Keycloak
Open Source Identity and Access Management.
Overview
Keycloak is a popular open-source Identity and Access Management solution sponsored by Red Hat. It provides a broad set of features including SSO, social login, user federation, and support for standard protocols like OpenID Connect, OAuth 2.0, and SAML. As a self-hosted solution, it offers developers and organizations complete control over their identity data and infrastructure. It is highly customizable through themes and extensions.
✨ Key Features
- Single Sign-On and Sign-Out
- Support for OIDC, OAuth 2.0, SAML 2.0
- Identity Brokering and Social Login
- User Federation (LDAP, Active Directory)
- Admin Console and Account Management Console
- Customizable Themes
- Fine-grained Authorization Services
🎯 Key Differentiators
- Completely free and open source with a large, active community
- Backed by a major enterprise software company (Red Hat)
- Relatively easy to get started with for developers familiar with Java
Unique Value: Provides a powerful, feature-rich, and completely free open-source solution for identity management, giving organizations full control and eliminating vendor lock-in.
🎯 Use Cases (4)
✅ Best For
- Acting as a centralized authentication server for a suite of applications
- Federating users from existing LDAP or Active Directory servers
- Customizing the look and feel of login pages to match brand identity.
💡 Check With Vendor
Verify these considerations match your specific requirements:
- Organizations without the technical resources to deploy, manage, and scale a self-hosted application
- Teams looking for a fully managed, hands-off SaaS solution with dedicated support
🏆 Alternatives
More lightweight and easier to get started with than WSO2 IS. It is a completely free alternative to paid solutions like FusionAuth or Okta, but requires self-management and lacks dedicated commercial support unless using the Red Hat version.
💻 Platforms
🔌 Integrations
🔒 Compliance & Security
💰 Pricing
Free tier: Completely free and open source (Apache License 2.0)
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