Ory
Shares rank 5 of 12 identity providers by recommenders
Free, Apache 2 licensed identity platform that many on HN recommend for production auth and high scale. Critics worry security fixes sit behind the paid Enterprise license.
Free, Apache 2 licensed identity platform that many on HN recommend for production auth and high scale. Critics worry security fixes sit behind the paid Enterprise license.
14 people gave an opinion
- recommend it
- 8
- criticize it
- 6
- approval share
- 57%
Recommended in 6 of 13 months
- November 2025: recommended
- December 2025: not recommended
- January 2026: recommended
- February 2026: recommended
- March 2026: not recommended
- April 2026: not recommended
- May 2026: not recommended
- June 2026: recommended
- July 2026: recommended
- August 2026: recommended
- September 2026: not recommended
- October 2026: not recommended
- November 2026: not recommended (month in progress)
Why it doesn’t carry the badge
- 8 people recommend itNeeds 10 or more, not met.
- 1.3 recommenders for every criticNeeds 2 to 1 or better, not met.
- Recommended in 6 of 13 monthsNeeds 4 or more, met.
The same three rules apply to every product, and the badge can’t be bought. How the badge works
What people say about it
The reasons people give, with the number of comments that give each one. Open a reason to read what they said.
Why people recommend it
Each mark is one comment
Open-source core with paid options
“It's robust, stable, Apache2 licensed. It's the best CIAM tech out there that's free”
Comment from 7 Jul 2026 in “Better Auth is joining Vercel” “it has an OSS version, enterprise version for self hosters, and a SaaS!”
Comment from 6 Jan 2026 in “Ask HN: How Are You Handling Auth in 2026?” Robust and stable in production
“It's robust, stable, Apache2 licensed. It's the best CIAM tech out there that's free”
Comment from 7 Jul 2026 in “Better Auth is joining Vercel” “Ory stack has been working very well for us.”
Comment from 28 Aug 2026 in “I used AWS cognito for a startup. I wouldn't do it again” Good config, deployment and scale
“Ory has a really good config and deployment story”
Comment from 28 Aug 2026 in “I used AWS cognito for a startup. I wouldn't do it again” “Ory is much better at running high scale”
Comment from 25 Jun 2026 in “Cloudflare launched self-managed OAuth for all”
What people warn about
Each mark is one comment
Security fixes gated behind enterprise license
“you are contributing to a weaker security ecosystem that disproportionately impacts non-Enterprise organizations”
Comment from 16 Nov 2025 in “Kratos - Cloud native Auth0 open-source alternative (self-hosted)” “should "security SLAs for CVEs" be listed as a premium feature?”
Comment from 25 Jun 2026 in “Cloudflare launched self-managed OAuth for all” Felt immature for company use
“it was not mature enough and didn't offer a full IdP stack at the time”
Comment from 28 Aug 2026 in “I used AWS cognito for a startup. I wouldn't do it again” “I tried to use Ory for my company and cannot recommend it”
Comment from 13 Nov 2025 in “Kratos - Cloud native Auth0 open-source alternative (self-hosted)”
Other identity providers people recommend
The four most recommended other identity providers, with the same counts for each, so you can compare like for like. The tick on each bar marks the 2 to 1 line the badge needs.
See all 12 identity providers, rankedWhat people said
15 of the 18 comments that mention it, newest first. Each links to the original comment.
“it's IMO easier to understand than keycloak”
“Ory stack has been working very well for us.”
“Ory has a really good config and deployment story”
“it was not mature enough and didn't offer a full IdP stack at the time”
“It's robust, stable, Apache2 licensed. It's the best CIAM tech out there that's free”
“should "security SLAs for CVEs" be listed as a premium feature?”
“Ory is much better at running high scale”
“I love Ory and I'm always amazed by your new releases!”
“perhaps have setup instructions to use something like Keycloak or the Ory system”
“it has an OSS version, enterprise version for self hosters, and a SaaS!”
“you are contributing to a weaker security ecosystem that disproportionately impacts non-Enterprise organizations”
“Sounds like one of those rug pull licenses when the VCs coming look for their returns”
“My take is that Dual Licensing is the better approach here.”
“because Go is more compatible with the stack I'm working with”
“I tried to use Ory for my company and cannot recommend it”
Counts come from 1,795,640 Hacker News comments, November 2025 to November 2026. How we count. Report a mistake.