ZITADEL

What it is for

ZITADEL is an open-source identity desk: you create users, attach an IdP, and run custom workflows, and you can start Cloud Free at $0 (100 daily active users) or self-host. Use it when the job is login you start at $0, not when you need a $20 chat seat.

What makes it unique: the cover is the official ZITADEL Create a new user form (email, username, invite vs password) from the Users docs — not a pricing card. The form itself is ops of Users.

Key features

• Users — human and service / agent identities you create or invite (Users; pricing). One person. The cover form is ops. Unlimited stored users on Free; the cap is daily active.
• Organizations — tenants you isolate under one instance (pricing Unlimited Organizations). A tenant, not a user. Unlimited on Free.
• Identity providers — social / enterprise IdPs you attach (pricing identity providers). A federation, not a local password. Free and Pro include 3.
• Actions — custom workflows on login and user events (ZITADEL Actions; pricing Custom workflows). A hook, not an IdP. Free includes them.
• Self-host — the open-source app you run; Cloud is Free / Pro / Enterprise (pricing Self Hosted / Cloud). A deploy, not a user. Enterprise can be Cloud or your infra.

Daily active users are the Cloud meter. Free is 100 DAU. Pro starts at 25,000 DAU / month included for $100. Data residency (EU / US / Switzerland / Australia) is on Free.

Who it's for

Best fit: app teams who will stay on Cloud Free $0 (100 DAU, 3 IdPs, unlimited orgs, no card) while they invite a first user, then buy Pro at $100/month when they need 25k DAU, a custom domain, and the 99.5% uptime card.

Pricing

Verified 2026-10-22 (Asia/Shanghai) from zitadel.com/pricing. Cloud is daily active users. Self-host of the public app is $0.

• Free — US$0 / month. All security features. 100 daily active users. Unlimited stored users. Unlimited organizations. 3 identity providers. Custom workflows. Data residency: EU, US, Switzerland, Australia.
• Pro — US$100 / month. Everything in Free. 25,000 daily active users / month included. 3 IdPs. Custom domain. 99.5% uptime (the card also prints a 99.95% / 1h SLO line — confirm at checkout).
• Enterprise — custom. Cloud or own infrastructure. Unlimited DAU. Custom SLA, TAM, volume discounts, commercial license, questionnaires, 99.99% uptime.

Confirm checkout; taxes follow your location.

Limitations / costs

• Free is 100 daily active users. A launch week can burn it; Pro is $100 / month.
• An identity desk, not a secrets vault. For .env keys see Infisical. For customer API keys see Unkey.

Alternatives

• Logto — a CIAM login box with a $0 / $24 Cloud ladder when you want a hosted sign-in experience first.
• Infisical — secrets and PAM when the “identity” is a credential you inject, not a login.
• Unkey — API keys and rate limits when you are not running an IdP.

Official tutorial

Official ZITADEL channel video: ZITADEL Local Setup in 42 Seconds (Docker Compose) (oEmbed author: ZITADEL). First-party local start; the Users form still is the cover.

Written path: zitadel.com/pricing plus the official Create-user form in the docs.

Website

https://zitadel.com

Repository

https://github.com/zitadel/zitadel

Source

Catalog row curated for AI Tools Nav. Cover is the official ZITADEL Create-user form from the docs. Dollars checked on zitadel.com/pricing (Free $0 / 100 DAU; Pro $100 / 25k DAU; Enterprise custom; self-host $0). Tutorial oEmbed author: ZITADEL.

Last verified

2026-10-22 (Asia/Shanghai) editorial check.