Auth0 Alternatives in 2025: More Control, Less Cost with Keycloak

This article compares the best Auth0 alternatives in 2025 for organizations seeking more control, open-source flexibility, or scalable identity and access management solutions tailored to real-world use cases.

Modern applications require secure, flexible identity management. While Auth0 is a popular platform known for developer-friendly authentication and authorization, rising costs, limited customization options, and vendor lock-in are driving teams to explore open-source alternatives to Auth0. Following its acquisition by Okta in 2021, Auth0 increasingly reflects enterprise IAM pricing models that don’t always align with lean dev teams or modern B2B requirements.

Why companies look for Auth0 alternatives authentication solution

• Pricing and scaling: Auth0 offers powerful features, but its pricing model can be restrictive as user data and traffic scale toward millions of users.

• Vendor lock-in: As a closed platform, customization and lifecycle control are limited.

• Compliance needs: Enterprises in the EU or regulated sectors often need SLA-backed services, GDPR-compliant identity data handling, and support for digital identity governance.

• Integration complexity: Developers increasingly need authentication solutions that integrate seamlessly with APIs, SDKs, and various application types.

Best Auth0 alternatives in 2025 (at a glance)

Keycloak: Open-source IAM with enterprise-grade control

Keycloak is an open-source authentication and authorization platform originally developed by Red Hat. It supports OAuth2, SAML, OpenID Connect, and offers advanced features like multi-factor authentication, single sign-on, and identity federation. As a fully customizable identity management solution, Keycloak is ideal for enterprises, governments, and digital platforms that demand scalable user management.

Inteca Managed Keycloak: Built for security and scale

Inteca delivers a Kubernetes-native, fully managed Keycloak service. As a Red Hat Advanced Business Partner, Inteca supports both the community edition and Red Hat’s hardened enterprise build.

Key benefits include:

• GitOps and declarative IAM provisioning across environments

• Adaptive MFA, passwordless, and social login via providers like Google and Facebook

• Seamless integration with AD, LDAP, SAP, Azure AD, and custom APIs

• SLA-backed support with transparent architecture-based pricing

• Deployable in hybrid, on-prem, or EU-based cloud for data sovereignty

Inteca’s Keycloak offering is a customizable identity platform that fits regulated environments, B2B apps and digital identity governance use cases.

Supertokens: Lightweight auth for modern devs, open source alternative to auth0

Supertokens is an open-source authentication solution designed for developers building modern web and mobile applications. It supports passwordless authentication (magic links, OTPs), session management, and features like single sign-on.

Highlights:

• Open-source, self-hosted or cloud-deployable

• Built-in support for customizable login flows and social identity providers

• Limited federation and SAML support compared to Keycloak

• Ideal for MVPs, scalable SaaS platforms, and teams looking for control over user data lifecycle

Supertokens offers scalable identity management without vendor lock-in, making it one of the top open source alternatives to Auth0.

Website: https://supertokens.com/

Amazon Cognito: IAM for AWS ecosystems

Amazon Cognito is AWS’s CIAM platform for managing customer identity and access management. It integrates tightly with AWS services like Lambda and API Gateway and supports OAuth2, SSO, and MFA.

Pros:

• Easy provisioning for apps using AWS SDKs

• Supports identity federation and scalable user pools

• Compatible with enterprise identity providers via SAML

Cons:

• Limited customization, poor developer UX compared to Auth0 or Keycloak

• Lock-in to AWS ecosystem can restrict flexibility and pricing control

Website: https://aws.amazon.com/cognito/

Stytch: Passwordless-first auth for fast teams

Stytch is a developer-first CIAM platform focused on delivering passwordless authentication across various application types. It supports magic links, biometrics, OAuth logins, and user data synchronization through modern APIs.

Strengths:

• API-first architecture with fast integration for web and mobile applications

• Strong security measures and frictionless user experience

• Excellent documentation and SDKs

Limitations:

• No open-source option or self-hosted deployment

• Lacks support for enterprise-grade identity federation

Website: https://stytch.com/

What are IAM service roles?

IAM roles define what level of access a user or machine has within an identity platform. In customer identity and access management (CIAM), roles support lifecycle provisioning across B2B or B2C user groups.

For example, CIAM tool should allow: 

• Admin roles to manage configuration and users

• Partner roles for scoped federation in B2B use cases

• User roles for application-level access control

• User self-service 
• Easyli scale with growing user base

Such an architecture is key for implementing fine-grained access controls, auditing, and provisioning best practices.

What is Keycloak service?

A Keycloak service refers to a hosted or managed deployment of the Keycloak IAM platform. Managed services like Inteca’s abstract operational complexity, covering provisioning, patching, backups, monitoring, and SLA-compliant support.

With Inteca, teams can adopt an open-source authentication solution or Red Hat commercial Keyclaok version that is production-ready, highly customizable, and aligned to the needs of modern digital identity ecosystems.

Final verdict: Best Auth0 alternative in 2025?

Choosing the best alternative to Auth0 depends on your use case:

• Keycloak: Best for scalable, enterprise-grade identity platforms needing deep customization and strong security controls, with convenient user experience.

• Supertokens: Best for lean teams that want an open-source authentication solution with frontend-first design.

• Amazon Cognito: Ideal for teams building exclusively on AWS and integrating with native services.

• Stytch: Great for product teams focused on rapid implementation and seamless passwordless login flows.

When compliance, extensibility, and full-stack identity management matter most, Inteca’s Managed Keycloak is the strongest alternative to Auth0 in 2025.

Aleksandra Malesa

I’m a Content Marketing Specialist who loves creating engaging content that connects with people and helps businesses. I specialize in writing technical blogs for the IT industry, focusing on clear strategies and storytelling to deliver real results. When I’m not writing, I’m keeping up with the latest trends to stay ahead in the game.

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