head to head · open source
Logto vs pac4j
Logto has 14,646 GitHub stars, 1,215 forks, 183 open issues and last shipped yesterday. pac4j has 2,530 stars, 711 forks, 5 open issues and last shipped yesterday. Logto leads on adoption by 479% (14,646 vs 2,530 stars). Logto is written in TypeScript under MPL-2.0; pac4j is written in Java under Apache-2.0. Logto has attracted 8% as many forks as stars, pac4j 28%. pac4j was the more recently maintained of the two, and both are self-hostable with no licence fee. The two share 6 topic tags (authentication, authorization, identity, jwt), 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
| Logto | pac4j | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 15K | ★ 2.5K |
| License | MPL-2.0 | Apache-2.0 |
| Written in | TypeScript | Java |
| Last push | 2026-09-30 | 2026-09-30 |
| Forks | ⑂ 1.2K | ⑂ 711 |
| Self-hosting | Yes | Yes |
| Data ownership | Your server | Your server |
pick Logto if
- You weight community size — 15K stars and counting
- You want the MPL-2.0 license terms
- Your stack matches TypeScript
- You value the larger contributor base for long-term maintenance
pick pac4j if
- You want the pac4j feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the Apache-2.0 license terms
- Your stack matches Java
- You evaluated both and pac4j fits your workflow better
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 →
About pac4j
pac4j is a security engine for Java that adds authentication and authorization — across OpenID Connect, SAML 2, CAS, OAuth, JWT, LDAP and more — to any Java framework through one shared API.
read the full pac4j overview →
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Frequently asked questions
Is Logto or pac4j more popular?
Logto has 14,646 GitHub stars and pac4j has 2,530. Logto has the larger community by that measure.
Are Logto and pac4j free?
Both are open source. Logto is licensed under MPL-2.0 and pac4j under Apache-2.0. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between Logto and pac4j?
Logto is written in TypeScript and pac4j in Java. The practical differences are community size, licence terms, language stack and release cadence — all compared in the table above.
Which should I choose, Logto or pac4j?
Choose Logto if you want the larger community (14,646 stars) or its MPL-2.0 licence terms. Choose pac4j if its feature set, stack or Apache-2.0 licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.