head to head · open source
JumpServer vs dex
JumpServer has 31,566 GitHub stars, 5,792 forks, 97 open issues and last shipped yesterday. dex has 11,097 stars, 1,981 forks, 547 open issues and last shipped yesterday. JumpServer leads on adoption by 184% (31,566 vs 11,097 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%. JumpServer 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
| JumpServer | dex | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 32K | ★ 11K |
| License | GPL-3.0 | Apache-2.0 |
| Written in | Python | Go |
| Last push | 2026-09-18 | 2026-09-18 |
| 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
JumpServer is an open source Privileged Access Management (PAM) platform built for DevOps and IT teams. It functions as a bastion host, enabling secure, on demand access to SSH, RDP, Kubernetes, databases, and RemoteApp endpoints via a web browser. The project lives in the Python/Django ecosystem and is licensed under GPL 3.0, with active community contributions and integrations.
read the full JumpServer overview →
About dex
Dex is an OpenID Connect (OIDC) and OAuth 2.0 identity provider written in Go and released under the Apache 2.0 licence, built for teams that want one authentication endpoint in front of many upstream identity sources instead of one integration per application.
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Frequently asked questions
Is JumpServer or dex more popular?
JumpServer has 31,566 GitHub stars and dex has 11,097. 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 (31,566 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.