About LLDAP
lldap is a lightweight authentication server that exposes an opinionated, simplified LDAP interface. It is aimed mostly at self-hosting setups where open-source components such as Nextcloud only support LDAP as an external authentication source, and where running a full directory server would be more work than needed.
It comes with a web frontend for managing users, and also lets users update their own details and reset a forgotten password via email. By default data is stored in SQLite, with MySQL, MariaDB or PostgreSQL as alternative backends. It integrates with services such as Keycloak, Authelia and Nextcloud, and for features like OAuth or OpenID support you can add components such as Keycloak or Authelia that use lldap as the source of truth for users.
The project is written in Rust, licensed under GPL-3.0 and uses the OPAQUE protocol. The README states plainly that it is not meant to be a full LDAP server and points to OpenLDAP for that. It installs from OCI images, Kubernetes, TrueNAS or distribution packages.
Key features
- Simplified LDAP interface for authentication
- Web UI for user management
- Self-service password reset by email
- SQLite, MySQL, MariaDB and PostgreSQL backends
- Works with Keycloak, Authelia and Nextcloud
- Install from OCI images or distro packages
Good fit for
- →Central logins for a home server stack
- →Providing LDAP to apps that require it
- Built with
- Rust
- Tags
- ldap
- authentication
- identity
- self-hosted
- rust
- user-management
- sso
- security
LLDAP: questions and answers
- What is LLDAP used for?
- lldap is a lightweight authentication server with a simplified LDAP interface and web UI, aimed at self-hosters who need LDAP for apps like Nextcloud. It is a good fit for central logins for a home server stack and providing LDAP to apps that require it.
- Is LLDAP open source?
- Yes. LLDAP is open source under the GPL-3.0 licence. Its source code is on GitHub at lldap/lldap and is written mainly in Rust.
- Is LLDAP free?
- Yes. LLDAP is open source, so the software itself is free to use.
- Can I self-host LLDAP?
- Yes. LLDAP can be self-hosted on your own server or infrastructure; there is no official hosted version.
- What is LLDAP an alternative to?
- LLDAP is an open-source alternative to JumpCloud and Microsoft Entra ID. Other open-source alternatives to JumpCloud include Authelia, Authentik and Kanidm.
- Is LLDAP actively maintained?
- Yes. The most recent commit to LLDAP was on 26 September 2026, and the latest release is v0.6.3, published on 30 April 2026. The project has 6.5k stars on GitHub.
Open-source alternatives to LLDAP
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Authelia
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Authentik
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Kanidm
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Kanidm: A simple, secure, and fast identity management platform
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Open Source Identity and Access Management For Modern Applications and Services
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SaaS alternatives to LLDAP
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JumpCloud
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Microsoft Entra ID
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Okta
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OneLogin
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