Technical decision brief
Cerbos vs PingAuthorize
PingAuthorize is a commercial, self-managed ABAC platform with visual authoring and several runtime integration patterns. Cerbos combines an Apache 2.0 stateless Cerbos PDP with optional Cerbos Hub and Cerbos Synapse components for lifecycle management, distribution, audit aggregation, enrichment, and protocol integrations.
Prepared by the Cerbos team. Facts last checked on . How we researched this
The decision
Choose Cerbos when
- Services need local authorization decisions through sidecar or DaemonSet PDPs, with shared-service deployment retained where appropriate.
- The authorization layer must remain independent of the identity provider and accept identity context from Ping or another IdP.
- Teams want Git or source-agnostic policy workflows around an Apache 2.0 PDP with published platform tiers.
Choose PingAuthorize when
- Ping-native identity and gateway integration removes material implementation work.
- Its visual authoring, packaged gateway topology, and ordered attribute resolvers are firm requirements.
Already on PingAuthorize? Switching probably is not worth it when
- Ping-native identity and gateway integrations carry the implementation, and replacing them would add more custom work than the switch saves.
- Policy authors rely on the Visual Policy Editor and ordered attribute resolvers, and nobody has mapped those to code-first policy and Cerbos Synapse.
At a glance
Selected product dimensions
The table describes documented mechanisms. It does not assign winner scores.
| Requirement | Cerbos | PingAuthorize |
|---|---|---|
| Distributed enforcement with a sidecar PDP | Supports shared-service, sidecar, DaemonSet, and selected serverless deployments. In sidecar or DaemonSet topologies, the service PDP evaluates locally without a per-decision Cerbos Hub round trip. | Each self-managed Server embeds a PDP. PingAuthorize documents reverse-proxy, sideband, SCIM, and PDP API architectures, with stateless instances scaled behind a load balancer. |
| Evidence for Distributed enforcement with a sidecar PDP | ||
| Works with any identity provider | Consumes identity context from any provider, including Ping-issued JWTs or mapped principal data. Cerbos Synapse can query identity provider APIs through configured or custom extensions. | Supports PingFederate, JWT, third-party SDK-based, and external-gateway identity validators. Confirm which proposed features require other Ping products. |
| Evidence for Works with any identity provider | PingAuthorize evidencePingAuthorize access token validator types (opens in a new tab) | |
| SDK language coverage | Provides REST and gRPC APIs with official clients for Go, Java, JavaScript, Python, Ruby, Rust, .NET, and PHP, plus Laravel. | Provides JSON PDP APIs, a subset XACML-JSON PDP API, gateway, sideband, and SCIM integrations, Policy Editor APIs, and a Java Server SDK for extensions. Verify licence requirements and application client coverage. |
| Evidence for SDK language coverage | Cerbos evidenceCerbos APIs and SDKs (opens in a new tab) | |
| Multi team policy management | Cerbos Hub supports Git and source-agnostic policy stores, then compiles, tests, signs, and distributes policy bundles. Repository pull-request review is one supported workflow. | Uses a Policy Editor for technical and business users, with branches, commits, snapshots, deployment packages, approvals, workflows, and revert capabilities. |
| Evidence for Multi team policy management | ||
| Decision time data and connectors | The stateless Cerbos PDP evaluates request-supplied context. Licensed Cerbos Synapse supports SQL, external APIs, IdPs, graph stores, custom sources, and in-memory or Redis caching. | Retrieves and combines request, constant, service, attribute, system, and configuration-key sources with ordered and conditional processing. This is a documented PingAuthorize strength. |
| Evidence for Decision time data and connectors | PingAuthorize evidencePingAuthorize attribute resolvers (opens in a new tab) | |
| Decision logging and audit | When enabled, emits structured decision logs to file, Kafka, local storage, or Cerbos Hub. Cerbos Hub adds managed collection and search. | Provides a policy-decision log and Decision Visualizer for recent or pasted responses. Verify retention, forwarding, and licensed operational requirements. |
| Evidence for Decision logging and audit | PingAuthorize evidencePingAuthorize Decision Visualizer (opens in a new tab) | |
| AuthZEN compatibility | The Cerbos PDP partially implements AuthZEN Authorization API 1.0. Alex Olivier is one of the current AuthZEN Working Group cochairs. | Documents XACML 3.0 JSON Profile, SCIM 2.0, and OAuth-based integrations. No first-party PingAuthorize AuthZEN support was found as of 15 October 2026. The AuthZEN interop results list PingAuthorize through a third-party ID Partners adapter; confirm the support model with Ping. |
| Evidence for AuthZEN compatibility | ||
| Open source and pricing transparency | The Cerbos PDP is Apache 2.0. Cerbos publishes pricing for the combined Cerbos Hub and Cerbos Synapse platform, including a $0 proof of concept tier. | Requires a commercial licence key, and some features are licence-tier dependent. No public PingAuthorize unit price was found; Ping routes prospects through sales. |
| Evidence for Open source and pricing transparency |
Deep dive 1
The request path determines the comparison
Compare the exact enforcement and decision topology, not generic claims about centralized or distributed authorization.
