head to head · open source
Better Auth vs hydra
Better Auth has 30,553 GitHub stars, 3,052 forks, 723 open issues and last shipped 3 days ago. hydra has 17,646 stars, 1,620 forks, 98 open issues and last shipped 3 months ago. Better Auth leads on adoption by 73% (30,553 vs 17,646 stars). Better Auth is written in TypeScript under MIT; hydra is written in Go under Apache-2.0. Better Auth has attracted 10% as many forks as stars, hydra 9%. Better Auth was the more recently maintained of the two, and both are self-hostable with no licence fee. The two share 2 topic tags (oauth, oauth2), 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
| Better Auth | hydra | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 31K | ★ 18K |
| License | MIT | Apache-2.0 |
| Written in | TypeScript | Go |
| Last push | 2026-11-01 | 2026-07-29 |
| Forks | ⑂ 3.1K | ⑂ 1.6K |
| Self-hosting | Yes | Yes |
| Data ownership | Your server | Your server |
pick Better Auth if
- You weight community size — 31K stars and counting
- You want the MIT license terms
- Your stack matches TypeScript
- 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 Better Auth
Discord · Website · Issues Better Auth Better Auth is a framework agnostic authentication (and authorization) framework for TypeScript. It provides a comprehensive set of features out of the box and includes a plugin ecosystem that simplifies adding advanced functionalities with minimal code in a short amount of time. Whether you need 2FA, multi tenant support, or other complex features, it lets you focus on building your actual application instead of reinventing the wheel. Why Better Auth Authentication in the TypeScript ecosystem is a half solved problem. Other open source libraries often require a lot of…
read the full Better Auth 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 Better Auth or hydra more popular?
Better Auth has 30,553 GitHub stars and hydra has 17,646. Better Auth has the larger community by that measure.
Are Better Auth and hydra free?
Both are open source. Better Auth is licensed under MIT and hydra under Apache-2.0. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between Better Auth and hydra?
Better Auth is written in TypeScript 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, Better Auth or hydra?
Choose Better Auth if you want the larger community (30,553 stars) or its MIT licence terms. Choose hydra if its feature set, stack or Apache-2.0 licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.