head to head · open source
Authentik vs hydra
Authentik has 26,209 GitHub stars, 2,099 forks, 1,074 open issues and last shipped yesterday. hydra has 17,646 stars, 1,620 forks, 98 open issues and last shipped 3 months ago. Authentik leads on adoption by 49% (26,209 vs 17,646 stars). Authentik is written in Python under a custom or non-standard licence; hydra is written in Go under Apache-2.0. Authentik has attracted 8% as many forks as stars, hydra 9%. Authentik was the more recently maintained of the two, and both are self-hostable with no licence fee. The two share 3 topic tags (authorization, oauth2, oauth2-server), 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 | hydra | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 26K | ★ 18K |
| License | Custom / other | Apache-2.0 |
| Written in | Python | Go |
| Last push | 2026-11-02 | 2026-07-29 |
| Forks | ⑂ 2.1K | ⑂ 1.6K |
| 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 hydra if
- You want the hydra 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 hydra fits your workflow better
About Authentik
What is authentik? authentik is an open source Identity Provider (IdP) for modern SSO. It supports SAML, OAuth2/OIDC, LDAP, RADIUS, and more, designed for self hosting from small labs to large production clusters. Our enterprise offering is available for organizations to securely replace existing IdPs such as Okta, Auth0, Entra ID, and Ping Identity for robust, large scale identity management. Installation Docker Compose: recommended for small/test setups. See the documentation. Kubernetes (Helm Chart): recommended for larger setups. See the documentation and the Helm chart repository. AWS CloudFormation: deploy…
read the full Authentik overview →
About hydra
Chat · Discussions · Newsletter · Docs · Try Ory Network · Jobs Ory Hydra is a hardened, OpenID Certified OAuth 2.0 Server and OpenID Connect Provider optimized for low latency, high throughput, and low resource consumption. It connects to your existing identity provider through a login and consent app, giving you absolute control over the user interface and experience. What is Ory Hydra? Why Ory Hydra OAuth2 and OpenID Connect: Open Standards OpenID Connect Certified Deployment options Use Ory Hydra on the Ory Network Self host Ory Hydra Quickstart Who is using Ory Hydra Ecosystem Ory Kratos: Identity and User…
read the full hydra overview →
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Frequently asked questions
Is Authentik or hydra more popular?
Authentik has 26,209 GitHub stars and hydra has 17,646. Authentik has the larger community by that measure.
Are Authentik and hydra free?
Both are open source. Authentik has no licence declared in this registry, and hydra is licensed under Apache-2.0. Both are free to self-host.
What is the difference between Authentik and hydra?
Authentik is written in Python and hydra 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 hydra?
Choose Authentik if you want the larger community (26,209 stars) or its Custom / other licence terms. Choose hydra if its feature set, stack or Apache-2.0 licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.