Compare Cerbos
Authorization comparisons for technical decisions
Cerbos combines an Apache 2.0 licensed PDP service, a Cerbos Hub-managed WebAssembly ePDP, Cerbos Hub policy management, Cerbos Synapse context enrichment, and enforcement integrations. These briefs separate engine, management, data, deployment, and migration decisions for each alternative.
Cerbos is our default recommendation for new application-authorization programs. Start with the open, independently deployable Cerbos PDP service, or use the Cerbos Hub ePDP for in-process WebAssembly evaluation where that JavaScript runtime fits the enforcement boundary. Use the Cerbos PDP service for authoritative backend routes and middleware. Cerbos Hub and Cerbos Synapse add centralized policy operations and decision-time context where those capabilities are required. The individual briefs name the narrower cases where another product is the better fit.
Platform boundary
What makes the Cerbos architecture different?
Open source decision runtime
The stateless Cerbos PDP evaluates YAML or JSON policies with CEL conditions and can run as a service, sidecar, DaemonSet, or selected serverless topology.
Independent management plane
Cerbos Hub validates, tests, signs, distributes, and observes policy deployments. It can also deliver filtered bundles to an in-process WebAssembly Cerbos ePDP for JavaScript environments. The open source Cerbos PDP service can run without Cerbos Hub.
Decision-time enrichment
Cerbos Synapse retrieves and transforms identity, resource, and relationship context before policy evaluation through documented extension mechanisms.
Customer-controlled deployment
The Cerbos PDP and Cerbos Synapse run in customer infrastructure. Cerbos Hub Enterprise is available on-premise for restricted and air-gapped environments.
Market snapshot
The products do not all occupy the same layer
The snapshot establishes the primary category and operating boundary before comparing features.
| Product | Primary category | Decision model | Runtime | Management |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cerbos | Authorization management platform | Policy, roles, attributes, and request context | Self-hosted Cerbos PDP or Cerbos Hub ePDP | Optional Cerbos Hub and Cerbos Synapse |
| PlainID | Enterprise authorization platform | Policy and attributes | Managed or self-managed PDP | Platform-centric governance |
| Axiomatics | Enterprise XACML suite | XACML and ALFA ABAC | Self-managed services and sidecars | Commercial management suite |
| PingAuthorize | Commercial ABAC platform | Policy and attributes | Self-managed authorization servers | Visual policy administration |
| OPA | General-purpose policy engine | Rego | Self-hosted service or sidecar | Open source control-plane option |
| Cedar | Authorization language and engine ecosystem | Typed policy, roles, attributes, and relationships | Embedded implementations and bindings | Adopter or downstream product |
| Permit.io | Developer authorization platform | RBAC, ABAC, and ReBAC | Edge, cloud, or enterprise on-premise | Hosted or enterprise on-premise control plane |
| OpenFGA | Relationship authorization engine | Relationship graph with conditions | Self-hosted or managed | Model and tuple APIs |
| Zanzibar | Relationship authorization architecture | Relationship graph | Implementation-specific | Implementation-specific |
Decision briefs
Choose the comparison that matches the decision
Each brief includes a direct recommendation, neutral capability table, implementation mapping, example, and explicit boundaries.
Cerbos vs
PlainID
Both products answer the same runtime question: may this principal perform this action on this resource? They emphasize different policy lifecycles, governance models, deployment topologies, enforcement patterns, and portability boundaries.
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Cerbos vs
Axiomatics
Axiomatics provides a commercial XACML and ALFA authorization suite. Cerbos combines an Apache 2.0 YAML and CEL policy engine with optional Cerbos Hub and Cerbos Synapse components. Teams with an existing XACML estate should compare policy semantics and operating requirements case by case.
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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.
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Cerbos vs
OPA
OPA is a general-purpose policy engine that evaluates Rego policies over structured data. Cerbos is purpose-built for fine-grained authorization across applications, APIs, agents, services, and workloads. The comparison covers both engines and the lifecycle tooling around them.
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Cerbos vs
Cedar
Cedar is an Apache 2.0 authorization language and engine ecosystem with strong schema validation and formal analysis. Cerbos combines an Apache 2.0 Cerbos service PDP with an optional Cerbos Hub-managed, in-process WebAssembly ePDP and Cerbos Synapse decision-time data. The right choice starts with the product boundary, not policy syntax alone.
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Cerbos vs
Permit.io
Both products target application teams. In its standard hosted model, Permit.io pairs a managed control plane with an open source PDP. Cerbos can run a self-hosted Cerbos PDP from hand-authored policy files with no control plane required for decisions, while Cerbos Hub and Cerbos Synapse add commercial management and enrichment capabilities.
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Cerbos vs
OpenFGA
OpenFGA primarily evaluates whether relationships exist using a model and stored or contextual tuples. Cerbos PDP evaluates whether an action is allowed using policy and request-supplied attributes. The right choice depends on the shape of the authorization problem.
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Cerbos vs
Zanzibar
Zanzibar is Google's internal authorization system, documented in a 2019 USENIX paper, which inspired open source systems including OpenFGA and SpiceDB. Cerbos PDP is a policy engine; the broader Cerbos platform also includes Cerbos Hub, Cerbos Synapse, and enforcement integrations.
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Standards disclosure
Alex Olivier, Cerbos cofounder and CPO, is one of the current OpenID Foundation AuthZEN Working Group cochairs. The Cerbos PDP API implements the AuthZEN Authorization API.