head to head · open source
Better Auth vs oauth2-client
Better Auth has 30,041 GitHub stars, 2,903 forks, 723 open issues and last shipped today. oauth2-client has 3,819 stars, 770 forks, 64 open issues and last shipped 6 days ago. Better Auth leads on adoption by 687% (30,041 vs 3,819 stars). Better Auth is written in TypeScript under MIT; oauth2-client is written in PHP under MIT. Better Auth has attracted 10% as many forks as stars, oauth2-client 20%. Better Auth was the more recently maintained of the two, and both are self-hostable with no licence fee. The two share 4 topic tags (authentication, oauth, oauth2, sso), 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 | oauth2-client | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 30K | ★ 3.8K |
| License | MIT | MIT |
| Written in | TypeScript | PHP |
| Last push | 2026-09-22 | 2026-09-16 |
| Forks | ⑂ 2.9K | ⑂ 770 |
| Self-hosting | Yes | Yes |
| Data ownership | Your server | Your server |
pick Better Auth if
- You weight community size — 30K stars and counting
- You want the MIT license terms
- Your stack matches TypeScript
- You value the larger contributor base for long-term maintenance
pick oauth2-client if
- You want the oauth2-client feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the MIT license terms
- Your stack matches PHP
- You evaluated both and oauth2-client fits your workflow better
About Better Auth
Better Auth is a framework agnostic authentication and authorization framework written in TypeScript. It targets the broader JavaScript/TypeScript ecosystem and is designed to integrate with any backend or frontend framework, including Next.js, Express, SvelteKit, and others. It provides a unified API surface for core identity workflows such as sign up, sign in, session management, and passwordless flows.
read the full Better Auth overview →
About oauth2-client
league/oauth2 client is an MIT licensed PHP library maintained by The PHP League that provides a reusable base for integrating applications with any OAuth 2.0 service provider, aimed at PHP developers who need to add "Connect with Facebook/Google" style login and token flows without implementing RFC 6749 from scratch.
read the full oauth2-client overview →
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Frequently asked questions
Is Better Auth or oauth2-client more popular?
Better Auth has 30,041 GitHub stars and oauth2-client has 3,819. Better Auth has the larger community by that measure.
Are Better Auth and oauth2-client free?
Both are open source. Better Auth is licensed under MIT and oauth2-client under MIT. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between Better Auth and oauth2-client?
Better Auth is written in TypeScript and oauth2-client in PHP. 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 oauth2-client?
Choose Better Auth if you want the larger community (30,041 stars) or its MIT licence terms. Choose oauth2-client if its feature set, stack or MIT licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.