How do I self-host Keycloak?

Keycloak can be deployed using Docker Compose. The AltStack provides a production-ready configuration that you can deploy on your own server. Simply copy the configuration and run it on any machine with Docker installed.

Is Keycloak free to self-host?

Yes, Keycloak is open source under the Apache-2.0 and free to self-host. Your only costs are the server infrastructure. A basic cloud VPS starts at around $5-10/month.

What programming language is Keycloak built with?

Keycloak is built with Java. It has 37,335 stars on GitHub, indicating strong community adoption and support.

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Deploy Keycloak

Open source identity and access management for modern applications and services.

Quick Start

Create a directory

mkdir keycloak-self-hosted && cd keycloak-self-hosted

Create config file

Copy the content from the Config tab below into a file named docker-compose.yml

Deploy

docker compose up -d

Fast Track

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Metadata

License

Apache-2.0

Language

Java

Last Updated

10/14/2026

Configuration

yaml

services:
  keycloak:
    image: quay.io/keycloak/keycloak:latest
    container_name: keycloak
    restart: unless-stopped
    depends_on:
      db:
        condition: service_healthy
    ports:
      - "8080:8080"
    environment:
      - KEYCLOAK_ADMIN=admin
      - KEYCLOAK_ADMIN_PASSWORD=admin
      - KC_DB=postgres
      - KC_DB_URL=jdbc:postgresql://db:5432/keycloak
      - KC_DB_USERNAME=keycloak
      - KC_DB_PASSWORD=keycloak
    command: start-dev

  db:
    image: postgres:14-alpine
    container_name: keycloak-db
    restart: unless-stopped
    environment:
      - POSTGRES_USER=keycloak
      - POSTGRES_PASSWORD=keycloak
      - POSTGRES_DB=keycloak
    volumes:
      - keycloak_db_data:/var/lib/postgresql/data
    healthcheck:
      test: ["CMD-SHELL", "pg_isready -U keycloak"]
      interval: 10s
      timeout: 5s
      retries: 5

volumes:
  keycloak_db_data:

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