head to head · open source
Authentik vs melody-auth
Authentik has 25,633 GitHub stars, 2,025 forks, 1,074 open issues and last shipped yesterday. melody-auth has 638 stars, 66 forks, 3 open issues and last shipped 17 days ago. Authentik leads on adoption by 3,918% (25,633 vs 638 stars). Authentik is written in Python under a custom or non-standard licence; melody-auth is written in TypeScript under MIT. Authentik has attracted 8% as many forks as stars, melody-auth 10%. Authentik was the more recently maintained of the two, and both are self-hostable with no licence fee. The two share 2 topic tags (oauth2, 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 | melody-auth | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 26K | ★ 638 |
| License | Custom / other | MIT |
| Written in | Python | TypeScript |
| Last push | 2026-09-18 | 2026-09-02 |
| Forks | ⑂ 2.0K | ⑂ 66 |
| 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 melody-auth if
- You want the melody-auth feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the MIT license terms
- Your stack matches TypeScript
- You evaluated both and melody-auth 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 melody-auth
Melody Auth is an MIT licensed, TypeScript written OAuth 2.0 and authentication server that runs on both Cloudflare Workers and Node.js, and it is aimed at teams that want to host their own identity provider instead of renting one.
read the full melody-auth overview →
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Frequently asked questions
Is Authentik or melody-auth more popular?
Authentik has 25,633 GitHub stars and melody-auth has 638. Authentik has the larger community by that measure.
Are Authentik and melody-auth free?
Both are open source. Authentik has no licence declared in this registry, and melody-auth is licensed under MIT. Both are free to self-host.
What is the difference between Authentik and melody-auth?
Authentik is written in Python and melody-auth in TypeScript. 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 melody-auth?
Choose Authentik if you want the larger community (25,633 stars) or its Custom / other licence terms. Choose melody-auth if its feature set, stack or MIT licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.