head to head · open source
hydra vs Authgear
hydra has 17,646 GitHub stars, 1,619 forks, 98 open issues and last shipped 3 months ago. Authgear has 2,140 stars, 130 forks, 368 open issues and last shipped 2 days ago. hydra leads on adoption by 725% (17,646 vs 2,140 stars). hydra is written in Go under Apache-2.0; Authgear is written in Go under Apache-2.0. hydra has attracted 9% as many forks as stars, Authgear 6%. Authgear was the more recently maintained of the two, and both are self-hostable with no licence fee. The two share 2 topic tags (identity, oauth2), 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
| hydra | Authgear | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 18K | ★ 2.1K |
| License | Apache-2.0 | Apache-2.0 |
| Written in | Go | Go |
| Last push | 2026-07-29 | 2026-11-03 |
| Forks | ⑂ 1.6K | ⑂ 130 |
| Self-hosting | Yes | Yes |
| Data ownership | Your server | Your server |
pick hydra if
- You weight community size — 18K stars and counting
- You want the Apache-2.0 license terms
- Your stack matches Go
- You value the larger contributor base for long-term maintenance
pick Authgear if
- You want the Authgear feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the Apache-2.0 license terms
- Your stack matches Go
- You evaluated both and Authgear fits your workflow better
About hydra
Chat · Discussions · Newsletter · Docs · Try Ory Network · Jobs Ory Hydra is a hardened, OpenID Certified OAuth 2.0 Server and OpenID Connect Provider optimized for low latency, high throughput, and low resource consumption. It connects to your existing identity provider through a login and consent app, giving you absolute control over the user interface and experience. What is Ory Hydra? Why Ory Hydra OAuth2 and OpenID Connect: Open Standards OpenID Connect Certified Deployment options Use Ory Hydra on the Ory Network Self host Ory Hydra Quickstart Who is using Ory Hydra Ecosystem Ory Kratos: Identity and User…
read the full hydra overview →
About Authgear
📘 Docs ☁️ SaaS Cloud ✨ Demo 💬 Discord Authgear: Open source alternative to Auth0 / Clerk / Firebase Auth Authgear is an open source extensible turnkey solution for all of your consumer authentication needs. Authgear gets you started in 5 minutes with developer friendly SDKs and a comprehensive portal. Available for self hosting and on Authgear Cloud. With a wide range of out of the box features, it's perfect for SaaS product and multi apps ecosystem, such as: Passwordless login: Magic link/OTP with Email, SMS, WhatsApp Passkeys Pre built signup/login page Pre built user account settings page Biometric Login on…
read the full Authgear overview →
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Frequently asked questions
Is hydra or Authgear more popular?
hydra has 17,646 GitHub stars and Authgear has 2,140. hydra has the larger community by that measure.
Are hydra and Authgear free?
Both are open source. hydra is licensed under Apache-2.0 and Authgear under Apache-2.0. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between hydra and Authgear?
hydra is written in Go and Authgear 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, hydra or Authgear?
Choose hydra if you want the larger community (17,646 stars) or its Apache-2.0 licence terms. Choose Authgear if its feature set, stack or Apache-2.0 licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.