head to head · open source
Better Auth vs oauth2-client
Better Auth has 30,610 GitHub stars, 3,065 forks, 723 open issues and last shipped today. oauth2-client has 3,819 stars, 770 forks, 64 open issues and last shipped today. Better Auth leads on adoption by 702% (30,610 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%. oauth2-client 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 | ★ 31K | ★ 3.8K |
| License | MIT | MIT |
| Written in | TypeScript | PHP |
| Last push | 2026-11-06 | 2026-11-06 |
| Forks | ⑂ 3.1K | ⑂ 770 |
| 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 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
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 oauth2-client
OAuth 2.0 Client This package provides a base for integrating with OAuth 2.0 service providers. The OAuth 2.0 login flow, seen commonly around the web in the form of "Connect with Facebook/Google/etc." buttons, is a common integration added to web applications, but it can be tricky and tedious to do right. To help, we've created the league/oauth2 client package, which provides a base for integrating with various OAuth 2.0 providers, without overburdening your application with the concerns of RFC 6749. This OAuth 2.0 client library will work with any OAuth 2.0 provider that conforms to the OAuth 2.0 Authorization…
read the full oauth2-client overview →
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Frequently asked questions
Is Better Auth or oauth2-client more popular?
Better Auth has 30,610 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 (30,610 stars) or its MIT licence terms. Choose oauth2-client if its feature set, stack or MIT licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.