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Alternatives to OpenFGA

2 editor-selected alternatives · OpenFGA overview →

source: tools.alternatives · stored order · active records only; review scores are annotations and never change membership or order

A directional evidence panel appears only when the substitute rationale, trade-offs, sources, and verification date have been recorded. Older selections without that panel remain visible but are unclassified under the new evidence contract.

SpiceDB logo
1

SpiceDB

open sourceexplicit relation

SpiceDB is an open-source authorization database inspired by Google's Zanzibar system, providing relationship-based access control (ReBAC) at scale. It defines permissions through a schema language that models relationships between users, resources, and roles, then evaluates authorization checks in single-digit milliseconds. Used by companies like Netflix and GitHub, SpiceDB handles millions of permission checks per second.

Free and 100% open source under the Apache-2.0 license for self-managed Kubernetes and bare-metal deployments. AuthZed Cloud provides a fully managed, usage-based permissions platform with transparent pay-as-you-go billing. AuthZed Dedicated and Enterprise tiers offer single-tenant VPC deployments, multi-region CockroachDB/Spanner clustering, SOC 2 compliance, and dedicated 24/7 SLAs under annual enterprise contracts.
Ory logo
2

Ory

85/100open sourcefreemiumexplicit relation

Ory provides a suite of modular open-source identity components: Kratos for user management and authentication, Hydra for OAuth2 and OIDC, Oathkeeper for API gateway authorization, and Keto for fine-grained permission management. Used by OpenAI and other major organizations. API-first design with Go-based microservices that deploy independently or together as Ory Network cloud.

Open-source identity and authorization ecosystem under Apache-2.0 license (Kratos, Hydra, Keto, Oathkeeper) with $0 software licensing fees for self-hosting on Docker/Kubernetes. Ory Network provides fully managed multi-region SaaS with a Free Developer tier ($0/mo for up to 200 active users and core identity), Essentials ($29-$49/mo) with custom domains and enhanced quotas, Scale ($199/mo) for high-throughput production apps and advanced permission graphs, and Enterprise custom tiers with SOC 2, HIPAA, custom SLAs, and dedicated support.Review →

Open-source OpenFGA alternatives

SpiceDB, Ory — see all open-source developer tools.

Free OpenFGA alternatives

Ory offer a free plan or free tier.

More Authentication & Identity tools

same category, not editor-selected alternatives — see how OpenFGA compares →

CiliumCilium is a CNCF Graduated, Apache-2.0 project for Kubernetes networking, security, and observability using eBPF. It can replace kube-proxy, enforce identity-aware L3-L7 network policies, and add Hubble flow observability plus Tetragon runtime-security signals. Current source checks support GKE Dataplane V2 using Cilium/eBPF and Azure CNI Powered by Cilium for AKS.OrbStackOrbStack is a macOS application that replaces Docker Desktop with lightweight container and Linux VM management. Its docs emphasize fast starts, lower CPU and memory overhead, and native macOS integration with menu bar controls, file sharing, and network access to containers by name, with exact gains depending on workload. Supports Docker, Kubernetes, and full Linux VMs.RayRay is an open-source distributed computing framework built for scaling AI and Python applications from a laptop to thousands of GPUs. It provides libraries for distributed training, hyperparameter tuning, model serving, reinforcement learning, and data processing under a single unified API. Ray's public site highlights OpenAI and other enterprise users. Maintained by Anyscale with Apache-2.0 open-source licensing.ActAct is an open-source tool that runs GitHub Actions workflows locally using Docker containers that match GitHub's execution environment. It provides instant feedback on workflow changes without pushing to a repository, supports matrix builds, secret management, and artifact handling. Act can also replace Makefiles by using workflow files as task definitions, making it useful for both CI/CD development and local task automation across development teams.ClerkClerk is a complete authentication and user management platform for React, Next.js, and modern JavaScript frameworks. It provides pre-built UI for sign-in, sign-up, user profiles, organizations, MFA, passkeys, JWT sessions, webhooks, and billing. The Hobby plan supports up to 50,000 monthly retained users per app, with Pro, Business, and Enterprise tiers for growing teams.DockerIndustry-standard container platform for building, shipping, and running applications in isolated, reproducible environments. Package apps with all dependencies into portable containers using Dockerfiles and images. Docker Compose orchestrates multi-container applications. Docker Hub hosts millions of pre-built images. Docker Desktop provides GUI management on Mac/Windows. Essential for local development, CI/CD, and production deployments. The foundation of modern containerized infrastructure.ModalModal is a serverless compute platform that lets developers run AI workloads on GPUs with a Python-first SDK. Functions deploy with decorators, auto-scale from zero to thousands of containers, and bill per second. It supports LLM inference, fine-tuning, batch jobs, and sandboxes, with current GPU options including B200, H200, H100, A100, L40S, A10, L4, and T4. Modal’s 2026 Series C valued the company at $4.65B.PangolinIdentity-based remote access platform built on WireGuard that combines reverse proxy and VPN capabilities. Pangolin supports clientless browser access for web apps and client-based private-resource access across macOS, iOS, Windows, Linux, and Android, with zero-trust rules, peer-to-peer tunnels, automatic SSL, SSO/OIDC options, and cloud or self-hosted deployment.ArgoCDArgo CD is the most popular GitOps continuous delivery tool for Kubernetes. It continuously monitors Git repositories and automatically syncs application state to match the desired configuration. A CNCF graduated project used by thousands of organizations for deploying to Kubernetes clusters.

OpenFGA head-to-head

FAQ

Which OpenFGA alternative is listed first?

SpiceDB is first in the editor-selected list of 2 OpenFGA alternatives. The stored order is editorial; review scores do not determine membership or position.

Are there open-source OpenFGA alternatives?

Yes — SpiceDB, Ory are open source.

Are there free OpenFGA alternatives?

Yes — Ory offer a free plan or free tier.