head to head · open source
Better Auth vs SuperTokens
Better Auth has 30,553 GitHub stars, 3,052 forks, 723 open issues and last shipped 2 days ago. SuperTokens has 15,340 stars, 788 forks, 155 open issues and last shipped yesterday. Better Auth leads on adoption by 99% (30,553 vs 15,340 stars). Better Auth is written in TypeScript under MIT; SuperTokens is written in Java under a custom or non-standard licence. Better Auth has attracted 10% as many forks as stars, SuperTokens 5%. SuperTokens was the more recently maintained of the two, and both are self-hostable with no licence fee. The two share 2 topic tags (authentication, oauth), 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 | SuperTokens | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 31K | ★ 15K |
| License | MIT | Custom / other |
| Written in | TypeScript | Java |
| Last push | 2026-11-01 | 2026-11-02 |
| Forks | ⑂ 3.1K | ⑂ 788 |
| 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 SuperTokens if
- You want the SuperTokens feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the Custom / other license terms
- Your stack matches Java
- You evaluated both and SuperTokens 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 SuperTokens
Open Source auth provider Add secure login and session management to your apps. SDKs available for popular languages and front end frameworks e.g. Node.js, Go, Python, React.js, React Native, Vanilla JS, etc. Supertokens architecture is optimized to add secure authentication for your users without compromising on user and developer experience Three building blocks of SuperTokens architecture 1. Frontend SDK: Manages session tokens and renders login UI widgets 2. Backend SDK: Provides APIs for sign up, sign in, signout, session refreshing, etc. Your Frontend will talk to these APIs 3. SuperTokens Core: The HTTP…
read the full SuperTokens overview →
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Frequently asked questions
Is Better Auth or SuperTokens more popular?
Better Auth has 30,553 GitHub stars and SuperTokens has 15,340. Better Auth has the larger community by that measure.
Are Better Auth and SuperTokens free?
Both are open source. Better Auth is licensed under MIT, and SuperTokens has no licence declared in this registry. Both are free to self-host.
What is the difference between Better Auth and SuperTokens?
Better Auth is written in TypeScript and SuperTokens in Java. 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 SuperTokens?
Choose Better Auth if you want the larger community (30,553 stars) or its MIT licence terms. Choose SuperTokens if its feature set, stack or Custom / other licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.