head to head · open source
hydra vs Hexclave
hydra has 17,647 GitHub stars, 1,618 forks, 98 open issues and last shipped 3 months ago. Hexclave has 6,887 stars, 528 forks, 65 open issues and last shipped yesterday. hydra leads on adoption by 156% (17,647 vs 6,887 stars). hydra is written in Go under Apache-2.0; Hexclave is written in TypeScript under a custom or non-standard licence. hydra has attracted 9% as many forks as stars, Hexclave 8%. Hexclave was the more recently maintained of the two, and both are self-hostable with no licence fee. The two share 2 topic tags (authorization, 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
| hydra | Hexclave | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 18K | ★ 6.9K |
| License | Apache-2.0 | Custom / other |
| Written in | Go | TypeScript |
| Last push | 2026-07-29 | 2026-11-04 |
| Forks | ⑂ 1.6K | ⑂ 528 |
| 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 Hexclave if
- You want the Hexclave feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the Custom / other license terms
- Your stack matches TypeScript
- You evaluated both and Hexclave 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 Hexclave
Hexclave The user infrastructure platform. Hexclave handles everything around your users: authentication, teams, payments, emails, analytics, and much more. Get started with our AI prompt below. Website · Docs · Dashboard · Discord Get started Setting up Hexclave is one prompt. Paste this into your coding agent of choice: For AI agents If you're an AI coding agent, use your web fetch tool or curl the skill documentation for up to date integration instructions: What's included Hexclave ships as a catalog of apps you switch on as your product needs them. Each one is built on the same user model, and new apps land…
read the full Hexclave overview →
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Frequently asked questions
Is hydra or Hexclave more popular?
hydra has 17,647 GitHub stars and Hexclave has 6,887. hydra has the larger community by that measure.
Are hydra and Hexclave free?
Both are open source. hydra is licensed under Apache-2.0, and Hexclave has no licence declared in this registry. Both are free to self-host.
What is the difference between hydra and Hexclave?
hydra is written in Go and Hexclave in TypeScript. 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 Hexclave?
Choose hydra if you want the larger community (17,647 stars) or its Apache-2.0 licence terms. Choose Hexclave if its feature set, stack or Custom / other licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.