# Keycloak: how AI models rank it, September 2026

IT AI Recommendation Index, September 2026 Edition. Named in 29 judge labels across 4 categories by 9 of 12 models. Page: https://it-ai-index.com/vendors/keycloak/

## Standing by category

| Category | Share | Rank | Negative rate | Labels |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Identity governance | 2% | 19 | 0% | 2 |
| Customer identity and access management | 0% | 22 | 33% | 15 |
| Multi-factor authentication | 0% | 23 | 29% | 7 |
| Workforce identity and SSO | 0% | 36 | 60% | 5 |

## What the models said for it

- "Keycloak is often the best choice if you have internal IT resources, as it's completely free and feature-rich" (Claude Haiku 4.5, IGA)
- "consider open-source platforms like Keycloak or Authentik" (DeepSeek V4 Flash, Workforce identity)
- "Keycloak: Enterprise-grade (SSO, federation), self-host free. Hidden costs... Great if you have engineers; skip if not." (Grok 4.1 Fast, CIAM)
- "a lightweight open-source tool (Keycloak, Authentik, Authelia) ... will keep costs under $50/month" (GLM 4.7 FlashX, IGA)

## And against it

- "Avoid self-hosting Keycloak unless you have a dedicated, experienced DevOps and Security team" (Gemini 3.5 Flash, CIAM)
- "Avoid self-hosted open-source (e.g., Keycloak) unless you have IT resources" (Grok 4.1 Fast, Workforce identity)
- "Avoid ... open-source like Keycloak/FusionAuth (high ops overhead)" (Grok 4.1 Fast, CIAM)
- "Self-hosted options like Keycloak or FreeRADIUS can be deployed at minimal cost, though they require IT resources for setup and maintenance." (Claude Haiku 4.5, MFA)

## Record

- Method: https://it-ai-index.com/methodology/
- Raw judge labels and full responses: https://it-ai-index.com/data/
- License: CC BY 4.0. Cite as IT AI Recommendation Index, September 2026 Edition, it-ai-index.com.