Supertokens Vs Keycloak: Going Custom Vs. Off-The-Shelf

SuperTokens and Keycloak are both open-source authentication solutions, each offering unique features and advantages suited to different needs. SuperTokens provides flexibility with its self-hosted and managed service options, integrating natively into applications through SDKs that allow for customizable authentication logic. It offers enterprise-level features like multi-tenancy and multi-factor authentication, and its documentation is user-friendly and organized by authentication mechanisms, making it accessible to both new and experienced users. Keycloak, supported by RedHat, functions as a microservice with extensive HTTP APIs and a built-in dashboard for configuration. It benefits from a strong community and numerous extensions and plugins, although its documentation can be overwhelming, and adding custom logic can be complex. While Keycloak's login UI requires redirection between server and frontend, SuperTokens embeds APIs and frontend components directly into applications, avoiding such redirection. The choice between the two solutions depends on specific needs such as UI control, custom code requirements, enterprise features, and compliance with security certifications.