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KEYCLOAK VS AUTH0
You could save up to
$25,600/year on
identity
management.
KEYCLOAK · SELF-HOSTED
$0
Unlimited monthly active users
Free & open source
AUTH0 · AT 100K MAU
$2139
per month
$0.023 per active user.
the growth penalty
The more users you get, the more Auth0 charges.
Auth0 prices by the number of people who log in each month. Every
new customer, every new employee, every new sign-up increases
your bill. With Keycloak, your authentication cost stays at $0 no
matter how fast you grow.
You launch your product
Auth0 Essentials base price.
500 users
$35/mo
$0
You start gaining traction
Your login screen now costs more than most SaaS tools.
5,000 users
$350/mo
$0
You hit product-market fit
You are paying a full-time salary just for authentication.
10,000 users
$700/mo
$0
You scale the business
More than many teams spend on their entire cloud infrastructure.
50,000 users
$3,500/mo
$0
You are successful
A login screen that costs more than a senior developer.
100,000 users
$7,000/mo
$0
AUTH0
KEYCLOAK
Your logins belong on
infrastructure you own.
Cost at scale
Keycloak is open-source software without a per-MAU license fee; infrastructure, operations, and support remain costs. Auth0 prices self-service plans by use case, features, and monthly active users, with enterprise terms quoted separately. The prior 100,000-MAU calculation was removed because current tiers are not a simple universal overage formula.
Source: Keycloak license · Keycloak production configuration · Auth0 pricing
100 25
Data ownership
A self-hosted Keycloak operator controls the identity database and hosting region. Auth0 is managed and documents tenant data, processing, and regional options.
Source: Keycloak database configuration · Auth0: data privacy · Auth0: data residency
100 30
Self-hosting
Keycloak documents container and Kubernetes deployments. Auth0's identity platform is SaaS; Auth0 Private Cloud provides isolated managed deployments for eligible enterprise customers, not customer-operated Auth0 software.
Source: Keycloak: run in a container · Keycloak Operator · Auth0 Private Cloud
100 0
Protocol support
Keycloak supports OpenID Connect, OAuth 2.0, SAML, LDAP, and Kerberos integration. Auth0 supports OAuth 2.0, OIDC, SAML, and WS-Federation; availability of enterprise connections and features varies by plan.
Source: Keycloak: supported protocols and federation · Auth0: protocols · Auth0: enterprise connections
95 90
MFA & social login
Both platforms support MFA and social identity providers. Auth0 provides hosted configuration and extensive provider guides; Keycloak provides built-in identity brokering and configurable authentication flows.
Source: Auth0 MFA · Auth0 social connections · Keycloak identity brokering
85 95
Developer experience
Auth0 publishes application-specific quickstarts and hosted login components. Keycloak publishes server, administration, authorization, and upgrade guides but generally requires more operational setup. The experience score remains editorial.
Source: Auth0 quickstarts · Auth0 Universal Login · Keycloak documentation
50 95
SDK & language coverage
Auth0 publishes SDKs and quickstarts across many frameworks. Keycloak's official adapters focus on selected ecosystems and standards-based integration; avoid the unsupported assertion that Keycloak officially maintains Python and Go SDKs.
Source: Auth0 libraries · Keycloak client adapters
55 98
Managed reliability
Auth0 operates and monitors the hosted platform and publishes status history; SLA terms depend on the subscription agreement. Keycloak availability, scaling, patching, and disaster recovery are the deployer's responsibility.
Source: Auth0 status · Auth0 production checks · Keycloak high availability guide
20 95
Why you might stay with Auth0
Managed identity earns its price for plenty of teams. Here's where it genuinely shines.
Managed identity operations
Auth0 operates, patches, and scales the identity platform. Your
team still manages application integration, tenant
configuration,
and its own incident procedures.
Fast path to production time to first login
Hosted tenants, Universal Login, quickstarts, and official SDKs
help teams implement authentication without deploying an
identity platform first.
Broad connection and SDK support
Connect social and enterprise identity providers and use
official
quickstarts and SDKs across widely used languages and
application frameworks.
Enterprise support and SLAs
Enterprise plans offer a 99.99% availability SLA and enterprise
administration and support. Response times, communication
channels, and dedicated advisers depend on the purchased
support plan.
Why switch to Keycloak
Some things are priceless.
No per-user software fee
Keycloak is open-source software with no monthly active-user charge. Infrastructure, database, maintenance, security, and support costs still increase with the size of your deployment.
Data under your control
Store user records, configuration, and session data on infrastructure you operate, in the region you choose. External identity providers and connected services remain subject to their own data practices.
Built on open identity standards
Keycloak supports OpenID Connect, OAuth 2.0, and SAML 2.0, making it compatible with a wide range of applications and reducing dependence on proprietary authentication interfaces.
Built-in identity federation
Connect LDAP and Active Directory, broker external identity providers, and map user attributes, roles, and groups into a shared identity model.
Run it anywhere
Run Keycloak using containers, Kubernetes or OpenShift, or its server distribution across cloud and on-premises environments.
Customize authentication deeply
Create custom themes and authentication flows, add protocol mappers, and develop providers through Keycloak's Service Provider Interfaces.
Your 100,000th user
shouldn't cost
$7,000 a month.
Auth0 charges per user, so a 100,000-MAU application runs $2,000–$7,000 every month. Keycloak charges nothing per user.
Auth0 $7,000/mo at 100K MAU
$8,000
$6,000
$4,000
$2,000
$0
10K MAU
Auth0 — $800/mo
Keycloak — $0/mo
25K MAU
Auth0 — $1,800/mo
Keycloak — $0/mo
50K MAU
Auth0 — $3,500/mo
Keycloak — $0/mo
75K MAU
Auth0 — $5,300/mo
Keycloak — $0/mo
100K MAU
Auth0 — $7,000/mo
Keycloak — $0/mo
0
10K
25K
50K
75K
100K
MAU
Ready to own your identity?
Open source. No per-user fees.
Option 1
Try Keycloak
Run Keycloak yourself from the official image, with the docs and
a deep community behind
you.
Option 2
Self-host with Docker
Docker Compose, Caddy for SSL.
Production-ready in 15 minutes.
Full guide provided.
RECOMMENDED
Option 3
Lower your SaaS spend
Tell us what your business needs.
Our team will recommend the right solution and help you get
started.