Rock Solid Knowledge launches free Open.IdentityServer

SOFIAH NICHOLE SALIVIO

News Editor

Rock Solid Knowledge has launched Open.IdentityServer, a free open-source identity platform for Microsoft .NET users.

The launch follows the commercialisation of a previously free identity security platform used by thousands of organisations. Open.IdentityServer is intended to give those users an open-source alternative built from the IdentityServer4 codebase under the Apache 2.0 licence.

Identity software underpins sign-in systems, access controls and application authentication. Open.IdentityServer is aimed at developers and organisations running .NET applications that need OpenID Connect and OAuth 2.0 support for token-based authentication, single sign-on and API access control.

The earlier free IdentityServer community was used by up to 10,000 organisations. Rock Solid Knowledge has long contributed to that ecosystem, and its founder, Andrew Clymer, decided to fork the project and maintain a separate open-source version.

The new platform is intended to keep the core software free, while optional commercial products, services and support generate revenue around it. Rock Solid Knowledge has also published a manifesto setting out how it plans to run the project.

The manifesto says the core platform will always be free and open-source, commercial offerings will remain optional and help finance the free core, and the community will have a voice in the project’s direction.

Open.IdentityServer is being maintained in a public repository with documentation and community contributions. Version 1.0.0, the first release, was published earlier this month.

Rock Solid Knowledge has worked in several open-source software communities, including IdentityServer, OpenIddict and Umbraco. The business was founded in 2009 and has a 22-strong development team in Bristol.

Until this year, it was also the official European support partner to Duende IdentityServer. That background gives the company a direct link to the software lineage behind the new project and to users looking for continuity after licensing changes in the market.

The move also reflects Rock Solid Knowledge’s wider positioning. The company became a certified B Corporation in 2023 and said supporting an open-source identity platform aligns with its view that technology should serve people as well as profit.

A central issue in the identity software market is how open-source projects are funded once adoption grows. Some vendors move towards commercial licensing to fund development and support, while parts of their user base look for low-cost or free options that can still be used in production systems.

Open.IdentityServer appears to target that gap. Rather than charging for the core platform, Rock Solid Knowledge is separating the free software from paid support and related services, a model used elsewhere in open-source software.

For organisations already using .NET, the launch may offer a familiar way to maintain existing sign-on and access management systems without switching to a different architecture. For developers, the practical question is whether the project can sustain updates, support and community involvement over time.

Clymer set out the company’s rationale in a statement on the launch.

“We’ve worked in the IdentityServer ecosystem for more than a decade, and we know how important it is for teams to have a dependable open-source option. Open.IdentityServer is our commitment to keeping that option available, supported and genuinely free at its core. This is not a short-term initiative; we are here to invest in the platform, protect it and grow it,” said Andrew Clymer, founder of Rock Solid Knowledge.