Open source authentication projects

Every project in the registry tagged authentication, ranked by real GitHub adoption.

projects 17 combined stars ★ 229K refresh nightly
01 PocketBase ★ 61K

Open-source backend in a single file

last push35 hours ago languageGo licenseMIT
02 Better Auth ★ 30K

Framework-agnostic authentication for TypeScript applications

last push8 hours ago languageTypeScript licenseMIT
03 Authentik ★ 26K

Take control of your identity with a secure, flexible solution

last push4 hours ago languagePython license
04 SuperTokens ★ 15K

Secure, customizable authentication for your applications

last push4 days ago languageJava license
05 Zitadel ★ 15K

Secure, customizable identity infrastructure for developers

last push5 hours ago languageGo licenseAGPL-3.0
06 Logto ★ 15K

Secure, seamless authentication for modern applications

last push9 hours ago languageTypeScript licenseMPL-2.0
07 fastapi_mcp ★ 12K

Expose your FastAPI endpoints as Model Context Protocol (MCP) tools, with Auth!

last push10 months ago languagePython licenseMIT
08 NHost ★ 9.3K

Serverless backend platform for modern app development

last push5 hours ago languageGo licenseMIT
09 hanko ★ 9.0K

last push3 hours ago languageGo license
10 Hexclave ★ 6.9K

Modular auth, payments, emails, and analytics for your product

last push5 hours ago languageTypeScript license
11 go-grpc-middleware ★ 6.8K

Golang gRPC Middlewares: interceptor chaining, auth, logging, retries and more.

last push21 days ago languageGo licenseApache-2.0
12 firebase-ios-sdk ★ 6.7K

Firebase SDK for Apple App Development

last push4 hours ago languageC++ licenseApache-2.0
13 Cosmos Server ★ 6.2K

Self-hosted cloud platform with automated security

last push12 days ago languageGo license
14 UnKey ★ 5.4K

Secure, scalable API key management for developers

last push4 hours ago languageGo license
15 Defguard ★ 2.8K

Zero-Trust VPN with built-in 2FA/MFA and SSO capabilities

last push9 hours ago languageRust license
16 Authgear ★ 2.1K

Managed identity and access management for any app

last push15 hours ago languageGo licenseApache-2.0
17 wp-discourse ★ 544

WordPress plugin that lets you use Discourse as the community engine for a WordPress blog

last push3 days ago languagePHP licenseGPL-3.0

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Frequently asked questions

How many open source authentication projects are there?

This registry tracks 17 projects tagged authentication, with 229,236 GitHub stars between them. The most-adopted is PocketBase at 61,070 stars.

Are these authentication projects free to use?

Yes — 10 of the 17 carry an explicit open-source licence across 5 distinct licences, so there is no licence fee. Where a project also sells a hosted or enterprise version, the self-hosted path remains free.

Which authentication project should I choose?

The list above is ranked by GitHub stars, but stars measure attention rather than fit. Check three things on each card: the licence (permissive versus copyleft), the language it is written in, and the last-push date — a high-star project that has not been pushed in a year is a liability.

Are these authentication projects still maintained?

16 of the 17 were pushed in the last 90 days, and every card shows its exact last-push date so you can see the rest. Sort your shortlist by that date before committing to a migration.