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Firebase Authentication VS Keycloak

Compare Firebase Authentication VS Keycloak and see what are their differences

Firebase Authentication logo Firebase Authentication

Application and Data, Application Utilities, and User Management and Authentication

Keycloak logo Keycloak

Open Source Identity and Access Management for modern Applications and Services.
  • Firebase Authentication Landing page
    Landing page //
    2023-08-19
  • Keycloak Landing page
    Landing page //
    2022-03-20

Firebase Authentication features and specs

  • Ease of Use
    Firebase Authentication provides a seamless and user-friendly way to integrate authentication into your application with minimal coding.
  • Multiple Providers
    Supports various authentication methods including email/password, phone, Google, Facebook, Twitter, GitHub, and more.
  • Security
    Firebase Authentication employs industry-standard practices and measures to secure user data, including automatic protection against common vulnerabilities.
  • Cross-Platform Support
    Compatible with both mobile and web platforms, making it versatile for different types of applications.
  • Scalability
    Built on Google's infrastructure, ensuring robust performance and ability to scale as your user base grows.
  • Integration with Firebase Services
    Easily integrates with other Firebase services like Firestore, Realtime Database, and Firebase Analytics for a more comprehensive development experience.
  • Customizable UI
    Provides templates and options to customize the authentication UI to match your application's look and feel.
  • Cost-Effective
    Offers a free tier that is suitable for many small to medium-sized applications, with paid options available for larger-scale needs.

Possible disadvantages of Firebase Authentication

  • Vendor Lock-In
    Depending on Firebase Authentication means your project is tightly connected with Google's ecosystem, making it harder to switch to another provider.
  • Limited Customization
    While offering various authentication methods, deep customization options can be somewhat limited compared to building your own authentication system.
  • Region Support
    Some Firebase services, including Authentication, may not be available in all geographical regions, which can impact global applications.
  • Feature Limitations
    Advanced features that are sometimes necessary for enterprise applications may not be available in Firebase Authentication.
  • Regulatory Compliance
    Handling specific regulatory requirements (e.g., GDPR, HIPAA) may require additional customizations and considerations.
  • Dependency on Internet Connectivity
    As a cloud-based service, it requires a stable internet connection for both development and end-user interaction, which can be a limitation in areas with poor connectivity.
  • Pricing Complexity
    While the free tier is generous, costs can escalate quickly with a growing user base, and understanding the pricing model can be complex.
  • Learning Curve
    Although generally user-friendly, there is still a learning curve involved, particularly for developers new to Firebase or cloud services.

Keycloak features and specs

  • Open-Source
    Keycloak is an open-source identity and access management solution, which means it is free to use and has a community-driven support system. This can lead to lower costs and more flexibility compared to proprietary solutions.
  • Feature-Rich
    Keycloak offers a comprehensive set of features including single sign-on (SSO), multi-factor authentication (MFA), user federation, identity brokering, and social login. This makes it suitable for a wide range of use cases.
  • Customizability
    With Keycloak, you can customize the authentication and authorization processes through its extensible architecture, allowing for the addition of custom features and integrations.
  • Integration Capability
    Keycloak supports integration with various protocols such as OAuth 2.0, OpenID Connect, and SAML, making it versatile for integrating with different platforms and services.
  • Active Community
    Keycloak has an active and growing community of developers and users who contribute to its improvement and provide support, resources, and shared knowledge.

Possible disadvantages of Keycloak

  • Complexity
    Keycloak can be complex to set up and configure, especially for users who are not familiar with identity and access management concepts. This may require additional time and expertise.
  • Resource-Intensive
    Running Keycloak can be resource-intensive, requiring more CPU and memory compared to simpler authentication solutions. This may necessitate higher infrastructure costs.
  • Learning Curve
    The learning curve for Keycloak can be steep for new users due to its wide range of features and configuration options. Ample time might be required to fully understand and utilize its capabilities.
  • Documentation Quality
    While Keycloak has extensive documentation, some users find it to be insufficiently detailed or difficult to navigate, which can impede the setup and troubleshooting process.
  • Maintenance
    Operating a Keycloak instance involves ongoing maintenance tasks such as updates, security patches, and backups, which can be time-consuming and require dedicated resources.

