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Government · head to head

CKAN vs One Identity

CKAN logo

CKAN

Government

Open Source Data Portal Platform

From
Free
Free plan
Yes
Full reviewWebsite
One Identity logo

One Identity

Cybersecurity

Quest-owned identity governance, PAM and Active Directory management

From
On request
Free plan
No
Full reviewWebsite

The short version

  • Only CKAN has a free tier, so it costs nothing to try first.
  • Each has a real cost: CKAN the package install path requires Ubuntu 20.04 or 22.04 64-bit specifically; other operating systems must use the source install; One Identity the portfolio is assembled from separate acquisitions, so components are separately licensed, separately administered and do not present one console, which raises operational cost.
  • They diverge on capability: CKAN covers Dataset Management, One Identity covers Identity Manager.
  • Prices and features above were last checked on 1 September 2026.

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which CKAN and One Identity actually diverge.

Attributes where CKAN and One Identity differ
AttributeCKANOne Identity
Starting priceFreeOn request
Pricing modelfreequote
Free tierYesNo
PlatformsWebWeb, Windows, Linux
CategoryGovernmentCybersecurity
Founded2006Unknown

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 CKAN

  • Dataset Management
  • Data Harvesting
  • API Access
  • Visualization
  • Extensions
  • DataPusher
  • Harvester
  • Third-party Tools

Only in One Identity

  • Identity Manager
  • Safeguard
  • Active Roles
  • OneLogin
  • Password Manager
  • syslog-ng
  • Starling connectors

What people use each for

The jobs each tool is most often brought in to do.

CKAN

  • Publishing open government datasets in a searchable public data portalnot One Identity
  • Self-hosting a data catalogue with harvesting and an APInot One Identity

One Identity

  • An organisation whose authoritative directory will remain on premises Active Directory and needs delegated administration with attribute-level controlnot CKAN
  • A government or defence environment requiring privileged session management on a hardened physical appliance rather than a cloud servicenot CKAN
  • A manufacturer with SAP and Active Directory needing provisioning governed under one certification processnot CKAN
  • An enterprise consolidating Active Directory after an acquisition and needing automated account lifecycle across both forestsnot CKAN

Where each one falls short

Documented limitations, not opinions. Every one is a constraint you would hit in normal use.

CKAN

  • The package install path requires Ubuntu 20.04 or 22.04 64-bit specifically; other operating systems must use the source install
  • Only Solr 9 and Solr 8 are supported, and from CKAN 2.10 they are the only Solr versions supported at all
  • A working deployment requires PostgreSQL, Solr, Redis, nginx, supervisor and uWSGI to be installed and maintained separately
  • Python 3.10 or later is required

One Identity

  • The portfolio is assembled from separate acquisitions, so components are separately licensed, separately administered and do not present one console, which raises operational cost.
  • Identity Manager implementations are customisation-heavy and commonly run over a year, with the services spend exceeding the licence cost in the first year.
  • Quest has changed private equity ownership more than once since the Dell separation, and buyers should ask directly about product investment commitments before signing a multi-year deal.
  • Product documentation and support sit behind a customer portal, which makes independent evaluation before purchase harder than with vendors that publish openly.
  • The cloud-native and developer experience trails the pure-play identity vendors, so organisations moving decisively to SaaS applications find the on premises heritage becomes a constraint rather than an asset.

Pricing, plan by plan

CKAN

Free
  • Open SourceFree
    • Data Management
    • API Access
    • Visualization

One Identity

On request
  • Identity Manager$undefined/year
    • Priced per managed identity
    • On premises or hosted
    • Access certification and provisioning
  • Safeguard$undefined/year
    • Priced per privileged user or per appliance
    • Hardened appliance option for session management
    • Licensed separately from Identity Manager
  • Active Roles$undefined/year
    • Priced per managed Active Directory account
    • Delegated administration and automated provisioning
    • Licensed separately

Which should you pick?

Choose CKAN if

  • You need dataset management.
  • You want to start without paying.
  • You also want data harvesting.
CKAN review

Choose One Identity if

  • You need identity manager.
  • You work on Web, Windows, Linux.
  • You also want safeguard.
One Identity review

Questions people ask

Is CKAN or One Identity better?
Neither clearly leads. CKAN starts at Free and One Identity at On request, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, CKAN or One Identity?
CKAN has a free tier; the other does not. Paid plans start at Free for CKAN and On request for One Identity.
Does CKAN or One Identity run on more platforms?
CKAN runs on Web. One Identity runs on Web, Windows, Linux.
Can I use CKAN for free?
Yes. CKAN has a free tier, so you can try it without paying. One Identity starts at On request.
What is CKAN best used for?
CKAN is most often used for publishing open government datasets in a searchable public data portal, self-hosting a data catalogue with harvesting and an api. Of those, publishing open government datasets in a searchable public data portal and self-hosting a data catalogue with harvesting and an api are not what One Identity is typically brought in for.
What can CKAN do that One Identity cannot?
CKAN covers Dataset Management, Data Harvesting, API Access, Visualization. One Identity covers Identity Manager, Safeguard, Active Roles, OneLogin.

Answered from the vendors’ own pages

CKAN: Is CKAN open-source and what license is it available under?

Yes, CKAN is an open-source data management system built on Python and available on GitHub. The license terms are available on their GitHub repository.

Source
One Identity: Is One Identity the same company as Quest?

Yes. One Identity is Quest Software's identity and access management business unit, not a separate vendor.

CKAN: Does CKAN offer commercial support for organizations?

Yes, CKAN offers commercial support through certified providers including Link Digital and Datopian. Support includes advisory services, application development, integration, managed hosting, and web development.

Source
One Identity: Does it include privileged access?

Safeguard provides it, but it is licensed separately from Identity Manager. Neither includes the other.

CKAN: Who is responsible for hosting costs when running CKAN?

Organizations deploying CKAN are responsible for their own hosting infrastructure. Commercial providers like Datopian and Link Digital offer managed hosting services if organizations prefer not to self-host.

Source
One Identity: Why choose this over SailPoint or Saviynt?

Almost always because of Active Directory depth via Active Roles or an appliance requirement for privileged sessions. For cloud-first estates the specialists are the stronger choice.

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