Authzed is an open source authorization management platform inspired by Google Zanzibar, designed to help companies implement performant and scalable permissions systems for their applications. You can learn more on the Authzed website.
Founded by a team of experienced entrepreneurs with backgrounds at Red Hat and Google, Authzed provides developer tools that make it easier for engineering teams to build, manage, and audit fine-grained access controls within modern applications. Their core product is a permissions database that allows for flexible, centralized, and high-performance authorization logic, decoupling complex access control from application code.
The platform leverages concepts from Google Zanzibar, which is known for powering permissions at scale for Google products. This enables Authzed to offer a solution that supports fine-grained, relationship-based access checks, with a focus on scalability and reliability for cloud-native and SaaS products. Authzed is open source, allowing organizations to inspect, extend, and self-host as needed.
With a team based in New York and operating fully remote, Authzed serves other B2B software companies, SaaS providers, and engineering teams that need robust authorization as part of their security stack. It is particularly valuable for organizations looking to move beyond basic role-based access control (RBAC) to more flexible, policy-driven models.
What Technology Powers Authzed?
Authzed's technology is modeled after Google Zanzibar, a proven architecture for scalable authorization, but offered as an open source project that any company can use. The system is designed to:
- Store and manage complex permission relationships in a flexible schema
- Deliver high-performance authorization checks with low latency
- Integrate easily with modern application stacks and developer workflows
- Support auditing, compliance, and fine-grained access policy changes
The open source nature of Authzed means that engineering teams have transparency and control, with the option to run Authzed as a managed service or on their own infrastructure.
Who Uses Authzed?
Authzed is primarily used by product and engineering teams building applications that require advanced access control—such as SaaS platforms, B2B software products, and internal tools. It is especially relevant for:
- Developers looking to implement fine-grained permissions (beyond RBAC)
- Security and compliance teams needing centralized, auditable authorization
- Organizations moving to microservices or distributed architectures
Who Are Authzed's Competitors?
Authzed operates in the identity and access management (IAM) and authorization technology space, where several vendors provide related solutions:
- Auth0 – Focuses on authentication and authorization, with easy-to-integrate login and identity solutions.
- Okta – A major IAM provider offering authentication, SSO, and lifecycle management for workforce and customer identities.
- Keycloak – An open source identity and access management solution with features like user federation and fine-grained authorization.
- Cerbos – Open source authorization layer enabling secure, decoupled access controls for applications.
- PlainID – Offers a centralized platform for managing and enforcing access control policies.
- OneLogin – Provides identity management and SSO for workforce and partners.
- Thales – Delivers enterprise-grade identity and access management solutions.
- Zluri – Focuses on unified access management and monitoring within organizations.
Authzed differentiates itself with its open source model, developer focus, and adherence to the Google Zanzibar-inspired approach, making it particularly attractive for engineering-driven organizations seeking flexibility and transparency in their authorization stack.
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