Choosing Zitadel: A Modern, Scalable, and Vendor-Agnostic IAM Solution

Introduction

Identity and Access Management (IAM) is an essential component of modern applications, providing authentication, authorization, and user management. Traditionally, enterprises relied on heavyweight IAM solutions like Keycloak, Okta, and Auth0, but many organizations are now seeking vendor-agnostic, open-source, and high-performance alternatives.

Among the newer IAM solutions, Zitadel has emerged as a powerful open-source alternative to enterprise-grade IAM providers while being lightweight, multi-tenant, and cloud-native. In this article, we compare Zitadel with Keycloak and enterprise IAM solutions, highlighting the advantages of modern technology stacks.

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Why Traditional IAM Solutions Have Limitations

1. Keycloak: A Powerful but Heavyweight Solution

Keycloak has been the go-to open-source IAM solution for many enterprises. Developed by Red Hat, it offers features like:

• Single Sign-On (SSO)
• OAuth2, OpenID Connect (OIDC), and SAML support
• Multi-factor authentication (MFA)
• User federation (LDAP, Active Directory, etc.)
• Fine-grained role-based access control (RBAC)

However, Keycloak has drawbacks: ❌ Heavy infrastructure requirements (Java-based, requires WildFly or Quarkus) ❌ Difficult to scale (clustering and tuning required for large deployments) ❌ Steep learning curve (complex configurations and integrations) ❌ No built-in multi-tenancy (requires additional configurations)

For organizations looking for a lightweight, scalable IAM that does not rely on Java and does not require vendor lock-in, alternatives like Zitadel and Ory Kratos have gained attention.

2. Enterprise IAM (Okta, Auth0, AWS Cognito, etc.)

While managed IAM services like Okta, Auth0, and AWS Cognito provide ease of use, they come with significant costs and vendor lock-in risks:

• Per-user pricing models make scaling expensive.
• Limited customization since the provider controls the backend.
• Regulatory and data sovereignty concerns due to cloud-only architecture.

These limitations drive organizations toward self-hosted, open-source alternatives like Zitadel, which offer full control without enterprise pricing.

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Introducing Zitadel: A Modern IAM Alternative

What is Zitadel?

Zitadel is an open-source IAM platform built in Golang, offering cloud-native authentication and access management. Unlike Keycloak, Zitadel is designed to be lightweight, multi-tenant, and event-driven, making it a great alternative to both heavy self-hosted IAM solutions and expensive enterprise IAM services.

Key Features of Zitadel

✅ OAuth2 & OpenID Connect Support – Full support for authentication protocols. ✅ Multi-Tenancy – Built-in support for managing multiple organizations. ✅ Self-Hosting & Cloud Deployment – Deploy on your own infrastructure or use Zitadel Cloud. ✅ Fine-Grained RBAC – Advanced role-based access controls. ✅ Event-Driven Architecture – Every authentication event is logged for auditing. ✅ Passwordless Authentication – Native support for WebAuthn, FIDO2, and passkeys. ✅ Admin UI & API-First – Manage users via UI or APIs for automation. ✅ Scalability & Performance – Optimized for high-load applications.

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Comparing Zitadel, Keycloak, and Enterprise IAM Solutions

Feature	Zitadel (Go)	Keycloak (Java)	Okta/Auth0 (Enterprise IAM)
Technology	Go (lightweight, fast)	Java (heavy, resource-intensive)	SaaS (proprietary, cloud-only)
Deployment	Self-hosted & cloud	Self-hosted	Cloud-only
Multi-Tenancy	✅ Yes (built-in)	❌ No (requires extra setup)	✅ Yes
Admin Dashboard	✅ Yes	✅ Yes	✅ Yes
OAuth2 / OIDC / SAML	✅ Yes	✅ Yes	✅ Yes
Passwordless Auth	✅ Yes	❌ Limited	✅ Yes
Event-Driven Logs	✅ Yes	❌ No	✅ Yes
Scalability	✅ High	⚠️ Medium	✅ High
Cost	Free (open-source)	Free (open-source)	Expensive (pay-per-user)
Vendor Lock-In	❌ No	❌ No	✅ Yes

Key Takeaways:

• If you want a traditional IAM with an admin UI and enterprise features, Keycloak remains a strong option but requires Java-based infrastructure and manual scaling.
• If you need an easy-to-deploy, scalable, multi-tenant IAM, Zitadel is a better choice.
• If you prefer managed IAM with minimal effort and don’t mind paying per user, Okta/Auth0 are convenient but costly.

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1. Lightweight & High Performance

Zitadel, being written in Go, is significantly faster and more resource-efficient than Java-based IAMs like Keycloak. It requires less infrastructure to operate at scale.

2. Multi-Tenancy by Design

Unlike Keycloak, which requires additional configurations for multi-tenancy, Zitadel has native support for multiple organizations and projects out-of-the-box.

3. Easy Self-Hosting & Cloud Flexibility

Zitadel can be self-hosted on Kubernetes, Docker, or on-premises servers while also providing a fully managed cloud option.

4. Strong Security & Compliance

Zitadel supports WebAuthn, FIDO2, passkeys, event-based auditing, and SIEM integration, ensuring compliance with GDPR, SOC2, HIPAA, and other security standards.

5. Open-Source Without Vendor Lock-In

Unlike Okta, Auth0, and AWS Cognito, Zitadel is fully open-source, allowing organizations to run it without being locked into a commercial service.

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How to Get Started with Zitadel

1. Running Zitadel via Docker

docker run -d --name zitadel \
  -p 8080:8080 \
  ghcr.io/zitadel/zitadel:latest

This launches Zitadel on port 8080, accessible via the browser or API.

2. Deploying Zitadel on Kubernetes

helm repo add zitadel https://charts.zitadel.com
helm install zitadel zitadel/zitadel

This allows Zitadel to scale horizontally in a cloud-native environment.

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Conclusion: Zitadel is the Future of Open-Source IAM

For organizations seeking a modern, scalable, and vendor-agnostic IAM, Zitadel offers a lightweight, event-driven, and multi-tenant alternative to both Keycloak and enterprise IAM providers like Okta/Auth0.

By choosing Zitadel, organizations benefit from: ✔ A high-performance, scalable IAM ✔ Full control over authentication and access management ✔ Security, compliance, and event-driven auditing ✔ Freedom from per-user pricing and vendor lock-in

As businesses move toward cloud-native and open-source solutions, Zitadel is rapidly becoming one of the best IAM platforms available today.

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