Is Keycloak or MySQL better?

Neither clearly leads. Keycloak starts at Free and MySQL at Free, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.

Which is cheaper, Keycloak or MySQL?

Keycloak starts at Free and MySQL at Free.

Does Keycloak or MySQL run on more platforms?

Keycloak runs on Self-hosted, Docker, Kubernetes, Linux, Windows, API. MySQL runs on Windows, Macos, Linux, Unix.

Can I use Keycloak for free?

Both have a free tier, so you can try either at no cost before committing.

What is Keycloak best used for?

Keycloak is most often used for organisations requiring self-hosted identity infrastructure for compliance or data residency, companies with existing ldap/active directory systems needing federated authentication, open-source projects and communities requiring free iam without licensing costs, enterprises building custom identity workflows requiring fine-grained authorisation. Of those, organisations requiring self-hosted identity infrastructure for compliance or data residency and companies with existing ldap/active directory systems needing federated authentication are not what MySQL is typically brought in for.

What can Keycloak do that MySQL cannot?

MySQL covers ACID compliance, SQL support, Multi-version concurrency control, Replication.

Developer Tools · head to head

Keycloak vs MySQL

Keycloak

Developer Tools

Open-source identity and access management server.

From: Free
Rated: -

Full review Website

MySQL

Web Development

The world's most popular open source database

From: Free
Rated: -

Full review Website

The short version

Each has a real cost: Keycloak requires self-hosted deployment and operational expertise to install, configure and maintain; MySQL hot online backup is not in the free Community Server; MySQL Enterprise Backup is a paid Enterprise Edition component

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which Keycloak and MySQL actually diverge.

Attributes where Keycloak and MySQL differ
Attribute	Keycloak	MySQL
Pricing model	open-source	freemium
Platforms	Self-hosted, Docker, Kubernetes, Linux, Windows, API	Windows, Macos, Linux, Unix
Category	Developer Tools	Web Development
Founded	Unknown	1995

Identical on both: starting price (Free), free tier (Yes), 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 Keycloak

Nothing recorded that MySQL does not also cover.

Only in MySQL

ACID compliance
SQL support
Multi-version concurrency control
Replication
Partitioning
Stored procedures
Triggers
Views

What people use each for

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

Keycloak

Organisations requiring self-hosted identity infrastructure for compliance or data residencynot MySQL
Companies with existing LDAP/Active Directory systems needing federated authenticationnot MySQL
Open-source projects and communities requiring free IAM without licensing costsnot MySQL
Enterprises building custom identity workflows requiring fine-grained authorisationnot MySQL
Teams with sufficient operational expertise to manage infrastructurenot MySQL

MySQL

Web application backendnot Keycloak
E-commerce platformsnot Keycloak
Content management systemsnot Keycloak
Data warehousingnot Keycloak
Business applicationsnot Keycloak

Where each one falls short

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

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

MySQL

Hot online backup is not in the free Community Server; MySQL Enterprise Backup is a paid Enterprise Edition component
Transparent Data Encryption, data masking and de-identification are Enterprise Edition only
MySQL Enterprise Firewall, which guards against SQL injection, and MySQL Enterprise Audit are both paid components
External authentication against PAM or Windows Active Directory requires MySQL Enterprise Authentication
The thread pool ships as MySQL Enterprise Scalability rather than in the community build

Pricing, plan by plan

Keycloak

Free

Open-sourceFree
- Full platform functionality
- Self-hosted deployment
- Community support

MySQL

Free

Community EditionFree
- Open source license
- Full SQL support
- InnoDB storage engine
Standard Edition$2000/year
- Commercial license
- Oracle Premier Support
- MySQL Enterprise backup
Enterprise Edition$5000/year
- Advanced security
- MySQL Enterprise Monitor
- High Availability

Which should you pick?

Choose Keycloak if

You want to start without paying.
You work on Self-hosted, Docker, Kubernetes, Linux, Windows, API.

Keycloak review

Choose MySQL if

You need acid compliance.
You want to start without paying.
You work on Windows, Macos, Linux, Unix.
You also want sql support.

MySQL review

Questions people ask

Is Keycloak or MySQL better?: Neither clearly leads. Keycloak starts at Free and MySQL at Free, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, Keycloak or MySQL?: Keycloak starts at Free and MySQL at Free.
Does Keycloak or MySQL run on more platforms?: Keycloak runs on Self-hosted, Docker, Kubernetes, Linux, Windows, API. MySQL runs on Windows, Macos, Linux, Unix.
Can I use Keycloak for free?: Both have a free tier, so you can try either at no cost before committing.
What is Keycloak best used for?: Keycloak is most often used for organisations requiring self-hosted identity infrastructure for compliance or data residency, companies with existing ldap/active directory systems needing federated authentication, open-source projects and communities requiring free iam without licensing costs, enterprises building custom identity workflows requiring fine-grained authorisation. Of those, organisations requiring self-hosted identity infrastructure for compliance or data residency and companies with existing ldap/active directory systems needing federated authentication are not what MySQL is typically brought in for.
What can Keycloak do that MySQL cannot?: MySQL covers ACID compliance, SQL support, Multi-version concurrency control, Replication.

Answered from the vendors’ own pages

Keycloak: What protocols does Keycloak support?

Keycloak supports OpenID Connect, OAuth 2.0 and SAML 2.0 protocols for authentication and authorisation.

Source

MySQL: Does MySQL cost money?

MySQL is primarily open-source and free to use. Commercial editions and support services are available but pricing is not published on the main website.

Source

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.

Source

MySQL: How do I get MySQL pricing information?

For MySQL commercial editions and support pricing, customers can contact MySQL sales directly at +1-866-221-0634 or navigate to individual product pages.

Source

Keycloak: Is Keycloak free?

Yes. Keycloak is fully open-source and free to deploy and use. No licensing fees are required.

Source

Keycloak vs MySQL

Keycloak

MySQL

The short version

Where they differ

What each one covers

Only in Keycloak

Only in MySQL

What people use each for

Keycloak

MySQL

Where each one falls short

Keycloak

MySQL

Pricing, plan by plan

Keycloak

MySQL

Which should you pick?

Choose Keycloak if

Choose MySQL if

Questions people ask

Answered from the vendors’ own pages

Related pages

More on Keycloak

More on MySQL

Keep looking

Other head to heads