head to head · open source
tinyauth vs mod_auth_openidc
tinyauth has 8,314 GitHub stars, 276 forks, 41 open issues and last shipped today. mod_auth_openidc has 1,096 stars, 332 forks, 0 open issues and last shipped 2 days ago. tinyauth leads on adoption by 659% (8,314 vs 1,096 stars). tinyauth is written in Go under AGPL-3.0; mod_auth_openidc is written in C under Apache-2.0. tinyauth has attracted 3% as many forks as stars, mod_auth_openidc 30%. tinyauth was the more recently maintained of the two, and both are self-hostable with no licence fee. The two share 3 topic tags (authentication, oidc, sso), 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
| tinyauth | mod_auth_openidc | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 8.3K | ★ 1.1K |
| License | AGPL-3.0 | Apache-2.0 |
| Written in | Go | C |
| Last push | 2026-10-03 | 2026-10-01 |
| Forks | ⑂ 276 | ⑂ 332 |
| Self-hosting | Yes | Yes |
| Data ownership | Your server | Your server |
pick tinyauth if
- You weight community size — 8.3K stars and counting
- You want the AGPL-3.0 license terms
- Your stack matches Go
- You value the larger contributor base for long-term maintenance
pick mod_auth_openidc if
- You want the mod_auth_openidc feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the Apache-2.0 license terms
- Your stack matches C
- You evaluated both and mod_auth_openidc fits your workflow better
About tinyauth
Tinyauth is a small Go authentication and authorization server that runs either as authentication middleware in front of self hosted applications or as a standalone authentication server, and it is aimed at self hosters and homelab operators who want OpenID Certified™ single sign on without deploying a large identity platform.
read the full tinyauth overview →
About mod_auth_openidc
mod auth openidc is an OpenID Certified™ authentication and authorization module for the Apache 2.x HTTP server, aimed at administrators and developers who want to protect web applications with OpenID Connect and FAPI 2 Relying Party support.
read the full mod_auth_openidc overview →
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Frequently asked questions
Is tinyauth or mod_auth_openidc more popular?
tinyauth has 8,314 GitHub stars and mod_auth_openidc has 1,096. tinyauth has the larger community by that measure.
Are tinyauth and mod_auth_openidc free?
Both are open source. tinyauth is licensed under AGPL-3.0 and mod_auth_openidc under Apache-2.0. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between tinyauth and mod_auth_openidc?
tinyauth is written in Go and mod_auth_openidc in C. The practical differences are community size, licence terms, language stack and release cadence — all compared in the table above.
Which should I choose, tinyauth or mod_auth_openidc?
Choose tinyauth if you want the larger community (8,314 stars) or its AGPL-3.0 licence terms. Choose mod_auth_openidc if its feature set, stack or Apache-2.0 licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.