When I worked on open-source authentication as a student, I never imagined it powering web-scale services like chatgpt.com.
Ory Hydra initially began as a Go-based alternative to Keycloak, avoiding complex JVM dependencies. After releasing the first version in 2015, we quickly saw that the initial design wasn't flexible enough. Building a full Customer Identity and Access Management (CIAM) system from scratch was challenging, prompting a new approach.
In late 2016, we shifted our focus to creating Ory Fosite, a library for building OpenID Connect-compliant OAuth2 servers. This became the foundation of today's Ory Hydra. Recognizing that comprehensive user management would take years—as later confirmed by our work on Ory Kratos—we simplified Ory Hydra by removing user management and developing the Login and Consent flow instead. This allowed developers to integrate OAuth2 and OpenID Connect seamlessly into their existing infrastructure without migrating users.
Today's Ory Hydra leverages proven, reliable technologies—PostgreSQL, MySQL, and compiled languages—with clearly defined domain boundaries and a straightforward, scalable design.
We've consistently optimized Ory Hydra over time. By storing more data client-side, we achieved sustained performance of 800 auth code flows per second on standard PostgreSQL. Working closely with CockroachDB and implementing enterprise-level optimizations, we've reached benchmarks of thousands+ of auth flows per second, sufficient for the world's busiest websites.
We're proud to announce today that OpenAI's OAuth2 infrastructure runs on Ory Hydra. What started with engineering curiosity and a commitment to simplifying authentication has grown into the world's leading open-source OAuth2 server, driven by practical engineering, continuous improvement, and strong community involvement.
Our success highlights the power of choosing clear, scalable technology, reducing complexity, and continually optimizing performance.
Check out our OpenAI case study. Interested in exploring how Ory Hydra can support your project? Get in touch.