API-first identity and user management system for cloud-native applications, scaling to billions of users.
Ory Kratos is an API-first identity and user management system for cloud-native applications. It centralizes authentication and user management workflows—like login, registration, and account recovery—so developers can consume them via APIs instead of building them from scratch. It solves the problem of fragmented, homegrown identity solutions by providing a scalable, secure, and standardized approach.
Developers and engineering teams building cloud-native applications who need robust, scalable authentication and user management without vendor lock-in. It's ideal for organizations migrating from providers like Auth0 or Okta, or those implementing identity for the first time.
Developers choose Ory Kratos because it offers better developer experience and user experience compared to commercial alternatives, with the flexibility of self-hosting or using a managed service. Its API-first design integrates seamlessly with any UI framework and scales to handle billions of users.
Headless cloud-native authentication and identity management written in Go. Scales to a billion+ users. Replace Homegrown, Auth0, Okta, Firebase with better UX and DX. Passkeys, Social Sign In, OIDC, Magic Link, Multi-Factor Auth, SMS, SAML, TOTP, and more. Runs everywhere, runs best on Ory Network.
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Supports passkeys, social sign-in, OIDC, magic links, MFA, SMS, SAML, and TOTP, as listed in the README, covering modern identity needs.
Built to scale to billions of users and integrates with Kubernetes and modern environments, ensuring performance for high-growth applications.
Can be self-hosted for full control or used as a managed service via Ory Network, offering adaptability to different operational models.
Exposes identity logic over HTTP APIs, removing it from application code and allowing integration with any UI framework, as emphasized in the philosophy.
Advanced features like SCIM, SAML, organization login, and CAPTCHAs are only available with the Ory Enterprise License, limiting the open-source version.
Self-hosting requires setting up databases (PostgreSQL, MySQL, etc.), configuration, and ongoing maintenance, which can be complex and time-consuming.
As an API-first system, developers must build or integrate their own user interfaces for login, registration, etc., unlike turnkey solutions with prebuilt UI.
Kratos is an open-source alternative to the following products:
Firebase is a Google-backed platform for developing mobile and web applications, providing backend services like authentication, databases, and hosting.
Auth0 is a cloud-based identity and access management platform that provides authentication and authorization services for applications. It supports single sign-on, multi-factor authentication, and social login integrations.
An identity and access management platform that provides secure authentication, authorization, and user management for applications.