PingAuthorize documents gateway, sideband, SCIM, application, and service PDP API patterns. A gateway deployment concentrates enforcement at the gateway, while application and service integrations can place checks deeper in the request path.
Cerbos PDPs can run as a shared service, sidecar, or DaemonSet. Sidecar evaluation shares a workload failure boundary and can avoid a remote service hop. A shared service reduces instance count but adds a network dependency to each check. For supported JavaScript environments, Cerbos Hub's commercial ePDP downloads Cerbos Hub-managed bundles and evaluates them in-process through WebAssembly, without a per-decision service call.
Cerbos Hub distributes signed policy bundles and aggregates audit data; it is not called for each decision. Cerbos Hub Enterprise can run on-premise in restricted and air-gapped environments. Cerbos Synapse joins the request path only where enrichment or protocol transformation is required and runs in customer-controlled infrastructure.
Deep dive 2
Identity integration does not require identity lock-in
Ping identity can remain authoritative while Cerbos evaluates application authorization.
Applications or gateways authenticate the principal and pass verified identity claims and application context into the authorization request. The Cerbos PDP can verify configured JWTs, but authoritative authentication remains an identity or application concern.
This permits a split in which Ping handles authentication and identity lifecycle while Cerbos handles application and service authorization. It also permits multiple identity providers to feed the same authorization model.
PingAuthorize remains a reasonable choice when its native Ping integrations, Policy Editor, attribute resolvers, and gateway deployment reduce more work than a vendor-neutral authorization layer would.
Deep dive 3
Attribute retrieval changes latency and failure behavior
Resolver breadth matters, but so do cache policy, timeouts, and the location of each lookup.
PingAuthorize documents ordered and conditional attribute resolvers. This can centralize decision-time retrieval inside the authorization system.
The Cerbos PDP is stateless and evaluates supplied context. Licensed Cerbos Synapse retrieves, transforms, and caches context from configured or custom sources before a Cerbos PDP decision.
For either product, test fresh and stale cache entries, partial source failure, timeout behavior, and the handling of absent attributes. A connector list does not establish production behavior.
Implementation
Map topology before translating policy
Start with the current request path. Identify where identity is verified, where authorization is enforced, where attributes are retrieved, and which component remains available during each failure.
| PingAuthorize concept | Cerbos | Migration or coexistence note |
|---|---|---|
| Policy Editor and deployment package | Policy repository or Cerbos Hub policy store and signed bundle | Map review, approval, promotion, rollback, and emergency-change controls. |
| Gateway or sideband enforcement | Gateway integration, application call, sidecar, or shared Cerbos PDP | Select the topology per workload instead of forcing one network path across the estate. |
| Application or service PDP API | CheckResources over gRPC, REST, or an SDK | Normalize principal, resource, action, and contextual attributes at the enforcement boundary. |
| Attribute resolver | Caller-supplied context or Cerbos Synapse data source | Preserve ordering, cache, timeout, and missing-attribute semantics where they affect decisions. |
A local decision path behind Ping identity
- 1
Authenticate
The gateway or application validates the Ping-issued token and derives the application principal.
