Softwr

Government · head to head

mySidewalk vs Ory Kratos

mySidewalk logo

mySidewalk

Government

Community data dashboards for local government and public health, prewired to federal datasets

From
On request
Free plan
No
Full reviewWebsite
Ory Kratos logo

Ory Kratos

Cybersecurity

Headless identity and user management API

From
Free
Free plan
Yes
Full reviewWebsite

The short version

  • Only Ory Kratos has a free tier, so it costs nothing to try first.
  • Each has a real cost: mySidewalk it produces analysis and presentation rather than operational change, so the value has to be re argued at every renewal against services with more visible outputs.; Ory Kratos headless means you build every screen, which is significant work compared with a hosted login page
  • They diverge on capability: mySidewalk covers Prewired federal datasets, Ory Kratos covers Headless API.
  • Prices and features above were last checked on 31 August 2026.

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which mySidewalk and Ory Kratos actually diverge.

Attributes where mySidewalk and Ory Kratos differ
AttributemySidewalkOry Kratos
Starting priceOn requestFree
Pricing modelquoteOpen-source self-hosted, with a paid managed network
Free tierNoYes
PlatformsWebLinux, Docker, Kubernetes, Self-hosted
CategoryGovernmentCybersecurity

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 mySidewalk

  • Prewired federal datasets
  • Margin of error handling
  • Custom geographies
  • Published dashboards
  • Local data integration
  • Report generation

Only in Ory Kratos

  • Headless API
  • Self-service flows
  • Multi-factor authentication
  • Pluggable identity schemas

What people use each for

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

mySidewalk

  • A public health department producing a community health needs assessment on deadlinenot Ory Kratos
  • A city applying for federal funding that requires demographic and disparity evidence for a service areanot Ory Kratos
  • An agency that lost its only analyst who understood American Community Survey margins of errornot Ory Kratos
  • A council wanting published neighbourhood indicator dashboards residents can browsenot Ory Kratos

Ory Kratos

  • Products needing complete control over the look and flow of authenticationnot mySidewalk
  • Applications that must not hand user identity data to a third partynot mySidewalk
  • Teams building identity as infrastructure across several servicesnot mySidewalk

Where each one falls short

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

mySidewalk

  • It produces analysis and presentation rather than operational change, so the value has to be re argued at every renewal against services with more visible outputs.
  • Budget frequently comes from a grant, which means the subscription is exposed when the grant cycle ends rather than being protected as core infrastructure.
  • The prewired datasets are American, so the platform has effectively no value outside United States federal statistical sources.
  • Analytical depth is bounded by what the platform exposes, so an agency with a genuine analyst will hit the ceiling and move to a statistical environment.
  • Small area estimates remain small area estimates, and presenting them as polished dashboards can lend unwarranted confidence to figures whose error bars overlap.

Ory Kratos

  • Headless means you build every screen, which is significant work compared with a hosted login page
  • More moving parts than a monolithic IAM: Kratos handles identity, and OAuth2 needs Ory Hydra alongside
  • Documentation assumes real familiarity with identity concepts and is not a gentle introduction
  • Self-hosting identity carries the security and availability burden that hosted providers absorb

Pricing, plan by plan

mySidewalk

On request
  • mySidewalk$undefined/year
    • Quoted annually by agency scope and dataset needs
    • Custom geography and local data integration work priced separately
    • No public price list, though agency contracts are public records

Ory Kratos

Free
  • Self-hostedFree
    • Full identity server
    • All flows
    • Community support

Which should you pick?

Choose mySidewalk if

  • You need prewired federal datasets.
  • You also want margin of error handling.
mySidewalk review

Choose Ory Kratos if

  • You need headless api.
  • You want to start without paying.
  • You work on Linux, Docker, Kubernetes, Self-hosted.
  • You also want self-service flows.
Ory Kratos review

Questions people ask

Is mySidewalk or Ory Kratos better?
Neither clearly leads. mySidewalk starts at On request and Ory Kratos at Free, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, mySidewalk or Ory Kratos?
Ory Kratos has a free tier; the other does not. Paid plans start at On request for mySidewalk and Free for Ory Kratos.
Does mySidewalk or Ory Kratos run on more platforms?
mySidewalk runs on Web. Ory Kratos runs on Linux, Docker, Kubernetes, Self-hosted.
Can I use Ory Kratos for free?
Yes. Ory Kratos has a free tier, so you can try it without paying. mySidewalk starts at On request.
What is mySidewalk best used for?
mySidewalk is most often used for a public health department producing a community health needs assessment on deadline, a city applying for federal funding that requires demographic and disparity evidence for a service area, an agency that lost its only analyst who understood american community survey margins of error, a council wanting published neighbourhood indicator dashboards residents can browse. Of those, a public health department producing a community health needs assessment on deadline and a city applying for federal funding that requires demographic and disparity evidence for a service area are not what Ory Kratos is typically brought in for.
What can mySidewalk do that Ory Kratos cannot?
mySidewalk covers Prewired federal datasets, Margin of error handling, Custom geographies, Published dashboards. Ory Kratos covers Headless API, Self-service flows, Multi-factor authentication, Pluggable identity schemas.

Answered from the vendors’ own pages

mySidewalk: What problem does it actually solve?

Correct use of American Community Survey and federal health data for small geographies, which is difficult and is usually held by one person in an agency.

Ory Kratos: Is Ory Kratos free?

Yes, open source and free to self-host. Ory Network is a paid managed service.

mySidewalk: Is it useful outside the United States?

No. Its value is the maintained pipeline into US federal statistical datasets.

Ory Kratos: What does headless mean here?

Kratos provides identity flows as APIs and no user interface. You build the login, registration and recovery screens yourself.

mySidewalk: Who buys it?

Mostly public health departments and city planning or performance teams, often funded from a grant that requires the evidence it produces.

Ory Kratos: Does Kratos do OAuth2?

No. Kratos handles user identity; OAuth2 and OpenID Connect provider functionality is Ory Hydra, a separate component.

mySidewalk: Can we see comparable contract values?

Yes. Agency contracts are public records and appear in council and health board agenda materials.

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