Identity & Access Management · head to head
Ory vs Stoplight
Ory
Identity & Access Management
Open-source identity, authentication, and permissions infrastructure
- From
- Free
- Rated
- -
Stoplight
API Management
API design, documentation, and governance platform
- From
- Free
- Rated
- -
The short version
- Each has a real cost: Ory production and Growth plans are billed annually ($770/year and $9,350/year), which is a larger upfront commitment than monthly-only competitors.; Stoplight the free plan allows one project and one user
- They diverge on capability: Ory covers Authentication APIs, Stoplight covers API Design.
Where they differ
Only the attributes on which Ory and Stoplight actually diverge.
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 Ory
- Authentication APIs
- Permissions engine
- Machine-to-machine tokens
- B2B organizations
- SAML SSO
- Multi-region deployments
Only in Stoplight
- API Design
- API Documentation
- Governance
- GitHub
- GitLab
- Jenkins
- Azure DevOps
- Web support
What people use each for
The jobs each tool is most often brought in to do.
Ory
- Adding self-hosted or cloud identity to a new productnot Stoplight
- Implementing fine-grained permission checksnot Stoplight
- Supporting B2B organizations and multi-tenancynot Stoplight
- Building machine-to-machine authentication for microservicesnot Stoplight
Stoplight
- Designing and documenting OpenAPI specifications visuallynot Ory
- Serving interactive API docs and instant mock servers from a specnot Ory
Where each one falls short
Documented limitations, not opinions. Every one is a constraint you would hit in normal use.
Ory
- Production and Growth plans are billed annually ($770/year and $9,350/year), which is a larger upfront commitment than monthly-only competitors.
- SAML SSO and multi-region deployments are reserved for the custom-priced Enterprise tier.
- Usage-based pricing across aDAU, M2M tokens, and permission checks makes cost estimation more complex than flat per-MAU billing.
Stoplight
- The free plan allows one project and one user
- Private projects, multi branch support and custom domains start at the Startup plan, $113 a month billed annually
- SSO and shared style guides are Pro Team only, at $362 a month billed annually
- Seats beyond each plan's allowance are $11 to $27 each per month depending on tier and billing period
Pricing, plan by plan
Ory
Free- DeveloperFree
- Community support
- No production environments
- Production$64/month
- $21 monthly credit included
- 1 production environment
- 3 staging environments
- Growth$779/month
- $255 monthly credit included
- 2 production environments
- B2B organizations (max 3)
Stoplight
Free- FreeFree
- API design
- Documentation
- Community support
- Pro$75/monthly
- Governance
- Advanced testing
- Team collaboration
- Enterprise$undefined/monthly
- Custom deployment
- SLA
- Priority support
Which should you pick?
Choose Ory if
- You need authentication apis.
- You want to start without paying.
- You work on web, api.
- You also want permissions engine.
Choose Stoplight if
- You need api design.
- You want to start without paying.
- You work on Web, Cloud.
- You also want api documentation.
Questions people ask
- Is Ory or Stoplight better?
- Neither clearly leads. Ory starts at Free and Stoplight at Free, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
- Which is cheaper, Ory or Stoplight?
- Ory starts at Free and Stoplight at Free.
- Does Ory or Stoplight run on more platforms?
- Ory runs on web, api. Stoplight runs on Web, Cloud.
- Can I use Ory for free?
- Both have a free tier, so you can try either at no cost before committing.
- What is Ory best used for?
- Ory is most often used for adding self-hosted or cloud identity to a new product, implementing fine-grained permission checks, supporting b2b organizations and multi-tenancy, building machine-to-machine authentication for microservices. Of those, adding self-hosted or cloud identity to a new product and implementing fine-grained permission checks are not what Stoplight is typically brought in for.
- What can Ory do that Stoplight cannot?
- Ory covers Authentication APIs, Permissions engine, Machine-to-machine tokens, B2B organizations. Stoplight covers API Design, API Documentation, Governance, GitHub.
Answered from the vendors’ own pages
Ory: What does Ory cost?
Ory has a free Developer tier, a Production plan at $770/year including a $21 monthly credit, a Growth plan at $9,350/year including a $255 monthly credit, and custom Enterprise pricing.
SourceOry: How is usage metered?
Beyond the included credit, Ory charges per average daily active user (aDAU), per machine-to-machine token, and per permission check, with lower per-unit rates on the Growth plan.
SourceOry: What payment methods are supported?
Ory accepts credit cards (Visa, MasterCard, Amex) and bank transfer, processed via Stripe.
SourceRelated pages
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