Keycloak vs SuperTokens
Both are alternatives to Auth0. Here's how they stack up — verified facts, no spin.
Keycloak
TOP PICKThe mature, CNCF-backed open-source identity and access management server.
Keycloak is a full-featured IAM server originally built by Red Bull's security team and now a CNCF Incubating project. It supports OIDC, OAuth2, and SAML, social and enterprise identity brokering, fine-grained authorization, and a built-in admin console, and it's the most widely deployed self-hosted alternative to Auth0/Okta in production today.
SuperTokens
A developer-friendly, self-hostable auth core built for fast integration into existing apps.
SuperTokens is an authentication solution built to drop into an existing app quickly, with official SDKs for popular frontend and backend frameworks and pre-built session-management, MFA, and passwordless flows. It ships a self-hostable core service plus a managed cloud option, aimed at teams that want Auth0-like integration speed without the recurring per-MAU cost.
Side by side
| Keycloak | SuperTokens | |
|---|---|---|
| Sovereignty Score | 90 | 80 |
| Open source | Yes | Yes |
| Self-hostable | Yes | Yes |
| Local-first | Yes | Yes |
| License | Apache-2.0 | Apache-2.0 (core); ee/ subdirectory carries its own separate license for paid enterprise features |
| Pricing | Free / self-host (Docker image or standalone distribution); commercial support available via Red Hat build of Keycloak (RHBK) for enterprises that want a support contract. | Free / self-host for the Apache-2.0 core; a managed SuperTokens cloud and a paid Enterprise tier (SSO/SAML, advanced MFA policies under the ee/ license) are available for teams that want those features or don't want to self-host. |
Keycloak is Macrostack's recommended Auth0 alternative, so it's our pick here.
Keycloak
Strengths
- +Apache-2.0, fully open-source, no feature gating between a 'community' and 'enterprise' edition
- +Extremely mature — 10+ years in production at large scale, CNCF Incubating project with active governance
- +Broad protocol support (OIDC, SAML, OAuth2) and identity brokering to external IdPs out of the box
- +Large ecosystem of themes, extensions, and Kubernetes operators for production deployment
Trade-offs
- −Runs on the JVM — heavier resource footprint than lightweight Go-based alternatives, and the admin console/config model has a real learning curve
- −You own uptime, patching, and database backups for something security-critical — a genuine operational responsibility Auth0 absorbs for you
- −Theming the login UI to match a product's brand takes more custom work than Auth0's Universal Login customization
SuperTokens
Strengths
- +Genuinely permissive Apache-2.0 core license for self-hosting the base authentication service
- +SDK-first design with strong framework coverage makes initial integration noticeably faster than headless-only alternatives
- +Built-in session-management primitives (rotating refresh tokens, anti-CSRF) are handled for you rather than left to the integrator
- +Free self-hosted core has no MAU cap, unlike Auth0's metered model
Trade-offs
- −Enterprise SSO/SAML and some advanced MFA policies live behind the separately-licensed ee/ directory, not the free core — verify feature-tier fit before committing
- −Smaller community and third-party plugin ecosystem than Keycloak
- −Fewer built-in identity-brokering options (LDAP, legacy enterprise directories) than Keycloak or authentik out of the box
Facts verified 2026-07-14. Licenses and pricing change — spotted something out of date? That's a correction we want.