# SpiceDB

5 Hacker News commenters recommended SpiceDB and 2 criticized it, November 2025 to November 2026. It was recommended in 7 of 13 months.

**Verdict:** Open-source Zanzibar-style authorization server for centralized, graph-based permission queries across resources and subjects. Critics object to its opt-out telemetry.

## Why people recommend it

- Centralized permission queries across resources (2 comments): "One of the major benefits of a centralized authorization system is allowing for permissions queries across resources and subjects" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46377728)) "I build a project (SpiceDB) that advocates for a more centralized approach" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48564855))
- Open-source implementation of Zanzibar (2 comments): "Check out Zanzibar / SpiceDB / ReBAC and "Macaroon Auth" for what modern permission systems can be" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47043167)) "the most scalable OSS implementation of Zanzibar" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48822249))
- Graph-based model for modern authorization (2 comments): "Check out Zanzibar / SpiceDB / ReBAC and "Macaroon Auth" for what modern permission systems can be" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47043167)) "Modern authorization systems are often graph-based." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49443678))
- Useful reference for permission design (2 comments): "take a look at the history of SpiceDB [2] for how we developed the system over time" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46047114)) "which have quite a bit of logic around these exact problems" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46040837))

## What people warn about

- Telemetry is opt-out, not opt-in (2 comments): "Make telemetry strictly opt-in then, that's really the only respectful way to do it." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49671082)) "Opt-out telemetry is not compatible with respect." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49672135))

## Alternatives hackers recommend

- [Cedar policy language](https://hackerapproved.com/p/cedar.md): 7 recommend
- [OpenFGA](https://hackerapproved.com/p/openfga.md): 6 recommend
- [Rego (Open Policy Agent)](https://hackerapproved.com/p/rego.md): 5 recommend

## Cite as

Hacker Approved, "SpiceDB", https://hackerapproved.com/p/spicedb/ (counts from 1,795,640 Hacker News comments, November 2025 to November 2026).