- 2
Assemble context
The application supplies resource attributes directly or calls customer-controlled Cerbos Synapse where external enrichment is required.
- 3
Evaluate locally
The service calls its sidecar or node-local Cerbos PDP with principal, resource, action, and context.
- 4
Enforce
The service applies the allow or deny result and any structured policy output at the operation boundary.
- 5
Operate
Cerbos Hub distributes signed policies and aggregates configured audit records without joining the per-decision request path.
A shared-service Cerbos PDP is also valid. Benchmark both topologies with the required check volume and dependency failures.
Direct boundaries
Where Cerbos requires a different integration
Cerbos can coexist with Ping identity, but it does not reproduce every PingAuthorize integration or authoring surface.
PingAuthorize capability
Ping-native platform integration
Cerbos approach
Cerbos consumes verified identity context through standard application, gateway, API, and SDK boundaries.
Buyer guidance
If a native Ping integration removes material custom work, include that work explicitly in the Cerbos proof of concept.
PingAuthorize capability
Visual Policy Editor
Cerbos approach
Cerbos policies use YAML or JSON with CEL conditions and repository or Cerbos Hub lifecycle workflows.
Buyer guidance
Test the intended policy authors and approval process rather than assuming a code-first workflow will fit.
PingAuthorize capability
Ordered built-in attribute resolvers
Cerbos approach
The Cerbos PDP evaluates supplied attributes. Cerbos Synapse provides commercial enrichment and transformation from customer-controlled infrastructure.
Buyer guidance
Map each resolver to the caller or Cerbos Synapse and verify ordering, caching, timeout, and licence requirements.
Deployment
Deployment control spans the Cerbos platform
The components can be adopted independently and placed according to runtime, governance, and network requirements.
Cerbos PDP
The Apache 2.0 decision engine runs as a shared service, sidecar, DaemonSet, or selected serverless topology.
Explore Cerbos PDPCerbos Hub
Commercial Cerbos Hub is hosted by default and is available to enterprise customers on-premise for restricted and air-gapped environments. The Cerbos ePDP evaluates Cerbos Hub-managed policy bundles in-process through WebAssembly in JavaScript environments.
Explore Cerbos HubCerbos Synapse
The commercial enrichment and integration layer runs in customer-controlled infrastructure in front of an embedded or external PDP.
Explore Cerbos SynapseCerbos capabilities
Follow the implementation details
These pages document the Cerbos mechanisms referenced throughout this comparison.
Research basis and disclosure
Prepared by the Cerbos team. Facts last checked on .
Each claim was checked against the vendor's or project's own public documentation, pricing pages, and release notes, plus neutral standards and foundation sources. Claims are documented rather than tested firsthand unless the text says otherwise. Where a claim says nothing was found as of a date, it describes an absence of public evidence on that date.
Each row in the comparison table links the Cerbos and PingAuthorize documentation it relies on. When either product changes, the affected rows are re-checked before this date moves.
Details change, so verify current capabilities with both vendors before you decide.
Alex Olivier, Cerbos cofounder and CPO, is one of the current OpenID Foundation AuthZEN Working Group cochairs. The Cerbos PDP API reference states that it partially implements the AuthZEN Authorization API.
Test the decision
Keep Ping identity and use Cerbos for application authorization
Cerbos is the stronger overall choice when the authorization layer must stay identity provider neutral, evaluate close to services, and use an open PDP with testable policy workflows. Prove that topology with one request that passes through Ping authentication, needs an external attribute, and triggers multiple downstream checks. Compare shared-service and local PDP variants, using Cerbos Synapse only for required enrichment. Select PingAuthorize instead only if its native gateway or resolver integration removes enough verified work to justify coupling authorization to that platform.