harnessvskeycloak
Two self-hosted projects, compared on the numbers selfhost.directory tracks live: score, popularity, release cadence and setup effort.
| harness | keycloak | |
|---|---|---|
| Score | 80/100 | 86/100 |
| Rank in category | #3 of 28 in CI/CD | #1 of 40 in Authentication |
| GitHub stars | 38 745 | 37 571 |
| Stars, last 30 days | +318 | +604 |
| Stable releases, 12 months | 6 | 14 |
| Latest release | v2.28.2 · 20 Apr 2026 | 26.8.1 · 13 Oct 2026 |
| Setup | Easy | Moderate |
| Official Docker image | Yes | Yes |
| License | Apache-2.0 | Apache-2.0 |
| Main language | Go | Java |
Which one should you pick?
keycloak scores 86/100 against 80/100 for harness, so it is the safer default.
keycloak ships more often: 14 stable releases in the past year, against 6 for harness.
If you want the quickest setup, harness is easier to run; keycloak needs more configuration.
harness details →keycloak details →