---
title: What is the difference between LDAP and OAuth?
description: "ChurchTools supports both the LDAP protocol and OAuth. You can use both methods to sign up to third-party systems such as Nextcloud with your ChurchTools login details. But what exactly is the difference and which method should you use? ###…"
url: "https://staging.churchtools.academy/en/help/system-settings/login-en/what-is-the-difference-between-ldap-and-oauth/"
updated: "2026-08-24"
category: Login
---

# What is the difference between LDAP and OAuth?

ChurchTools supports both the LDAP protocol and OAuth. You can use both methods to sign up to third-party systems such as Nextcloud with your ChurchTools login details. But what exactly is the difference and which method should you use?

### LDAP (Lightweight Directory Access Protocol)

LDAP is a standard protocol that is used to retrieve and authenticate information about users in a directory service. It was primarily developed for local networks and is a robust but rather classic method of authentication.

**Advantages of LDAP:**

- Widely used and supported by many systems.
- Especially useful if you have local services or systems that do not support modern authentication methods.

**Disadvantages of LDAP:**

- LDAP does not use token-based security by default
- Can be more complex to configure, especially if SSL/TLS is used to secure the communication.

### OAuth (Open Authorization)

OAuth is a modern, token-based protocol that has been specially developed for web and cloud applications. It allows users to securely and easily sign up to third-party systems with their ChurchTools Login details without sharing their passwords. A third-party system can also be used to log in to a ChurchTools system. This can also be another ChurchTools system.

**Advantages of OAuth:**

- **Security:** By using tokens, your password is never transmitted directly to the third-party system.
- **Simplicity:** Many modern systems such as Nextcloud or Home Assistant support OAuth and offer simple integration.
- **Flexibility:** OAuth is specially designed for secure access to cloud and web services.

**Disadvantages of OAuth:**

- Only works if the third-party system supports OAuth.

**Our recommendation**

If the third-party system you want to use supports OAuth, we recommend that you use OAuth. It is more secure, simpler and better suited for modern applications. LDAP is a good alternative for systems that do not support OAuth, but usually requires more configuration effort.

## Read more

- [What is OAuth? (Login to third-party systems)](https://staging.churchtools.academy/en/help/system-settings/oauth-login-systemsettings/what-is-oauth-login-to-third-party-systems/)
- [Overview LDAP](https://staging.churchtools.academy/en/help/system-settings/ldap-login-systemsettings/overview-ldap/)
- [Login to third-party system: Set up Nextcloud (OAuth)](https://staging.churchtools.academy/en/help/system-settings/oauth-login-systemsettings/oauth-login-via-churchtools-with-nextcloud/)
- [Connection of Nextcloud to the ChurchTools Login](https://staging.churchtools.academy/de/help/verwaltung/ldap/0-anbindung-von-nextcloud-an-den-churchtools-login/)