Kanidm

Open-source identity management server in Rust with passkeys, OIDC, RADIUS and Linux login.

Open sourceSelf-hostableAuthentication providers

Verified facts: 4 of 4
Alternatives ranked: 4
Approved reviews: 0
Visits sent from here: 0

About Kanidm

Kanidm is a self-hosted identity management platform written in Rust that aims to be a simpler, secure replacement for tools like FreeIPA or a hand-rolled LDAP plus SSO setup. It stores users and groups itself and offers WebAuthn passkeys, an OAuth2 and OIDC provider for web single sign-on, an application portal, Linux and Unix login integration with offline authentication, SSH public key distribution, RADIUS for Wi-Fi and VPN authentication and a read-only LDAPS gateway for older systems. Administration is mostly through a capable command-line tool, with a web UI for users. It is MPL-2.0 licensed and entirely free, maintained by volunteers. Kanidm suits homelabs, small organisations and technical teams who want one source of identity for both servers and web apps. It deliberately does not support SAML, and the CLI-first administration and smaller community make it less suited to non-technical admins.

Best for: Technical teams that want one identity source for Linux servers, Wi-Fi and web SSO.

What works

Covers Linux login, SSH keys, RADIUS and OIDC together
Passkeys supported as a first-class method
Memory-safe Rust codebase, free and open source

Why people leave

Administration is mainly through the CLI
No SAML support
Volunteer-run with no commercial support

Top Kanidm alternatives

See all 4

1
authentik
Full web admin UI plus SAML and an application proxy.
66.5
2
Keycloak
Industry-standard SSO server with SAML and LDAP federation.
62.6
3
Pocket ID
Simpler passkey-only OIDC provider when you only need web SSO.
59.6
4
JumpCloud
Managed cloud directory with device management if you want a commercial service.
57.2

Why people left Kanidm

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Kanidm: common questions

Is Kanidm free?

Yes. Kanidm is free, open-source software that you can host yourself.

Is Kanidm open source?

Yes. The source code is on GitHub at kanidm/kanidm. You can also run it on your own server.

What platforms does Kanidm run on?

Kanidm is available for Self-hosted and Linux.

What are the best alternatives to Kanidm?

The highest-ranked Kanidm alternatives right now are authentik, Keycloak and Pocket ID. See the full ranked list for pricing, platforms and verified facts.

See all 4 Kanidm alternatives

Kanidm facts

4 of 4 verified

License: MPL-2.0; Checked Oct 25, 2026github.com(opens source in a new tab); “License: MPL-2.0 (Mozilla Public License 2.0).”
Language: Rust; Checked Oct 25, 2026kanidm.com(opens source in a new tab); “identity management platform written in rust.”
Network auth: RADIUS for Wi-Fi and VPN; Checked Oct 25, 2026kanidm.com(opens source in a new tab); “RADIUS for network and VPN authentication”
Linux integration: Login with offline auth and SSH keys; Checked Oct 25, 2026kanidm.com(opens source in a new tab); “Linux/UNIX integration with offline authentication SSH key distribution”