head to head · open source
Authentik vs dex
Authentik has 25,627 GitHub stars, 2,024 forks, 1,074 open issues and last shipped yesterday. dex has 11,097 stars, 1,981 forks, 547 open issues and last shipped yesterday. Authentik leads on adoption by 131% (25,627 vs 11,097 stars). Authentik is written in Python under a custom or non-standard licence; dex is written in Go under Apache-2.0. Authentik has attracted 8% as many forks as stars, dex 18%. Authentik was the more recently maintained of the two, and both are self-hostable with no licence fee. The two share 2 topic tags (kubernetes, oidc), 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 | dex | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 26K | ★ 11K |
| License | Custom / other | Apache-2.0 |
| Written in | Python | Go |
| Last push | 2026-09-18 | 2026-09-18 |
| Forks | ⑂ 2.0K | ⑂ 2.0K |
| 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 dex if
- You want the dex 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 dex 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 dex
Dex is an OpenID Connect (OIDC) and OAuth 2.0 identity provider written in Go and released under the Apache 2.0 licence, built for teams that want one authentication endpoint in front of many upstream identity sources instead of one integration per application.
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Frequently asked questions
Is Authentik or dex more popular?
Authentik has 25,627 GitHub stars and dex has 11,097. Authentik has the larger community by that measure.
Are Authentik and dex free?
Both are open source. Authentik has no licence declared in this registry, and dex is licensed under Apache-2.0. Both are free to self-host.
What is the difference between Authentik and dex?
Authentik is written in Python and dex 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 dex?
Choose Authentik if you want the larger community (25,627 stars) or its Custom / other licence terms. Choose dex if its feature set, stack or Apache-2.0 licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.