Firebase Authentication videos

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Keycloak videos

What is Keycloak and what are the main features | DevNation Live

More videos:

  • Review - Keycloak Overview
  • Review - Easily Secure Your Front and Back End app with Keycloak

Category Popularity

0-100% (relative to Firebase Authentication and Keycloak)
Identity Provider
24 24%
76% 76
Identity And Access Management
SSO
13 13%
87% 87
Development
100 100%
0% 0

User comments

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Reviews

These are some of the external sources and on-site user reviews we've used to compare Firebase Authentication and Keycloak

Firebase Authentication Reviews

Textverified Alternatives – Nonvoipusapp.com & 6 more
Firebase Authentication, a part of Google’s Firebase platform, provides a comprehensive suite of authentication services, including phone number verification. It allows developers to add seamless authentication and verification processes to their applications, enhancing both security and user experience. Firebase’s integration with other Google services can be advantageous...

Keycloak Reviews

12 User Authentication Platforms [Auth0, Firebase Alternatives]
You can integrate Keycloak with your applications to have a single-sign-in and single-sign-out experience. Moreover, one can activate social logins without any modification in code. Additionally, it allows user authentication via existing OpenID Connect or SAML 2.0
Source: geekflare.com
10+ Open-source Single-Sign On (SSO) Solutions
Keycloak is a free, open-source identity and access management system with highly configurable Single-Sign-On (SSO) support.
Source: medevel.com
10 Best Auth0 Alternatives and Similar Platforms
Keycloak may be quite beneficial because it provides a built-in method for syncing with databases, such as LDAP or Active Directory, when your users already are registered on. If you use Social Login for social platforms such as Facebook, Keycloak might be a great tool for your organization.
Top 5 Open Source Single Sign-On Software In the Year 2021
KeyCloak is another free software that is based on OpenID Connect, OAuth2.0, and SAML2.0. It provides SSO capabilities across web applications and web services. Above all, this open source software provides integrations with LDAP and Active Directory. There is a logical user interface where users can manage roles, permissions, and sessions. Moreover, this free solution...
IAM: A comparison of open-source tools
/ Digitalberry news / IAM: A comparison of open-source toolsIAM: A comparison of open-source toolsWhy use an Identity Provider (IdP)?Comparative study of Identity Providers (IdP)1. Our team’s first choice: Keycloak2. In second place of our comparative study: Gluu3. Special mention: FusionAuthDiscover our expertiseContact our experts

Social recommendations and mentions

Based on our record, Firebase Authentication seems to be a lot more popular than Keycloak. While we know about 50 links to Firebase Authentication, we've tracked only 4 mentions of Keycloak. We are tracking product recommendations and mentions on various public social media platforms and blogs. They can help you identify which product is more popular and what people think of it.

Firebase Authentication mentions (50)

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Keycloak mentions (4)

  • Beyond the login page
    Most of the time nowadays, I prefer offloading this to an identity provider, using OpenID Connect or soon Federated Credential Management (FedCM), even if that means shipping an identity provider as part of the deliverables (I generally go with Keycloak, with keycloak-config-cli to provision its configuration). I'm obviously biased though as I work in IT services, developping software mainly for... - Source: dev.to / over 1 year ago
  • Okta Says Hackers Stole Data for All Customer Support Users
    Yet another breach of Okta... Why are companies not running something like keycloak [1] themselves? Are administrative/maintenance costs too high or is it plausible deniability? [1] https://keycloak.org. - Source: Hacker News / over 1 year ago
  • I built a ready-to-use auth server with TypeScript and Express.js
    I'd stick with a solution like https://keycloak.org in that instance. Source: about 2 years ago
  • Authelia is an open-source authentication/authorization server with 2FA/SSO
    A few more projects in this space: - Keycloak (you won't get fired for picking this)[0] - CloudFoundry's UAA[1] - Gluu [2] - Keratin [3] - OpenUnison [4] - Dex[5] - Netlify's GoTrue[6] All of these solutions are a bit different but here are some of the axes: - Whether or not they function as an OAuth provider - Whether they're centered around application-user-login (email + password) or application auth (OAuth) or... - Source: Hacker News / about 4 years ago

What are some alternatives?

When comparing Firebase Authentication and Keycloak, you can also consider the following products

Auth0 - Auth0 is a program for people to get authentication and authorization services for their own business use.

Spring Security - The Spring portfolio has many projects, including Spring Framework, Spring IO Platform, Spring Cloud, Spring Boot, Spring Data, Spring Security...

Okta - Enterprise-grade identity management for all your apps, users & devices

JSON Web Token - JSON Web Tokens are an open, industry standard RFC 7519 method for representing claims securely between two parties.

OneLogin - On-demand SSO, directory integration, user provisioning and more

OAuth2 - Application and Data, Application Utilities, and User Management and Authentication