Cybersecurity · head to head
BigID vs Keycloak
BigID
Cybersecurity
Data discovery and classification across cloud, on-premise and unstructured stores
- From
- On request
- Free plan
- No
Keycloak
Developer Tools
Open-source identity and access management server.
- From
- Free
- Free plan
- Yes
The short version
- Only Keycloak has a free tier, so it costs nothing to try first.
- Each has a real cost: BigID pricing scales with data sources and volume, so the cost rises exactly as the estate you need to scan grows, and the modules shown in a demo, including AI security posture and headless deployment, are frequently separate licences that appear only in the final quote.; Keycloak requires self-hosted deployment and operational expertise to install, configure and maintain
- Prices and features above were last checked on 31 August 2026.
Where they differ
Only the attributes on which BigID and Keycloak actually diverge.
Identical on both: user rating (Not yet rated).
What each one covers
Drawn from each product's published feature list. An absence here means we hold no record of it - not that the product lacks it.
Only in BigID
- Structured and unstructured scanning
- Identity correlation
- Data security posture management
- Access intelligence
- Privacy request support
- Retention and minimisation
- AI data controls
- Policy and remediation workflow
Only in Keycloak
Nothing recorded that BigID does not also cover.
What people use each for
The jobs each tool is most often brought in to do.
BigID
- A bank that has to prove which of thirty year old file shares contain customer identifiers before a data centre migrationnot Keycloak
- A privacy team that cannot fulfil deletion requests because nobody knows which unstructured stores hold a given customer’s recordsnot Keycloak
- A security team wanting to find sensitive data sitting in publicly readable object storage buckets before an attacker doesnot Keycloak
- A company building retrieval augmented AI that must exclude regulated personal data from the index it feeds to a modelnot Keycloak
Keycloak
- Organisations requiring self-hosted identity infrastructure for compliance or data residencynot BigID
- Companies with existing LDAP/Active Directory systems needing federated authenticationnot BigID
- Open-source projects and communities requiring free IAM without licensing costsnot BigID
- Enterprises building custom identity workflows requiring fine-grained authorisationnot BigID
- Teams with sufficient operational expertise to manage infrastructurenot BigID
Where each one falls short
Documented limitations, not opinions. Every one is a constraint you would hit in normal use.
BigID
- Pricing scales with data sources and volume, so the cost rises exactly as the estate you need to scan grows, and the modules shown in a demo, including AI security posture and headless deployment, are frequently separate licences that appear only in the final quote.
- Scanning large unstructured estates is slow and computationally expensive, so most organisations sample rather than scan everything, which reintroduces uncertainty into the very question they bought the tool to settle.
- Classification accuracy on messy unstructured content requires tuning, and out of the box false positives on things like reference numbers create a large triage backlog that a small governance team cannot clear.
- It discovers and reports but does not remediate, so realising value requires a separate process and often separate tooling to actually delete, restrict or move the data it flags.
- It is built for large enterprises and both the price and the administrative overhead are disproportionate below a few thousand employees, where a lighter DSPM tool covers the security use case for far less.
Keycloak
- Requires self-hosted deployment and operational expertise to install, configure and maintain
- No managed cloud option provided by Red Hat; organisations must operate infrastructure themselves or use third-party distributions
- Clustering and high-availability configurations require additional operational knowledge
- Community support only; commercial support requires third-party vendors or distributions
Pricing, plan by plan
BigID
On request- BigID Platform$undefined/year
- Priced by number of data sources and data volume
- Discovery and classification core
- Optional DSPM, access intelligence and AI security modules licensed separately
Keycloak
Free- Open-sourceFree
- Full platform functionality
- Self-hosted deployment
- Community support
Which should you pick?
Choose BigID if
- You need structured and unstructured scanning.
- You work on Web, API, Self-hosted.
- You also want identity correlation.
Choose Keycloak if
- You want to start without paying.
- You work on Self-hosted, Docker, Kubernetes, Linux, Windows, API.
Questions people ask
- Is BigID or Keycloak better?
- Neither clearly leads. BigID starts at On request and Keycloak at Free, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
- Which is cheaper, BigID or Keycloak?
- Keycloak has a free tier; the other does not. Paid plans start at On request for BigID and Free for Keycloak.
- Does BigID or Keycloak run on more platforms?
- BigID runs on Web, API, Self-hosted. Keycloak runs on Self-hosted, Docker, Kubernetes, Linux, Windows, API.
- Can I use Keycloak for free?
