Keycloak vs SuperTokens
Keycloak
Open-source IAM and SSO platform
SuperTokens
Open-source authentication for web and mobile apps
| Feature | Keycloak | SuperTokens |
|---|---|---|
| Category | Security & Auth | Security & Auth |
| Sub-category | Identity Provider | Auth Library |
| Maturity | stable | stable |
| Complexity | intermediate | intermediate |
| Performance tier | medium | medium |
| License | Apache-2.0 | Apache-2.0 |
| License type | permissive | permissive |
| Pricing | fully free | fully free |
| GitHub stars | 24.0K | 14.0K |
| Contributors | 0 | 0 |
| Commit frequency | weekly | weekly |
| Plugin ecosystem | none | none |
| Docs quality | good | good |
| Backing org | Red Hat / CNCF | SuperTokens |
| Funding model | corporate | open_core |
| Min RAM | 1 GB | 512 MB |
| Min CPU cores | 1 | 1 |
| Scaling pattern | single_node | single_node |
| Self-hostable | Yes | Yes |
| K8s native | No | No |
| Offline capable | No | No |
| Vendor lock-in | none | none |
| Languages | Java | Java, Node.js |
| API type | REST | REST |
| Protocols | HTTP | HTTP |
| Deployment | docker | docker |
| SDK languages | — | — |
| Team size fit | solo, small, medium, enterprise | small, medium |
| First release | 2020 | 2020 |
| Latest version | — | — |
When to use Keycloak
- ✓ Primary: single-sign-on
- ✓ Primary: identity-management
- ✓ Primary: user-authentication
When to use SuperTokens
- ✓ Drop-in authentication for web/mobile apps
- ✓ Social login with email/phone verification
- ✓ Multi-tenant SaaS authentication
Keycloak anti-patterns
SuperTokens anti-patterns
- ✕ Core in Java — some prefer lightweight solutions
- ✕ Self-hosted needs separate PostgreSQL/MySQL
- ✕ Less feature-rich IAM than Keycloak