Open-Awesome
CategoriesAlternativesStacksSelf-HostedExplore
Open-Awesome

© 2026 Open-Awesome. Curated for the developer elite.

TermsPrivacyAboutGitHubRSS
  1. Home
  2. IAM
  3. Authentik

Authentik

NOASSERTIONPythonversion/2026.5.2

An open-source Identity Provider (IdP) for modern SSO, supporting SAML, OAuth2/OIDC, LDAP, RADIUS, and more.

Visit WebsiteGitHubGitHub
21.9k stars1.6k forks0 contributors

What is Authentik?

authentik is an open-source Identity Provider (IdP) that provides modern single sign-on (SSO) capabilities. It supports a wide range of authentication protocols including SAML, OAuth2/OIDC, LDAP, and RADIUS, designed to be self-hosted from small labs to large production environments. It solves the problem of centralized, secure identity management without relying on proprietary cloud services.

Target Audience

System administrators, DevOps engineers, and organizations needing a self-hosted identity solution for internal or customer-facing applications.

Value Proposition

Developers choose authentik for its comprehensive protocol support, scalability, and the ability to fully control their identity infrastructure. Its open-source nature and self-hosting capabilities provide a cost-effective and flexible alternative to commercial identity providers.

Overview

The authentication glue you need.

Use Cases

Best For

  • Replacing commercial identity providers like Okta or Auth0 with a self-hosted solution
  • Implementing SSO for internal enterprise applications
  • Managing authentication for Kubernetes clusters or containerized environments
  • Integrating legacy systems using LDAP or RADIUS with modern web apps
  • Building a centralized identity platform for development labs or testing environments
  • Deploying identity management on cloud platforms like AWS or DigitalOcean

Not Ideal For

  • Teams needing a fully managed, cloud-hosted identity service with zero infrastructure maintenance
  • Quick prototypes or MVPs where immediate, minimal-configuration authentication is prioritized
  • Organizations requiring vendor-provided SLAs and dedicated support for strict compliance

Pros & Cons

Pros

Broad Protocol Support

Supports SAML, OAuth2/OIDC, LDAP, and RADIUS, enabling integration with diverse legacy and modern systems as highlighted in the README.

Flexible Deployment Options

Offers deployment via Docker Compose, Kubernetes, AWS CloudFormation, and DigitalOcean Marketplace, catering to various infrastructure setups per the installation documentation.

Scalable Architecture

Designed to handle identity management from small labs to large production clusters, ensuring it grows with organizational needs as stated in the README.

Modern User Interface

Provides light and dark mode interfaces for application and admin management, improving usability across different preferences.

Cons

Self-Hosting Complexity

Requires setup and ongoing maintenance of Docker or Kubernetes infrastructure, which can be resource-intensive for teams without DevOps expertise.

Limited Commercial Support

The open-source version relies on community and documentation, lacking formal support channels compared to the enterprise offering mentioned in the README.

Feature Gaps vs. Proprietary Solutions

May lack advanced integrations or features found in commercial IdPs like Okta or Auth0, as the README positions the enterprise version for robust, large-scale use.

Open Source Alternative To

Authentik is an open-source alternative to the following products:

Auth0
Auth0

Auth0 is a cloud-based identity and access management platform that provides authentication and authorization services for applications. It supports single sign-on, multi-factor authentication, and social login integrations.

Ping Identity
Ping Identity

Ping Identity provides enterprise identity and access management solutions, including single sign-on, multi-factor authentication, and API security.

Okta
Okta

An identity and access management platform that provides secure authentication, authorization, and user management for applications.

Entra ID
Entra ID

Entra ID (formerly Azure Active Directory) is Microsoft's cloud-based identity and access management service for enterprise applications.

Frequently Asked Questions

Quick Stats

Stars21,860
Forks1,642
Contributors0
Open Issues851
Last commit19 hours ago
CreatedSince 2019

Tags

#oauth2-server#oidc-client#oauth2#authentication#ldap#kubernetes#oidc-provider#radius#oauth2-client#sso#docker#oidc#saml#identity-provider#self-hosted

Built With

K
Kubernetes
H
Helm
A
AWS CloudFormation
D
Docker

Links & Resources

Website

Included in

IAM2.2kOpenID Connect99
Auto-fetched 19 hours ago

Related Projects

KeycloakKeycloak

Open Source Identity and Access Management For Modern Applications and Services

Stars34,783
Forks8,439
Last commit22 hours ago
Ory HydraOry Hydra

Internet-scale OpenID Certified™ OpenID Connect and OAuth2.1 provider that integrates with your user management through headless APIs. Solve OIDC/OAuth2 user cases over night. Consume as a service on Ory Network or self-host. Trusted by OpenAI and many others for scale and security. Written in Go.

Stars17,207
Forks1,576
Last commit3 days ago
ZitadelZitadel

ZITADEL - Identity infrastructure, simplified for you.

Stars13,977
Forks1,103
Last commit19 hours ago
CasdoorCasdoor

An open-source Agent-first Identity and Access Management (IAM) /LLM MCP & agent gateway and auth server with web UI supporting OpenClaw, MCP, OAuth, OIDC, SAML, CAS, LDAP, SCIM, WebAuthn, TOTP, MFA, Face ID, Google Workspace, Azure AD

Stars13,745
Forks1,707
Last commit3 days ago
Community-curated · Updated weekly · 100% open source

Found a gem we're missing?

Open-Awesome is built by the community, for the community. Submit a project, suggest an awesome list, or help improve the catalog on GitHub.

Submit a projectStar on GitHub