head to head · open source
casbin vs Logto
casbin has 20,399 GitHub stars, 1,756 forks, 38 open issues and last shipped 9 days ago. Logto has 14,599 stars, 1,212 forks, 183 open issues and last shipped today. casbin leads on adoption by 40% (20,399 vs 14,599 stars). casbin is written in Go under Apache-2.0; Logto is written in TypeScript under MPL-2.0. casbin has attracted 9% as many forks as stars, Logto 8%. Logto was the more recently maintained of the two, and both are self-hostable with no licence fee. The two share 2 topic tags (authentication, authorization), 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
| casbin | Logto | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 20K | ★ 15K |
| License | Apache-2.0 | MPL-2.0 |
| Written in | Go | TypeScript |
| Last push | 2026-09-11 | 2026-09-20 |
| Forks | ⑂ 1.8K | ⑂ 1.2K |
| Self-hosting | Yes | Yes |
| Data ownership | Your server | Your server |
pick casbin if
- You weight community size — 20K 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 Logto if
- You want the Logto feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the MPL-2.0 license terms
- Your stack matches TypeScript
- You evaluated both and Logto fits your workflow better
About casbin
Apache Casbin is an Apache licensed authorization library for Go that helps developers enforce access control models such as ACL, RBAC, and ABAC inside their own applications rather than in a separate service.
read the full casbin overview →
About Logto
Logto is an open source authentication and authorization infrastructure for SaaS and AI applications. It is written in TypeScript, licensed under MPL 2.0, and positioned as an open alternative to Auth0. The project sits in the identity and access management ecosystem, where it provides a central service for login, consent, tokens, user directories, and access control.
read the full Logto overview →
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Frequently asked questions
Is casbin or Logto more popular?
casbin has 20,399 GitHub stars and Logto has 14,599. casbin has the larger community by that measure.
Are casbin and Logto free?
Both are open source. casbin is licensed under Apache-2.0 and Logto under MPL-2.0. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between casbin and Logto?
casbin is written in Go and Logto 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, casbin or Logto?
Choose casbin if you want the larger community (20,399 stars) or its Apache-2.0 licence terms. Choose Logto if its feature set, stack or MPL-2.0 licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.