Appwrite vs Keycloak
The ultimate side-by-side head-to-head analysis for 2026.
Short answer
- Price: not directly comparable — Appwrite is free tier available, Keycloak is free.
- How to start: Appwrite is free tier available, Keycloak is free.
These lines are generated from the pricing we track, not from a paid placement. We do not publish a quality score, because we do not have one we can stand behind. They cannot tell you which tool fits your workflow — the sections below are there for that. How we score tools.
Appwrite
Keycloak
Category
Developer Tools
Developer Tools
Base Price
Free tier
Free
Public API
Yes
Yes
Mobile app
No
No
Open source / self-hostable
Yes
Yes
SSO (SAML)
Yes
Yes
Choose Appwrite if:
Flutter Developers and Self-hosting Enthusiasts.
Choose Keycloak if:
Organisations that need enterprise identity without a per-user bill.
Appwrite: pros & cons
- Total Data Control: Self-host it on your own server to ensure 100% privacy.
- Great SDK Support: Beautiful libraries for Web, Flutter, Android, and iOS.
- Comprehensive Tools: Includes Auth, Database, Storage, and Functions in one place.
- Open Source: Benefit from a fast-growing community and zero vendor lock-in.
- Maintenance: Since it is self-hosted, you are responsible for server updates and backups.
- Scaling: Managing a large-scale Appwrite cluster requires significant server knowledge.
- Smaller Community: Not as many third-party plugins or tutorials as Firebase yet.
Keycloak: pros & cons
- Full identity server at no licence cost
- Standards support including SAML and OIDC
- Complete control over user data
- Operating it is a real responsibility
- Administration console is dense
- Upgrades need care
Our verdict on Appwrite
The best open-source alternative for building modern backends with total data ownership.
Our verdict on Keycloak
The serious open-source answer to Auth0. Budget for the operations, because the licence saving is not free.