head to head · open source
Authentik vs casbin
Authentik has 25,627 GitHub stars, 2,024 forks, 1,074 open issues and last shipped yesterday. casbin has 20,396 stars, 1,756 forks, 38 open issues and last shipped 8 days ago. Authentik leads on adoption by 26% (25,627 vs 20,396 stars). Authentik is written in Python under a custom or non-standard licence; casbin is written in Go under Apache-2.0. Authentik has attracted 8% as many forks as stars, casbin 9%. Authentik was the more recently maintained of the two, and both are self-hostable with no licence fee. The two share 2 topic tags (authentication, authorization), 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
| Authentik | casbin | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 26K | ★ 20K |
| License | Custom / other | Apache-2.0 |
| Written in | Python | Go |
| Last push | 2026-09-18 | 2026-09-11 |
| Forks | ⑂ 2.0K | ⑂ 1.8K |
| Self-hosting | Yes | Yes |
| Data ownership | Your server | Your server |
pick Authentik if
- You weight community size — 26K stars and counting
- You want the Custom / other license terms
- Your stack matches Python
- You value the larger contributor base for long-term maintenance
pick casbin if
- You want the casbin feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the Apache-2.0 license terms
- Your stack matches Go
- You evaluated both and casbin fits your workflow better
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 →
About casbin
Apache Casbin is an Apache licensed authorization library for Go that helps developers enforce access control models such as ACL, RBAC, and ABAC inside their own applications rather than in a separate service.
read the full casbin overview →
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Frequently asked questions
Is Authentik or casbin more popular?
Authentik has 25,627 GitHub stars and casbin has 20,396. Authentik has the larger community by that measure.
Are Authentik and casbin free?
Both are open source. Authentik has no licence declared in this registry, and casbin is licensed under Apache-2.0. Both are free to self-host.
What is the difference between Authentik and casbin?
Authentik is written in Python and casbin in Go. The practical differences are community size, licence terms, language stack and release cadence — all compared in the table above.
Which should I choose, Authentik or casbin?
Choose Authentik if you want the larger community (25,627 stars) or its Custom / other licence terms. Choose casbin if its feature set, stack or Apache-2.0 licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.