head to head · open source
authelia vs Sa-Token
authelia has 29,010 GitHub stars, 1,485 forks, 137 open issues and last shipped yesterday. Sa-Token has 19,048 stars, 2,914 forks, 111 open issues and last shipped yesterday. authelia leads on adoption by 52% (29,010 vs 19,048 stars). authelia is written in Go under Apache-2.0; Sa-Token is written in Java under Apache-2.0. authelia has attracted 5% as many forks as stars, Sa-Token 15%. authelia was the more recently maintained of the two, and both are self-hostable with no licence fee.
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 | Sa-Token | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 29K | ★ 19K |
| License | Apache-2.0 | Apache-2.0 |
| Written in | Go | Java |
| Last push | 2026-09-18 | 2026-09-18 |
| Forks | ⑂ 1.5K | ⑂ 2.9K |
| 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 Sa-Token if
- You want the Sa-Token feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the Apache-2.0 license terms
- Your stack matches Java
- You evaluated both and Sa-Token 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 Sa-Token
Sa Token is a free, open source, one stop Java authentication and authorization framework, licensed under Apache 2.0, that gives Java and Spring Boot developers login authentication, permission checks, distributed sessions, single sign on, OAuth2.0, gateway authentication, JWT integration, API key authorization and API parameter signing from a single dependency.
read the full Sa-Token overview →
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Frequently asked questions
Is authelia or Sa-Token more popular?
authelia has 29,010 GitHub stars and Sa-Token has 19,048. authelia has the larger community by that measure.
Are authelia and Sa-Token free?
Both are open source. authelia is licensed under Apache-2.0 and Sa-Token under Apache-2.0. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between authelia and Sa-Token?
authelia is written in Go and Sa-Token in Java. 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 Sa-Token?
Choose authelia if you want the larger community (29,010 stars) or its Apache-2.0 licence terms. Choose Sa-Token if its feature set, stack or Apache-2.0 licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.