head to head · open source
JumpServer vs dex
JumpServer has 31,886 GitHub stars, 5,809 forks, 97 open issues and last shipped yesterday. dex has 11,227 stars, 2,015 forks, 547 open issues and last shipped yesterday. JumpServer leads on adoption by 184% (31,886 vs 11,227 stars). JumpServer is written in Python under GPL-3.0; dex is written in Go under Apache-2.0. JumpServer has attracted 18% as many forks as stars, dex 18%. dex 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.
← all 20902 open source comparisons
Side by side
| JumpServer | dex | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 32K | ★ 11K |
| License | GPL-3.0 | Apache-2.0 |
| Written in | Python | Go |
| Last push | 2026-11-02 | 2026-11-02 |
| Forks | ⑂ 5.8K | ⑂ 2.0K |
| Self-hosting | Yes | Yes |
| Data ownership | Your server | Your server |
pick JumpServer if
- You weight community size — 32K stars and counting
- You want the GPL-3.0 license terms
- Your stack matches Python
- You value the larger contributor base for long-term maintenance
pick dex if
- You want the dex 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 dex fits your workflow better
About JumpServer
An open source PAM platform (Bastion Host) [![][license shield]][license link] [![][docs shield]][docs link] [![][deepwiki shield]][deepwiki link] [![][discord shield]][discord link] [![][docker shield]][docker link] [![][github release shield]][github release link] [![][github stars shield]][github stars link] English · 中文(简体) · 中文(繁體) · 日本語 · Português (Brasil) · Español · Русский · 한국어 What is JumpServer? JumpServer is an open source Privileged Access Management (PAM) platform that provides DevOps and IT teams with on demand and secure access to SSH, RDP, Kubernetes, Database and RemoteApp endpoints through a…
read the full JumpServer overview →
About dex
dex A federated OpenID Connect provider Dex is an identity service that uses [OpenID Connect][openid connect] to drive authentication for other apps. Dex acts as a portal to other identity providers through "connectors." This lets dex defer authentication to LDAP servers, SAML providers, or established identity providers like GitHub, Google, and Active Directory. Clients write their authentication logic once to talk to dex, then dex handles the protocols for a given backend. ID Tokens ID Tokens are an OAuth2 extension introduced by OpenID Connect and dex's primary feature. ID Tokens are [JSON Web Tokens][jwt io]…
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 JumpServer or dex more popular?
JumpServer has 31,886 GitHub stars and dex has 11,227. JumpServer has the larger community by that measure.
Are JumpServer and dex free?
Both are open source. JumpServer is licensed under GPL-3.0 and dex under Apache-2.0. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between JumpServer and dex?
JumpServer is written in Python and dex 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, JumpServer or dex?
Choose JumpServer if you want the larger community (31,886 stars) or its GPL-3.0 licence terms. Choose dex if its feature set, stack or Apache-2.0 licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.