head to head · open source
Better Auth vs phpCAS
Better Auth has 30,209 GitHub stars, 2,951 forks, 723 open issues and last shipped 2 days ago. phpCAS has 800 stars, 419 forks, 29 open issues and last shipped 3 months ago. Better Auth leads on adoption by 3,676% (30,209 vs 800 stars). Better Auth is written in TypeScript under MIT; phpCAS is written in PHP under Apache-2.0. Better Auth has attracted 10% as many forks as stars, phpCAS 52%. 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 (authentication, 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 | phpCAS | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 30K | ★ 800 |
| License | MIT | Apache-2.0 |
| Written in | TypeScript | PHP |
| Last push | 2026-10-06 | 2026-06-30 |
| Forks | ⑂ 3.0K | ⑂ 419 |
| 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 phpCAS if
- You want the phpCAS feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the Apache-2.0 license terms
- Your stack matches PHP
- You evaluated both and phpCAS 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 phpCAS
phpCAS is a PHP authentication library for application developers who need to sign users in through a Central Authentication Service (CAS) server as part of a single sign on setup.
read the full phpCAS overview →
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Frequently asked questions
Is Better Auth or phpCAS more popular?
Better Auth has 30,209 GitHub stars and phpCAS has 800. Better Auth has the larger community by that measure.
Are Better Auth and phpCAS free?
Both are open source. Better Auth is licensed under MIT and phpCAS under Apache-2.0. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between Better Auth and phpCAS?
Better Auth is written in TypeScript and phpCAS 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 phpCAS?
Choose Better Auth if you want the larger community (30,209 stars) or its MIT licence terms. Choose phpCAS if its feature set, stack or Apache-2.0 licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.