ZITADEL vs SuperTokens
Both are alternatives to Auth0. Here's how they stack up — verified facts, no spin.
ZITADEL
A cloud-native, API-first identity platform with a generous self-hosted core.
ZITADEL is a modern identity and access management platform built API-first for cloud-native and multi-tenant SaaS use cases. It supports OIDC, SAML, passkeys/WebAuthn, and fine-grained actions/hooks for customizing the auth flow in code, and offers both a managed cloud and a self-hostable core.
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
| ZITADEL | SuperTokens | |
|---|---|---|
| Sovereignty Score | 82 | 80 |
| Open source | Yes | Yes |
| Self-hostable | Yes | Yes |
| Local-first | Yes | Yes |
| License | AGPL-3.0 | Apache-2.0 (core); ee/ subdirectory carries its own separate license for paid enterprise features |
| Pricing | Free / self-host under AGPL-3.0; ZITADEL Cloud offers a managed free tier plus paid usage-based plans for teams that don't want to run the server themselves. | 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. |
ZITADEL edges it on the Sovereignty Score, but the right pick depends on the trade-offs below.
ZITADEL
Strengths
- +Strong native support for passkeys/WebAuthn and modern passwordless flows out of the box
- +API-first design and 'Actions' hooks make custom auth logic (e.g. custom claims, external calls during login) straightforward without forking the codebase
- +Built for multi-tenancy (organizations/projects) from the ground up, closer to Auth0's B2B model than most self-hosted options
- +Active development with frequent releases and a responsive open-source community
Trade-offs
- −AGPL-3.0 requires that any modified version offered as a network service also be released under AGPL — a real legal consideration for SaaS companies embedding it
- −Younger project than Keycloak with a smaller track record at very large scale
- −Some advanced features are positioned toward the paid ZITADEL Cloud tier rather than the self-hosted core
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.