head to head · open source
oauth2-proxy vs pocket-id
oauth2-proxy has 14,982 GitHub stars, 2,196 forks, 285 open issues and last shipped 2 days ago. pocket-id has 9,230 stars, 312 forks, 98 open issues and last shipped yesterday. oauth2-proxy leads on adoption by 62% (14,982 vs 9,230 stars). oauth2-proxy is written in Go under MIT; pocket-id is written in Go under BSD-2-Clause. oauth2-proxy has attracted 15% as many forks as stars, pocket-id 3%. pocket-id was the more recently maintained of the two, and both are self-hostable with no licence fee. The two share 1 topic tag (oidc), 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
| oauth2-proxy | pocket-id | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 15K | ★ 9.2K |
| License | MIT | BSD-2-Clause |
| Written in | Go | Go |
| Last push | 2026-09-18 | 2026-09-19 |
| Forks | ⑂ 2.2K | ⑂ 312 |
| Self-hosting | Yes | Yes |
| Data ownership | Your server | Your server |
pick oauth2-proxy if
- You weight community size — 15K stars and counting
- You want the MIT license terms
- Your stack matches Go
- You value the larger contributor base for long-term maintenance
pick pocket-id if
- You want the pocket-id feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the BSD-2-Clause license terms
- Your stack matches Go
- You evaluated both and pocket-id fits your workflow better
About oauth2-proxy
OAuth2 Proxy is an open source, MIT licensed reverse proxy and middleware written in Go that puts OAuth2 and OpenID Connect authentication in front of web applications, aimed at operators and platform teams who need single sign on without adding auth code to every app.
read the full oauth2-proxy overview →
About pocket-id
Pocket ID is a self hosted, OpenID Connect Certified™ and OAuth 2.0 provider, written in Go, that authenticates users with passkeys and passwords never, aimed at anyone who wants single sign on for their own applications without standing up a heavyweight identity platform.
read the full pocket-id overview →
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Frequently asked questions
Is oauth2-proxy or pocket-id more popular?
oauth2-proxy has 14,982 GitHub stars and pocket-id has 9,230. oauth2-proxy has the larger community by that measure.
Are oauth2-proxy and pocket-id free?
Both are open source. oauth2-proxy is licensed under MIT and pocket-id under BSD-2-Clause. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between oauth2-proxy and pocket-id?
oauth2-proxy is written in Go and pocket-id 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, oauth2-proxy or pocket-id?
Choose oauth2-proxy if you want the larger community (14,982 stars) or its MIT licence terms. Choose pocket-id if its feature set, stack or BSD-2-Clause licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.