vioscale
Comparison

Clerk vs Keycloak

No clear leader: Clerk (72.2) and Keycloak (71.8) are within the 5-point margin; treat as a tie. The attribute-by-attribute breakdown below, with a source and date on every value, is the honest way to compare them.

Clerk full profile →Keycloak full profile →
Machine formatsJSONMarkdownGraphQLor send Accept: application/json
Clerk72
Keycloak72
Score
Vioscale score
Clerk72 / 100medium · 71%updating
Keycloak72 / 100low · 47%updating
Pricing
Free tier
Clerk✓
Keycloak✓
Model
Clerkfreemium
Keycloakopen_source
Price level
Clerklow
Keycloakfree
Transparent
Clerk✓
Keycloak✓
Integrations
Count
Clerk5
Keycloak10
Security
Disclosure policy
Clerk✓
Keycloak✓
Gdpr
Clerk✓
Keycloak–
Hipaa
Clerk✓
Keycloak–
Scorecard
Clerk–
Keycloak7.9
Soc2
Clerk✓
Keycloak–
Vulnerabilities
Reliability
Sla pct
Clerk99.99
Keycloak–
Status page
Clerk✓
Keycloak–
Adoption
Dependent repos
Clerk–
Keycloak1,153
Github stars
Clerk–
Keycloak36,428
Package downloads weekly
Clerk–
Keycloak1,713,825
Activity
Commits last 30d
Clerk–
Keycloak100
Release
Cadence days
Clerk–
Keycloak13
History
Clerk–
Keycloak20 items
License
Spdx
Clerk–
KeycloakApache-2.0
Language
Primary
Clerk–
KeycloakJava
Market
Availability

Capabilities

Feature-by-feature on the axes that matter for auth & identity software. “-” means undocumented, not absent.

Deployment
Hosting
ClerkCloud only
KeycloakCloud + self-hosted
Methods
Social login
Clerk✓
Keycloak✓
Passwordless
Clerk-
Keycloak✓
Passkeys / WebAuthn
Clerk-
Keycloak✓
Multi-factor auth
Clerk✓
Keycloak✓
Enterprise
SAML SSO
Clerk✓
Keycloak✓
SCIM provisioning
Clerk-
Keycloak✓
B2B / multi-tenancy
Clerk✓
Keycloak✓
Standards
OpenID Connect provider
Clerk✓
Keycloak✓
Delivery
Hosted UI
ClerkBoth
KeycloakBoth
Access
RBAC
Clerk✓
Keycloak✓
Licensing
Self-hostable OSS core
Clerk✓
Keycloak✓

What each one is

The product in its own terms, so the numbers below have context.

Clerk

A cloud-based authentication and user management platform offering prebuilt UI components, APIs, and dashboards to implement user sign-in, profile management, organizations, and billing features.

Independently observed

Keycloak

Centralized authentication and authorization platform that manages user identity and access control across applications, reducing the need for individual apps to build their own login systems.

Independently observed

Pricing

List pricing as published by each vendor, with the date we read it. Always verify at the source before you buy.

Clerk

from $0.02/moSubscriptionFree tier

From $25/month. Free tier with 10,000 MAUs.

  • FreeFree
    • Sign-in and sign-up
    • Customizable sign-in pages
    • Custom domain
    • Profile management
    • Social login
  • Pro$25/month plus $0.02 per additional MAU
    • All Free features
    • Remove Clerk branding
    • Custom session duration
    • Password complexity requirements
    • User ban/unban
    • +4 more
  • EnterpriseContact sales
as of verify ↗

Keycloak

Open sourceFree tier

Free, open-source software

as of verify ↗

Platform & deployment

Where each product runs and how it can be hosted. A dash means undocumented, not unsupported.

Platforms
Web
Clerk✓
Keycloak✓
iOS
Clerk✓
Keycloak✗
Android
Clerk✓
Keycloak✗
Windows
Clerk✗
Keycloak✓
Linux
Clerk✗
Keycloak✓
CLI
Clerk✓
Keycloak✓
Deployment
Cloud / SaaS
Clerk✓
Keycloak✓
Self-hosted
Clerk✗
Keycloak✓
On-premise
Clerk✗
Keycloak✓
Hybrid
Clerk✗
Keycloak✓

Integrations

What each product connects to. Counts come from the vendor's own integration directory where one exists.

Clerk

5 total
  • Google OAuth
  • GitHub OAuth
  • Google Workspace
  • Convex
  • MCP
Independently observed

Keycloak

10 total
  • GitHub
  • Google
  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • LDAP
  • Active Directory
  • Kerberos
  • Kubernetes
  • Apache APISIX
  • OpenTelemetry
Independently observed

Comparison generated from independently-sourced facts. Every value links to its source and retrieval date. See the method.