keycloakvspolar
Two self-hosted projects, compared on the numbers selfhost.directory tracks live: score, popularity, release cadence and setup effort.
| keycloak | polar | |
|---|---|---|
| Score | 86/100 | 71/100 |
| Rank in category | #1 of 40 in Authentication | #1 of 13 in Billing |
| GitHub stars | 37 588 | 10 436 |
| Stars, last 30 days | +607 | +157 |
| Stable releases, 12 months | 14 | 1 |
| Latest release | 26.8.1 · 13 Oct 2026 | @polar-sh/cli@3.0.0 · 16 Oct 2026 |
| Setup | Moderate | Advanced |
| Official Docker image | Yes | No |
| License | Apache-2.0 | Apache-2.0 |
| Main language | Java | Python |
Which one should you pick?
keycloak scores 86/100 against 71/100 for polar, so it is the safer default.
keycloak ships more often: 14 stable releases in the past year, against 1 for polar.
If you want the quickest setup, keycloak is easier to run; polar needs more configuration.
keycloak is growing faster right now (+607 stars in 30 days).
keycloak details →polar details →
Swap a project
Keep keycloak, compare it with
Keep polar, compare it with