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Zitadel

✓ Verified FOSSAGPL-3.0
Top open-source alternative to Auth0 / Okta

ZITADEL - Identity infrastructure, simplified for you.

Tech StackGo, Angular, CockroachDB / PostgreSQL
Self-Host DifficultyMedium
License ModelAGPL-3.0
GitHub Repositoryzitadel/zitadel

Recommended VPS & Hardware Sizing

Estimated Hosting: $10 - $15/mo (e.g. Hetzner CPX21 or Linode)
Min RAM:2 GB
Rec RAM:4 GB
Compute:2 vCPU
Disk Space:25 GB SSD

Zitadel vs Auth0 / Okta Comparison Matrix

Evaluation CriteriaZitadel (Open Source)Auth0 / Okta (Proprietary)
MAU PenaltyScale to millions of users without auth tax$35 - $240+ per month as MAU expands
INTERACTIVE TCO MODELEstimated Rate: $138/user/mo

Financial Impact: Migrating from Auth0 / Okta to Self-Hosted Zitadel

Detailed Stack Calculator →
5 Users (Early Startup)50 Users (Scaleup)200 Users (Enterprise Org)
Auth0 / Okta (Cloud SaaS)Per-Seat Tax
$41,400per year ($3,450/mo)
3-Year Spend:$124,200

* Excludes enterprise SSO add-ons & usage overages

Zitadel (Self-Hosted)Zero Per-Seat Fee
$120per year ($10/mo Linux VPS)
3-Year Compute:$360

* Commodity Hetzner / DigitalOcean compute instance

Cumulative 3-Year ROI+$123,840Net savings across 36 months (100% reduction)
Annual Free Cash:+$41,280/yr
Need C-Level Buy-In? Generate an instant ROI proposal memo to present to your CTO or CFO.

Core Capabilities & Features

✓B2B Multi-Tenancy & Customer Organizations
✓Passkeys (WebAuthn), MFA & Passwordless Login
✓OIDC, OAuth2 & SAML 2.0 Federation
✓Fine-Grained Role & Action Scripting

Self-Host Zitadel with Docker Compose

Tweak configuration ports, secrets, and volumes live. Download or copy your ready-to-run container file:

1-Click Docker Compose Generator

Generate production-ready container definitions with customizable ports and volumes.

ZitadelAGPL-3.0

Cloud-native identity and access management with B2B multi-tenancy

Difficulty: Medium15,293 ⭐
Configure Parameters
docker-compose.zitadel.yml
version: '3.8'

services:
  zitadel:
    image: ghcr.io/zitadel/zitadel:latest
    restart: unless-stopped
    ports:
      - "${PORT:-8080}:8080"
    command: 'start-from-init --masterkey "${MASTER_KEY:-MasterkeyNeedsToHave32Characters!}"'
    environment:
      - ZITADEL_DATABASE_POSTGRES_HOST=db
      - ZITADEL_DATABASE_POSTGRES_PORT=5432
      - ZITADEL_DATABASE_POSTGRES_DATABASE=zitadel
      - ZITADEL_DATABASE_POSTGRES_USER_USERNAME=zitadel
      - ZITADEL_DATABASE_POSTGRES_USER_PASSWORD=${DB_PASSWORD:-zitadel_pass}
      - ZITADEL_EXTERNALSECURE=false
    depends_on:
      - db

  db:
    image: postgres:15-alpine
    restart: unless-stopped
    environment:
      - POSTGRES_USER=zitadel
      - POSTGRES_PASSWORD=${DB_PASSWORD:-zitadel_pass}
      - POSTGRES_DB=zitadel
    volumes:
      - zitadel_pgdata:/var/lib/postgresql/data

volumes:
  zitadel_pgdata:

Frequently Asked Questions: Self-Hosting Zitadel

How do I self-host Zitadel using Docker Compose?

You can deploy Zitadel (zitadel/zitadel) on any Linux server by copying the docker-compose.yml template on this page, configuring your desired host port and persistent volume directory, and running 'docker compose up -d'.

How does Zitadel compare to Auth0 / Okta?

Zitadel is an open-source, self-hosted alternative to Auth0 / Okta built with Go, Angular, CockroachDB / PostgreSQL. Unlike Auth0 / Okta ($35 - $240+ / month (Penalties on MAU)), Zitadel has zero per-user licensing fees and keeps 100% of your data on your own infrastructure.

What are the minimum VPS RAM and CPU requirements for Zitadel?

For production self-hosting (Medium difficulty tier), we recommend at least 4 GB RAM (minimum 2 GB), 2 vCPU, and 25 GB SSD storage, which typically costs $10 - $15/mo (e.g. Hetzner CPX21 or Linode).

Is Zitadel free for commercial business use under the AGPL-3.0 license?

Yes. Distributed under the AGPL-3.0 license, Zitadel can be self-hosted internally by businesses and engineering teams of any size without per-seat royalties.

README INTEGRATION // REPO EMBED

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