head to head · open source
Authentik vs Zitadel
Authentik has 25,600 GitHub stars, 2,019 forks, 1,074 open issues and last shipped yesterday. Zitadel has 15,041 stars, 1,309 forks, 1,171 open issues and last shipped yesterday. Authentik leads on adoption by 70% (25,600 vs 15,041 stars). Authentik is written in Python under a custom or non-standard licence; Zitadel is written in Go under AGPL-3.0. Authentik has attracted 8% as many forks as stars, Zitadel 9%. Authentik was the more recently maintained of the two, and both are self-hostable with no licence fee. The two share 4 topic tags (authentication, authorization, 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 | Zitadel | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 26K | ★ 15K |
| License | Custom / other | AGPL-3.0 |
| Written in | Python | Go |
| Last push | 2026-09-17 | 2026-09-17 |
| Forks | ⑂ 2.0K | ⑂ 1.3K |
| 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 Zitadel if
- You want the Zitadel feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the AGPL-3.0 license terms
- Your stack matches Go
- You evaluated both and Zitadel 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 Zitadel
Zitadel is an open source identity and access management platform written in Go and released under the AGPL 3.0 license. It lives in the open source IAM ecosystem and provides identity infrastructure for developers who need to operate an authentication and authorization layer themselves.
read the full Zitadel overview →
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Frequently asked questions
Is Authentik or Zitadel more popular?
Authentik has 25,600 GitHub stars and Zitadel has 15,041. Authentik has the larger community by that measure.
Are Authentik and Zitadel free?
Both are open source. Authentik has no licence declared in this registry, and Zitadel is licensed under AGPL-3.0. Both are free to self-host.
What is the difference between Authentik and Zitadel?
Authentik is written in Python and Zitadel 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 Zitadel?
Choose Authentik if you want the larger community (25,600 stars) or its Custom / other licence terms. Choose Zitadel if its feature set, stack or AGPL-3.0 licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.