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Cybersecurity · head to head

Ory Kratos vs Semperis

Ory Kratos logo

Ory Kratos

Cybersecurity

Headless identity and user management API

From
Free
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite
Semperis logo

Semperis

Cybersecurity

Identity threat detection and Active Directory forest recovery for AD, Entra ID and Okta, from a privately held US vendor.

From
On request
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite

The short version

  • Only Ory Kratos has a free tier, so it costs nothing to try first.
  • Each has a real cost: Ory Kratos headless means you build every screen, which is significant work compared with a hosted login page; Semperis scope is limited to Active Directory, Entra ID and Okta, so an organisation whose critical identity lives elsewhere gets little from it, and the recovery value declines in direct proportion to how much has already moved off on-premises AD.
  • They diverge on capability: Ory Kratos covers Headless API, Semperis covers Active Directory Forest Recovery.
  • Prices and features above were last checked on 30 August 2026.

Where they differ

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

Attributes where Ory Kratos and Semperis differ
AttributeOry KratosSemperis
Starting priceFreeOn request
Pricing modelOpen-source self-hosted, with a paid managed networkquote
Free tierYesNo
PlatformsLinux, Docker, Kubernetes, Self-hostedWeb

Identical on both: user rating (Not yet rated), category (Cybersecurity).

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 Ory Kratos

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

Only in Semperis

  • Active Directory Forest Recovery
  • Malware-free restore
  • Replication-stream monitoring
  • Automated rollback
  • Attack indicator scoring
  • Entra ID and Okta coverage
  • Purple Knight
  • Forest Druid

What people use each for

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

Ory Kratos

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

Semperis

  • An organisation that cannot answer an auditor or insurer asking how long it would take to rebuild Active Directory after a destructive attacknot Ory Kratos
  • Post-incident recovery where domain controllers are compromised and restoring from system-state backup would reintroduce the attacker's footholdnot Ory Kratos
  • Continuous detection of privileged group changes and directory-level tampering that domain controller security logs missnot Ory Kratos
  • Hybrid estates where AD, Entra ID and Okta all matter and no single tool currently shows changes across the threenot Ory Kratos

Where each one falls short

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

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

Semperis

  • Scope is limited to Active Directory, Entra ID and Okta, so an organisation whose critical identity lives elsewhere gets little from it, and the recovery value declines in direct proportion to how much has already moved off on-premises AD.
  • The licence buys tooling, not a proven runbook: forest recovery is only worth what your last rehearsal demonstrated, and a plan that has never been executed end to end in a lab is an untested assumption regardless of what was purchased.
  • It overlaps with backup and directory management products from Quest, Veeam, Commvault and others, so the buyer must argue internally why a dedicated product is needed alongside a backup contract that already claims to protect Active Directory.
  • Running Directory Services Protector well requires someone who understands AD internals, replication metadata and Tier 0 attack paths, and without that person the alerts on privileged changes are either ignored or auto-reverted in ways that break legitimate administration.
  • Licensing is driven by identity object counts, so directories carrying years of stale user accounts and service principals pay for objects that should have been deleted, and the cleanup project that would reduce the bill is the one nobody has time for.

Pricing, plan by plan

Ory Kratos

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

Semperis

On request

No published plan breakdown. See the Semperis review.

Which should you pick?

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

Choose Semperis if

  • You need active directory forest recovery.
  • You also want malware-free restore.
Semperis review

Questions people ask

Is Ory Kratos or Semperis better?
Neither clearly leads. Ory Kratos starts at Free and Semperis at On request, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, Ory Kratos or Semperis?
Ory Kratos has a free tier; the other does not. Paid plans start at Free for Ory Kratos and On request for Semperis.
Does Ory Kratos or Semperis run on more platforms?
Ory Kratos runs on Linux, Docker, Kubernetes, Self-hosted. Semperis runs on Web.
Can I use Ory Kratos for free?
Yes. Ory Kratos has a free tier, so you can try it without paying. Semperis starts at On request.
What is Ory Kratos best used for?
Ory Kratos is most often used for products needing complete control over the look and flow of authentication, applications that must not hand user identity data to a third party, teams building identity as infrastructure across several services. Of those, products needing complete control over the look and flow of authentication and applications that must not hand user identity data to a third party are not what Semperis is typically brought in for.
What can Ory Kratos do that Semperis cannot?
Ory Kratos covers Headless API, Self-service flows, Multi-factor authentication, Pluggable identity schemas. Semperis covers Active Directory Forest Recovery, Malware-free restore, Replication-stream monitoring, Automated rollback.

Answered from the vendors’ own pages

Ory Kratos: Is Ory Kratos free?

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

Semperis: Does this replace my backups?

No. It replaces the Active Directory recovery procedure specifically. You still need backups for everything else, and the point of Semperis is that a generic system-state backup of a domain controller is a poor way to recover a forest because it restores the operating system along with whatever compromised it.

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.

Semperis: Is it useful if we are cloud-only on Entra ID?

Partly. Directory Services Protector covers Entra ID and Okta for change tracking and posture, but the forest recovery product, which is the strongest reason to buy, applies to on-premises Active Directory. A genuinely cloud-only organisation should weigh it against Microsoft's own tooling.

Ory Kratos: Does Kratos do OAuth2?

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

Semperis: Are Purple Knight and Forest Druid really free?

Yes, both are free downloads with no licence requirement, and they are widely used by organisations that are not Semperis customers. They are also, transparently, the top of the sales funnel.

Semperis: How long does forest recovery actually take?

The honest answer is whatever your rehearsal took. The vendor's case is hours instead of days, and automation genuinely removes most manual steps, but the number that matters for your board is the one from a test in your own environment.

Semperis: Does it require agents on domain controllers?

It collects directory changes from the AD replication stream, which is what lets it see changes that bypass the security log. Deployment details vary by product and version, so confirm the exact architecture against your domain controller change-control rules.

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