Keycloak vs Strapi
The ultimate side-by-side head-to-head analysis for 2026.
Short answer
- Price: not directly comparable — Keycloak is free, Strapi is free tier available.
- How to start: Keycloak is free, Strapi is free tier available.
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 We do not publish a quality score, because we do not have one we can stand behind.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.
Keycloak
Strapi
Category
Developer Tools
Developer Tools
Base Price
Free
Free tier
Public API
Yes
Yes
Mobile app
No
No
Open source / self-hostable
Yes
Yes
SSO (SAML)
Yes
Yes
Choose Keycloak if:
Organisations that need enterprise identity without a per-user bill.
Choose Strapi if:
Backend Developers, Corporate Digital Teams, and Modern Agencies.
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
Strapi: pros & cons
- Infinite Flexibility: Write your own plugins and change the admin panel as you wish.
- Multi-DB Support: Compatible with SQLite, MySQL, PostgreSQL, and MariaDB.
- Role Management: Offers very detailed user permissions (RBAC) for content teams.
- Top Marketplace: Hundreds of plugins are available to speed up your workflow.
- Maintenance: If not using the Cloud version, you are responsible for servers and updates.
- Resources: Can experience performance issues on underpowered servers.
- Version Updates: Major version migrations can sometimes be technically challenging.
Our verdict on Keycloak
The serious open-source answer to Auth0. Budget for the operations, because the licence saving is not free.
Our verdict on Strapi
The best CMS for building a modern, multi-purpose, and fully-controlled content hub.