Aserto (Topaz) vs Open Policy Agent (OPA)
Side-by-side comparison of identity tools. Sponsored placement is disclosed where applicable.
Quick answer
Aserto (Topaz) vs Open Policy Agent (OPA): which should you choose?
Short answer
Aserto (Topaz) vs Open Policy Agent (OPA) have overlapping use cases in identity and access management. The right pick depends on your company size, deployment model, integrations, and pricing tolerance — compare those attributes side-by-side below.
- Best for
- Aserto (Topaz): Platform or backend teams that want a self-hosted, OPA-compatible authorizer with a Zanzibar-style relationship store and are comfortable operating it without a vendor behind it. · Open Policy Agent (OPA): Platform and security engineering teams that want one policy-as-code engine spanning application authorization, Kubernetes admission, service-mesh and infrastructure checks, and are prepared to operate it themselves.
- When to choose
- Pick the option whose company-size fit, deployment model, and integrations most closely match your stack.
- When not to choose
- Skip a head-to-head if you haven't shortlisted a category yet — start with the IAM Stack Finder instead.
- Related tools & categories
- Aserto (Topaz)Open Policy Agent (OPA)IAM Stack FinderBuyer resources
| Attribute | ||
|---|---|---|
| Best for | Platform or backend teams that want a self-hosted, OPA-compatible authorizer with a Zanzibar-style relationship store and are comfortable operating it without a vendor behind it. | Platform and security engineering teams that want one policy-as-code engine spanning application authorization, Kubernetes admission, service-mesh and infrastructure checks, and are prepared to operate it themselves. |
| Short description | Aserto built a fine-grained authorization platform around Topaz, an Apache 2.0 authorizer that pairs Open Policy Agent (Rego) with a Zanzibar-style relationship directory. The hosted Aserto Control Plane shut down on 31 May 2025; Topaz continues as a self-hosted open-source project. | Open Policy Agent is an Apache 2.0, CNCF Graduated policy engine that evaluates Rego policies for application authorization, Kubernetes admission (Gatekeeper), Envoy/Istio, Terraform and CI/CD. It returns decisions; your services enforce them. |
| Company size | startup, smb, mid_market | startup, smb, mid_market, enterprise |
| Deployment | self_hosted | self_hosted |
| Source | open source | open source |
| Pricing model | free (open source); hosted plans discontinued | free (open source) |
| Integrations | Go, Node.js, JavaScript, Python, Java, .NET, Ruby, gRPC | Kubernetes, Envoy, Istio, Terraform, Kafka, Docker, AWS, Kong |
| Categories | Authorization | Authorization |
| Claimed profile |
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