between the two replacements, which is a narrower and much easier question.
Related alternative guides
Facts verified 2026-08-03. Licenses and pricing change — spotted something out of date? That's a correction we want.