head to head · open source
pocket-id vs webauthn4j
pocket-id has 9,266 GitHub stars, 314 forks, 98 open issues and last shipped 2 days ago. webauthn4j has 593 stars, 99 forks, 16 open issues and last shipped 23 days ago. pocket-id leads on adoption by 1,463% (9,266 vs 593 stars). pocket-id is written in Go under BSD-2-Clause; webauthn4j is written in Java under Apache-2.0. pocket-id has attracted 3% as many forks as stars, webauthn4j 17%. 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 (passkeys), 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
| pocket-id | webauthn4j | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 9.3K | ★ 593 |
| License | BSD-2-Clause | Apache-2.0 |
| Written in | Go | Java |
| Last push | 2026-09-23 | 2026-09-02 |
| Forks | ⑂ 314 | ⑂ 99 |
| Self-hosting | Yes | Yes |
| Data ownership | Your server | Your server |
pick pocket-id if
- You weight community size — 9.3K stars and counting
- You want the BSD-2-Clause license terms
- Your stack matches Go
- You value the larger contributor base for long-term maintenance
pick webauthn4j if
- You want the webauthn4j 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 webauthn4j fits your workflow better
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 →
About webauthn4j
WebAuthn4J is a portable, Apache 2.0 licensed Java library that performs server side verification of WebAuthn and passkey ceremonies, aimed at Java and Kotlin teams that need to add FIDO2 relying party support to an existing application or identity platform.
read the full webauthn4j overview →
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Frequently asked questions
Is pocket-id or webauthn4j more popular?
pocket-id has 9,266 GitHub stars and webauthn4j has 593. pocket-id has the larger community by that measure.
Are pocket-id and webauthn4j free?
Both are open source. pocket-id is licensed under BSD-2-Clause and webauthn4j under Apache-2.0. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between pocket-id and webauthn4j?
pocket-id is written in Go and webauthn4j 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, pocket-id or webauthn4j?
Choose pocket-id if you want the larger community (9,266 stars) or its BSD-2-Clause licence terms. Choose webauthn4j if its feature set, stack or Apache-2.0 licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.