Cerbos vs SpiceDB: Which is Better in 2026?
Choosing between Cerbos and SpiceDB? Both are popular authorization & permissions tools. Below we compare them on pricing, free tiers, features, and pros & cons so you can pick the right fit for your stack.
Quick verdict
Both Cerbos and SpiceDB are strong authorization & permissions choices. The right pick comes down to your specific feature needs, existing stack, and team preferences.
Cerbos vs SpiceDB — Side by Side
| Cerbos | SpiceDB | |
|---|---|---|
| Category | Authorization & Permissions | Authorization & Permissions |
| Pricing | Free · paid from $25/mo | Free · then usage-based |
| Starting price | Free tier available | Free tier available |
| Free tier | ||
| Rating | 4.5 | 4.5 |
| Best for | Authorization & Permissions — rbac, abac | Authorization & Permissions — rebac, zanzibar |
Pros & Cons
- Free, stateless PDP that is easy to deploy
- Policies as code with built-in testing
- Published, usage-based Hub pricing
- You pass in all attributes on each check
- Relationship graphs are less natural than in Zanzibar engines
- Hub Production is a big step up from Development
- Most complete open-source Zanzibar implementation
- Strong consistency guarantees on revocation
- Several production-grade datastores
- Overkill for simple role checks
- Steeper learning curve than RBAC tools
- Managed pricing needs a sales conversation beyond Cloud
Key Features Compared
Cerbos
- 100 monthly active principals included
- 5 developers, 10 PDPs
- 3 months of audit logs
- 3-month free trial
SpiceDB
- Self-hosted
- Postgres, CockroachDB, Spanner, MySQL
- Schema language and playground
- Community support
Choose Cerbos if…
- You want a free tier to validate before paying.
- Free, stateless PDP that is easy to deploy
- Policies as code with built-in testing
- Published, usage-based Hub pricing
Choose SpiceDB if…
- You want a free tier to validate before paying.
- Most complete open-source Zanzibar implementation
- Strong consistency guarantees on revocation
- Several production-grade datastores
Frequently Asked Questions
Is Cerbos better than SpiceDB?⌄
Both Cerbos and SpiceDB are strong authorization & permissions choices. The right pick comes down to your specific feature needs, existing stack, and team preferences.
What is the difference between Cerbos and SpiceDB?⌄
Cerbos — Open-source (Apache-2.0) policy decision point: write RBAC and ABAC rules in YAML, run the stateless PDP next to your app for free, and add Cerbos Hub from $25 a month to manage and roll out policies. SpiceDB — Open-source (Apache-2.0) Zanzibar-style permissions database from AuthZed, used by Red Hat, IBM and GitPod. Free to self-host; AuthZed Cloud is usage-billed from about $2 an hour. Both are authorization & permissions tools; the comparison table above breaks down pricing, free tiers, and what each is best for.
Cerbos vs SpiceDB: which is cheaper?⌄
Cerbos pricing: Free · paid from $25/mo. SpiceDB pricing: Free · then usage-based. Confirm current pricing on each tool's official site, as plans change.
Which is rated higher, Cerbos or SpiceDB?⌄
In our catalog, Cerbos rates 4.5 out of 5 and SpiceDB rates 4.5 out of 5 — they are evenly matched.
See more options in our guide to the best authorization & permissions tools for startups.
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