head to head · open source
Authentik vs Ory
Authentik has 25,647 GitHub stars, 2,029 forks, 1,074 open issues and last shipped yesterday. Ory has 13,883 stars, 1,186 forks, 224 open issues and last shipped 2 months ago. Authentik leads on adoption by 85% (25,647 vs 13,883 stars). Authentik is written in Python under a custom or non-standard licence; Ory is written in Go under Apache-2.0. Authentik has attracted 8% as many forks as stars, Ory 9%. Authentik 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
| Authentik | Ory | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 26K | ★ 14K |
| License | Custom / other | Apache-2.0 |
| Written in | Python | Go |
| Last push | 2026-09-19 | 2026-07-29 |
| Forks | ⑂ 2.0K | ⑂ 1.2K |
| Self-hosting | Yes | Yes |
| Data ownership | Your server | Your server |
pick Authentik if
- You weight community size — 26K stars and counting
- You want the Custom / other license terms
- Your stack matches Python
- You value the larger contributor base for long-term maintenance
pick Ory if
- You want the Ory 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 Ory fits your workflow better
About Authentik
Authentik is an open source Identity Provider (IdP) built for modern single sign on (SSO) workflows. It operates in the identity and access management (IAM) ecosystem, offering a self hosted alternative to commercial solutions like Auth0, Okta, and Entra ID. The project is written in Python and distributed under a mixed MIT/CC BY SA/enterprise license model, with a core open source offering and an enterprise tier for advanced features and support.
read the full Authentik overview →
About Ory
Ory Kratos is headless cloud native authentication and identity management system written in Go. It sits inside Ory stack and Security & Privacy / Identity & Access Management category. It exposes identity work over HTTP APIs. Services consume login, registration, recovery, verification, profile management instead of reimplementing them.
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Frequently asked questions
Is Authentik or Ory more popular?
Authentik has 25,647 GitHub stars and Ory has 13,883. Authentik has the larger community by that measure.
Are Authentik and Ory free?
Both are open source. Authentik has no licence declared in this registry, and Ory is licensed under Apache-2.0. Both are free to self-host.
What is the difference between Authentik and Ory?
Authentik is written in Python and Ory 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, Authentik or Ory?
Choose Authentik if you want the larger community (25,647 stars) or its Custom / other licence terms. Choose Ory if its feature set, stack or Apache-2.0 licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.