Idenplane vs Keycloak
Idenplane is a lightweight, self-hosted alternative to Keycloak. Both are open-source identity servers that speak OAuth 2.0, OpenID Connect, and SAML 2.0 and run on your own infrastructure — but Idenplane is built in TypeScript instead of Java, so it boots in about 30 seconds and uses around ~150 MB of RAM under load instead of on the JVM, and ships a modern admin console plus native iOS and Android SDKs that Keycloak doesn’t offer. Keycloak is the more mature project with a larger ecosystem; Idenplane trades that maturity for a smaller footprint, a faster developer experience, and first-class mobile support.
Idenplane vs Keycloak, compared
Every row below reflects the same data as our homepage comparison. Open a PR if anything is out of date.
| Feature | Idenplane | Keycloak |
|---|---|---|
| Deployment | ||
| Self-hosted (on your infra) 1 | ||
| Hosted / managed option | ||
| Open source | ||
| Docker one-liner 1 | ||
| Kubernetes / Helm 1 | ||
| Horizontal scaling | ||
| Protocols | ||
| OAuth 2.0 + PKCE | ||
| OpenID Connect 1.0 | ||
| SAML 2.0 | ||
| Device authorization | ||
| Step-up authentication | ~ | |
| MFA & Passwordless | ||
| TOTP (authenticator app) | ||
| WebAuthn / FIDO2 | ||
| Recovery codes | ||
| Brute-force protection | ||
| Identity | ||
| Multi-tenant realms | ||
| B2B organizations | ~ | |
| RBAC (roles & groups) | ||
| LDAP / Active Directory | ||
| Social & enterprise IdP | ||
| Custom attributes | ||
| Developer Experience | ||
| Modern admin console | ||
| REST API | ||
| Web SDKs (React / Vue / Angular) | ~ | |
| Mobile SDKs (iOS / Android) | ||
| CLI tool | ||
| Webhooks | ~ | |
| Plugin / extension system | ||
| Operations | ||
| Prometheus metrics | ||
| Health-check endpoints | ||
| Rate limiting | ~ | |
| Audit logging | ||
| Realm / tenant theming | ||
| Implementation language | TypeScript | Java |
| Memory under load 4 | ~150 MB | ~1.25 GB |
| Local-dev setup time 4 | ~30 sec | ~5 min |
| Official SDK count | 10 | 2 |
| Pricing model | AGPL-licensed | Apache 2.0 |
- Auth0 and Clerk are managed SaaS — self-hosting is not an option, not an absence. Marked N/A in deployment rows.
- Memory and setup-time figures are from internal k6 load tests (50 virtual users, 60s, single realm, default config) — not idle measurements. Idenplane and Keycloak ran the identical workload; SuperTokens, Auth0, and Clerk figures are estimates, not benchmarked. Workload dictates real-world usage.
Snapshot as of . Suggest a correction
Why teams pick Idenplane
TypeScript, not the JVM
Idenplane is written in TypeScript and runs on Node. Keycloak runs on the JVM. That means no JDK to manage, a smaller idle footprint (~150 MB vs JVM-bound), and a codebase most web teams can read and extend.
Boots in ~30 seconds
A single Docker command has Idenplane serving auth in about 30 seconds. A comparable Keycloak dev setup typically takes several minutes before the first login screen appears.
A modern admin console
Idenplane ships a modern React admin UI for realms, clients, users, and roles. Keycloak’s console is powerful but dated, and is one of the most common reasons teams look for an alternative.
Native mobile SDKs
Idenplane provides first-class iOS (Swift) and Android (Kotlin) SDKs with secure storage, biometric login, and PKCE. Keycloak has no official mobile SDKs.
Same standards, no lock-in
Both implement OAuth 2.0 + PKCE, OpenID Connect, and SAML 2.0, so you keep protocol compatibility. Idenplane adds 10 official SDKs across web, mobile, and backend.
Where Keycloak still leads
Keycloak is older and more battle-tested, with a larger ecosystem and more third-party integrations, and it is Apache-2.0 licensed (Idenplane is AGPL-3.0). If those matter most to you, Keycloak may be the safer pick today.
Already running Keycloak?
Our migration guide walks through realm export/import, user migration, and swapping the SDK — with realistic expectations for the process.
Read the Keycloak migration guide