head to head · open source
Sa-Token vs gokey
Sa-Token has 19,055 GitHub stars, 2,913 forks, 111 open issues and last shipped 4 days ago. gokey has 2,436 stars, 109 forks, 8 open issues and last shipped 2 months ago. Sa-Token leads on adoption by 682% (19,055 vs 2,436 stars). Sa-Token is written in Java under Apache-2.0; gokey is written in Go under BSD-3-Clause. Sa-Token has attracted 15% as many forks as stars, gokey 4%. Sa-Token was the more recently maintained of the two, and both are self-hostable with no licence fee.
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
| Sa-Token | gokey | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 19K | ★ 2.4K |
| License | Apache-2.0 | BSD-3-Clause |
| Written in | Java | Go |
| Last push | 2026-09-18 | 2026-07-10 |
| Forks | ⑂ 2.9K | ⑂ 109 |
| Self-hosting | Yes | Yes |
| Data ownership | Your server | Your server |
pick Sa-Token if
- You weight community size — 19K stars and counting
- You want the Apache-2.0 license terms
- Your stack matches Java
- You value the larger contributor base for long-term maintenance
pick gokey if
- You want the gokey feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the BSD-3-Clause license terms
- Your stack matches Go
- You evaluated both and gokey fits your workflow better
About Sa-Token
Sa Token is a free, open source, one stop Java authentication and authorization framework, licensed under Apache 2.0, that gives Java and Spring Boot developers login authentication, permission checks, distributed sessions, single sign on, OAuth2.0, gateway authentication, JWT integration, API key authorization and API parameter signing from a single dependency.
read the full Sa-Token overview →
About gokey
gokey is a vaultless password and key generator written in Go that derives passwords and cryptographic private keys on demand from a master password or a seed file instead of storing them in a vault, aimed at developers and system administrators who want deterministic credentials available anywhere without managing, backing up, or syncing a password store.
read the full gokey overview →
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Frequently asked questions
Is Sa-Token or gokey more popular?
Sa-Token has 19,055 GitHub stars and gokey has 2,436. Sa-Token has the larger community by that measure.
Are Sa-Token and gokey free?
Both are open source. Sa-Token is licensed under Apache-2.0 and gokey under BSD-3-Clause. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between Sa-Token and gokey?
Sa-Token is written in Java and gokey in Go. The practical differences are community size, licence terms, language stack and release cadence — all compared in the table above.
Which should I choose, Sa-Token or gokey?
Choose Sa-Token if you want the larger community (19,055 stars) or its Apache-2.0 licence terms. Choose gokey if its feature set, stack or BSD-3-Clause licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.