- Yes. Keycloak has a free tier, so you can try it without paying. BigID starts at On request.
- What is BigID best used for?
- BigID is most often used for a bank that has to prove which of thirty year old file shares contain customer identifiers before a data centre migration, a privacy team that cannot fulfil deletion requests because nobody knows which unstructured stores hold a given customer’s records, a security team wanting to find sensitive data sitting in publicly readable object storage buckets before an attacker does, a company building retrieval augmented ai that must exclude regulated personal data from the index it feeds to a model. Of those, a bank that has to prove which of thirty year old file shares contain customer identifiers before a data centre migration and a privacy team that cannot fulfil deletion requests because nobody knows which unstructured stores hold a given customer’s records are not what Keycloak is typically brought in for.
- What can BigID do that Keycloak cannot?
- BigID covers Structured and unstructured scanning, Identity correlation, Data security posture management, Access intelligence.
Answered from the vendors’ own pages
BigID: What does BigID cost?
It is quoted by data source count and volume. Reported contracts run from roughly 15,000 to 175,000 US dollars a year, and add-on modules such as AI security posture are licensed on top.
Keycloak: What protocols does Keycloak support?
Keycloak supports OpenID Connect, OAuth 2.0 and SAML 2.0 protocols for authentication and authorisation.
SourceBigID: Does it handle unstructured data?
Yes, and that is its main advantage. It classifies data in files and shares and correlates findings back to individuals, not just to data types.
Keycloak: Can Keycloak integrate with existing user directories?
Yes. Keycloak supports user federation with LDAP and Active Directory systems, allowing organisations to leverage existing user directories.
SourceBigID: Will it delete the data it finds?
Not by itself in most deployments. It identifies and routes findings; deletion and remediation happen through your own processes or connected systems.
Keycloak: Is Keycloak free?
Yes. Keycloak is fully open-source and free to deploy and use. No licensing fees are required.
SourceBigID: Is it a privacy tool or a security tool?
Both are sold from the same discovery core. Buyers increasingly come from security wanting data security posture management rather than from legal wanting privacy.
Related pages
Other head to heads
- BigID vs Securiti
- BigID vs Transcend
- BigID vs TrustArc
- BigID vs OneTrust
- BigID vs DataGrail
- BigID vs Varonis Data Security Platform
- BigID vs Enpass
- BigID vs Osano
- BigID vs Brave Browser
- BigID vs Private Internet Access
- BigID vs CyberGhost VPN
- BigID vs Netwrix
- BigID vs Drata
- BigID vs DTiQ
- BigID vs ESET NOD32 Antivirus
- BigID vs Falco
- BigID vs Fenergo
- BigID vs ExpressVPN
- BigID vs Penpot
- BigID vs Soketi
- BigID vs Ansible
- BigID vs Atlantis
- BigID vs Vite
- BigID vs Depot
- BigID vs Pants Build
- BigID vs Buildkite
- BigID vs Coder
- BigID vs Jitsu
- BigID vs Bitbucket
- BigID vs Sweep
- BigID vs Azure DevOps
- BigID vs Backstage
- BigID vs Claude Code
- BigID vs Cloud Native Buildpacks
- BigID vs Cody
- Keycloak vs Securiti
- Keycloak vs Transcend
- Keycloak vs TrustArc
- Keycloak vs OneTrust
- Keycloak vs DataGrail
- Keycloak vs Varonis Data Security Platform
- Keycloak vs Enpass
- Keycloak vs Osano
- Keycloak vs Brave Browser
- Keycloak vs Private Internet Access
- Keycloak vs CyberGhost VPN
- Keycloak vs Netwrix
- Keycloak vs Drata
- Keycloak vs DTiQ
- Keycloak vs ESET NOD32 Antivirus
- Keycloak vs Falco
- Keycloak vs Fenergo
- Keycloak vs ExpressVPN
- Keycloak vs Penpot
- Keycloak vs Soketi
- Keycloak vs Ansible
- Keycloak vs Atlantis
- Keycloak vs Vite
- Keycloak vs Depot
- Keycloak vs Pants Build
- Keycloak vs Buildkite
- Keycloak vs Coder
- Keycloak vs Jitsu
- Keycloak vs Bitbucket
- Keycloak vs Sweep
- Keycloak vs Azure DevOps
- Keycloak vs Backstage
- Keycloak vs Claude Code
- Keycloak vs Cloud Native Buildpacks
- Keycloak vs Cody