head to head · open source
casbin vs Sa-Token
casbin has 20,475 GitHub stars, 1,767 forks, 38 open issues and last shipped 3 days ago. Sa-Token has 19,107 stars, 2,913 forks, 111 open issues and last shipped 20 days ago. casbin leads on adoption by 7% (20,475 vs 19,107 stars). casbin is written in Go under Apache-2.0; Sa-Token is written in Java under Apache-2.0. casbin has attracted 9% as many forks as stars, Sa-Token 15%. casbin was the more recently maintained of the two, and both are self-hostable with no licence fee. The two share 1 topic tag (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 | Sa-Token | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 20K | ★ 19K |
| License | Apache-2.0 | Apache-2.0 |
| Written in | Go | Java |
| Last push | 2026-11-02 | 2026-10-16 |
| Forks | ⑂ 1.8K | ⑂ 2.9K |
| 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 Sa-Token if
- You want the Sa-Token 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 Sa-Token fits your workflow better
About casbin
Apache Casbin ==== News : still worry about how to write the correct Apache Casbin policy? Apache Casbin online editor is coming to help! Try it at: Apache Casbin is a powerful and efficient open source access control library for Golang projects. It provides support for enforcing authorization based on various access control models. All the languages supported by Apache Casbin: Table of contents Supported models How it works? Features Installation Documentation Online editor Tutorials Get started Policy management Policy persistence Policy consistence between multiple nodes Role manager Benchmarks Examples…
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About Sa-Token
简体中文 繁體中文 English 日本語 한국어 Русский Sa Token v1.46.0 ✨ 开源、免费、一站式 java 权限认证框架，让鉴权变得简单、优雅！ 在线文档： 需求提交 📝 前言： 回望 2020 年初，我为 Sa Token 提交第一行代码之际， 彼时市面上 Java 缺少的不仅是一个简洁好用的鉴权框架，更是一整套清晰、自洽的权限架构设计思想 。 因此，这几年间我将大量时间倾注在 Sa Token 的文档编写，几乎每一章节、每一句话、每一个字都经过反复修改、精细打磨，以求做到最清晰、干练、易懂的表述。 用心阅读文档，你学习到的将不止是 Sa Token 框架本身，更是绝大多数场景下权限认证设计的最佳实践 。 🛠️ Sa Token 介绍 Sa Token 是一个轻量级 Java 权限认证框架，目前拥有五大核心模块：登录认证、权限认证、单点登录、OAuth2.0、微服务鉴权。 你还在手搓以下功能？ Stop，让 Sa Token 来！ 要在 SpringBoot 项目中使用 Sa Token，你只需要在 pom.xml 中引入依赖： 除了支持 SpringBoot2、Sa Token 还为 SpringBoot3/4、Solon、JFinal 等常见 Web 框架提供集成包，做到真正的开箱即用。 简单示例展示： （点击展开 / 折叠） Sa Token…
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Frequently asked questions
Is casbin or Sa-Token more popular?
casbin has 20,475 GitHub stars and Sa-Token has 19,107. casbin has the larger community by that measure.
Are casbin and Sa-Token free?
Both are open source. casbin is licensed under Apache-2.0 and Sa-Token under Apache-2.0. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between casbin and Sa-Token?
casbin is written in Go and Sa-Token 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, casbin or Sa-Token?
Choose casbin if you want the larger community (20,475 stars) or its Apache-2.0 licence terms. Choose Sa-Token if its feature set, stack or Apache-2.0 licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.