head to head · open source
Authentik vs polis
Authentik has 26,276 GitHub stars, 2,118 forks, 1,074 open issues and last shipped yesterday. polis has 2,272 stars, 239 forks, 35 open issues and last shipped 4 months ago. Authentik leads on adoption by 1,057% (26,276 vs 2,272 stars). Authentik is written in Python under a custom or non-standard licence; polis is written in TypeScript under Apache-2.0. Authentik has attracted 8% as many forks as stars, polis 11%. Authentik was the more recently maintained of the two, and both are self-hostable with no licence fee. The two share 1 topic tag (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 | polis | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 26K | ★ 2.3K |
| License | Custom / other | Apache-2.0 |
| Written in | Python | TypeScript |
| Last push | 2026-11-09 | 2026-07-27 |
| Forks | ⑂ 2.1K | ⑂ 239 |
| 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 polis if
- You want the polis feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the Apache-2.0 license terms
- Your stack matches TypeScript
- You evaluated both and polis 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 polis
Ory polis Open source Enterprise SSO and Directory Sync Chat Discussions Newsletter Guide API Docs Support this project! Work in Open Source, Ory is hiring! Ory Polis formerly known as BoxyHQ Jackson bridges or proxies a SAML login flow to OAuth 2.0 or OpenID Connect, abstracting away all the complexities of the SAML protocol. It also supports Directory Sync via the SCIM 2.0 protocol for automatic user and group provisioning/de provisioning. Ory Polis also supports OpenID Connect providers. Ory Polis on the Ory Network The Ory Network is the fastest, most secure and worry free way to use Ory's Services. SAML &…
read the full polis overview →
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Frequently asked questions
Is Authentik or polis more popular?
Authentik has 26,276 GitHub stars and polis has 2,272. Authentik has the larger community by that measure.
Are Authentik and polis free?
Both are open source. Authentik has no licence declared in this registry, and polis is licensed under Apache-2.0. Both are free to self-host.
What is the difference between Authentik and polis?
Authentik is written in Python and polis 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 polis?
Choose Authentik if you want the larger community (26,276 stars) or its Custom / other licence terms. Choose polis if its feature set, stack or Apache-2.0 licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.