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Permio vs Permit.io

Permit.io is a broad authorisation platform: several access models, a no-code policy editor, embeddable UI components and policy decision points you can run yourself. Permio does one thing: roles granted on resource paths, behind a hosted API.

Facts about Permit.io as of October 2026, from its official site and docs (sources below). Corrections welcome.

What Permit.io is

Permit.io describes itself as a way to “add fine-grained authorization to your apps, APIs, and AI agents”, supporting RBAC, ABAC, ReBAC and PBAC through one check API.[1][2] Policies can be edited in a no-code UI or managed as code with Git.[2]

Permit runs a cloud control plane, and decisions are made by a policy decision point (PDP). The managed Cloud PDP evaluates RBAC and ReBAC; the self-hosted Edge PDP container adds ABAC and custom policy-as-code, built on OPA and OPAL.[3] The Edge PDP and OPAL are open source under Apache 2.0.[4][5]

What Permio is

Permio is a hosted permissions API. Resources are paths such as /projects/123/docs/9; you grant roles (bundles of permissions like document.read) to principals or groups on a path, and the grant covers everything below it. Your backend asks “can this principal do this here?” and gets allowed or denied. It works alongside whatever login you use. We’re early: the TypeScript SDK is public on npm, and paid pricing isn’t published yet.

How the models differ

  • Breadth vs focus. Permit supports several models and lets you mix them, with OPA underneath.[1][3] Permio has one model, which is less to learn and configure but can’t express attribute rules.
  • Deployment. With Permit you choose between the managed Cloud PDP and an Edge PDP you run in your environment, for example to get ABAC.[3] Permio is a hosted API with nothing to deploy.
  • Queries. Permit offers check, bulk check, user permissions and authorized users queries.[6] Permio offers Check, BatchCheck, ListAccess and ListPrincipalsWithAccess, and ListAccess is built to become a database filter.
  • Platform features. Permit includes embeddable “Elements” for user management and approval flows, decision logs, and an MCP gateway for AI agents.[2][7] Permio includes an Access tester and an audit log, and treats agents as ordinary principals with scoped grants.

At a glance

Permio and Permit.io compared, as of October 2026
PermioPermit.io
ModelRoles and permissions granted on hierarchical resource paths (e.g. /projects/123), inherited by everything below; groups; _ matches one segmentRBAC, ABAC, ReBAC and PBAC; no-code editor or policy-as-code[1][2]
HostingManaged API hosted by Permio (Google Cloud, London). No self-hosted option todayCloud control plane; managed Cloud PDP (RBAC, ReBAC) or self-hosted Edge PDP (adds ABAC)[3]
Open sourceTypeScript SDK (MIT) and Rust client are open source; the service itself is notEdge PDP, OPAL and SDKs are open source; control plane is not[3][4][5]
QuerieslistAccess returns scopes you turn into a SQL, Prisma or MongoDB filter; whoHasAccess (ListPrincipalsWithAccess), including members via groupscheck, bulk check, user permissions, authorized users[6]
SDKsTypeScript on npm; REST (JSON) and gRPC / gRPC-web for any language; Rust client. Go and Python comingNode.js, Python, Java, .NET, Go, Ruby, PHP[1]
ExtrasDashboard with an Access tester (why a check was allowed) and an audit log of changesEmbeddable Elements, audit and decision logs, MCP gateway[2][7]
PricingFree to start, no credit card. Paid plans not yet publishedFree Community tier with published limits; paid tiers not priced publicly[7]

When to choose which

Choose Permit.io if

  • You need ABAC or several models in one place, or custom policy in OPA.[1][3]
  • You need on-premises deployment, compliance attestations such as SOC 2 Type II, or SDKs for Java, .NET, Ruby or PHP.[1][2][7]
  • You want embeddable UI for end users, approval workflows, or an MCP gateway today.[2][7]

Choose Permio if

  • Your access rules are grants on a hierarchy of resources, and you want inheritance without writing policy.
  • You want a small surface: one model, one hosted API, an SDK and a dashboard, with nothing to deploy.
  • You want list filtering that turns straight into a database query.

Want to see whether Permio’s model fits your app? The quickstart takes a few minutes, and it’s free to start.

Start free Read the docs

Sources

Fetched October 2026.

  1. Permit.io documentation: https://docs.permit.io/
  2. Permit.io homepage: https://www.permit.io/
  3. Permit.io: PDP overview: https://docs.permit.io/concepts/pdp/overview
  4. Permit.io PDP on GitHub: https://github.com/permitio/PDP
  5. OPAL on GitHub: https://github.com/permitio/opal
  6. Permit.io: Advanced authorization queries: https://docs.permit.io/overview/advanced-authorization-queries
  7. Permit.io pricing: https://www.permit.io/pricing

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