head to head · open source
authelia vs Authentik
authelia has 29,010 GitHub stars, 1,485 forks, 137 open issues and last shipped yesterday. Authentik has 25,627 stars, 2,024 forks, 1,074 open issues and last shipped yesterday. authelia leads on adoption by 13% (29,010 vs 25,627 stars). authelia is written in Go under Apache-2.0; Authentik is written in Python under a custom or non-standard licence. authelia has attracted 5% as many forks as stars, Authentik 8%. Authentik was the more recently maintained of the two, and both are self-hostable with no licence fee. The two share 3 topic tags (authentication, kubernetes, oauth2), so they are genuine substitutes rather than adjacent tools.
Two open source projects, one decision. Both are free and self-hostable — the differences are community size, license terms, language stack and release pace.
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Side by side
| authelia | Authentik | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 29K | ★ 26K |
| License | Apache-2.0 | Custom / other |
| Written in | Go | Python |
| Last push | 2026-09-18 | 2026-09-18 |
| Forks | ⑂ 1.5K | ⑂ 2.0K |
| Self-hosting | Yes | Yes |
| Data ownership | Your server | Your server |
pick authelia if
- You weight community size — 29K stars and counting
- You want the Apache-2.0 license terms
- Your stack matches Go
- You value the larger contributor base for long-term maintenance
pick Authentik if
- You want the Authentik feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the Custom / other license terms
- Your stack matches Python
- You evaluated both and Authentik fits your workflow better
About authelia
Authelia is an open source authentication and authorization server written in Go that provides single sign on and multi factor authentication for web applications through a web portal, aimed at self hosters and platform teams who need to protect services sitting behind a reverse proxy.
read the full authelia overview →
About Authentik
Authentik is an open source Identity Provider (IdP) built for modern single sign on (SSO) workflows. It operates in the identity and access management (IAM) ecosystem, offering a self hosted alternative to commercial solutions like Auth0, Okta, and Entra ID. The project is written in Python and distributed under a mixed MIT/CC BY SA/enterprise license model, with a core open source offering and an enterprise tier for advanced features and support.
read the full Authentik overview →
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Frequently asked questions
Is authelia or Authentik more popular?
authelia has 29,010 GitHub stars and Authentik has 25,627. authelia has the larger community by that measure.
Are authelia and Authentik free?
Both are open source. authelia is licensed under Apache-2.0, and Authentik has no licence declared in this registry. Both are free to self-host.
What is the difference between authelia and Authentik?
authelia is written in Go and Authentik in Python. The practical differences are community size, licence terms, language stack and release cadence — all compared in the table above.
Which should I choose, authelia or Authentik?
Choose authelia if you want the larger community (29,010 stars) or its Apache-2.0 licence terms. Choose Authentik if its feature set, stack or Custom / other licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.