head to head · open source
Better Auth vs xxl-sso
Better Auth has 30,102 GitHub stars, 2,919 forks, 723 open issues and last shipped yesterday. xxl-sso has 2,010 stars, 828 forks, 2 open issues and last shipped yesterday. Better Auth leads on adoption by 1,398% (30,102 vs 2,010 stars). Better Auth is written in TypeScript under MIT; xxl-sso is written in Java under GPL-3.0. Better Auth has attracted 10% as many forks as stars, xxl-sso 41%. xxl-sso 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.
← all 20902 open source comparisons
Side by side
| Better Auth | xxl-sso | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 30K | ★ 2.0K |
| License | MIT | GPL-3.0 |
| Written in | TypeScript | Java |
| Last push | 2026-09-27 | 2026-09-27 |
| Forks | ⑂ 2.9K | ⑂ 828 |
| 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 xxl-sso if
- You want the xxl-sso feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the GPL-3.0 license terms
- Your stack matches Java
- You evaluated both and xxl-sso 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 xxl-sso
XXL SSO is a lightweight, extensible, Java based distributed single sign on framework, released under GPL 3.0, that lets a user log in once and then reach every trusted application, and it is aimed at teams building authentication into a single web application, a cross domain enterprise estate, or a multi terminal front end/back end separated system.
read the full xxl-sso overview →
More in Security & Privacy
Related comparisons
More Identity & Access Management (IAM) projects
Compare either of these against the rest of the Identity & Access Management (IAM) field.
Frequently asked questions
Is Better Auth or xxl-sso more popular?
Better Auth has 30,102 GitHub stars and xxl-sso has 2,010. Better Auth has the larger community by that measure.
Are Better Auth and xxl-sso free?
Both are open source. Better Auth is licensed under MIT and xxl-sso under GPL-3.0. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between Better Auth and xxl-sso?
Better Auth is written in TypeScript and xxl-sso 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 xxl-sso?
Choose Better Auth if you want the larger community (30,102 stars) or its MIT licence terms. Choose xxl-sso if its feature set, stack or GPL-3.0 licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.