Open-Awesome
CategoriesAlternativesStacksSelf-HostedExplore
Open-Awesome

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

TermsPrivacyAboutGitHubRSS
  1. Home
  2. Next.js
  3. next-auth

next-auth

ISCTypeScriptnext-auth@4.24.14

A flexible, secure authentication library for modern web applications, supporting OAuth, email/passwordless, and passkeys across any JavaScript runtime.

Visit WebsiteGitHubGitHub
28.2k stars4.0k forks0 contributors

What is next-auth?

Auth.js is an open-source authentication library for modern web applications, built on standard Web APIs. It provides a flexible, secure solution for implementing authentication with support for OAuth, email/passwordless, passkeys, and database-agnostic sessions, working across any JavaScript runtime and framework.

Target Audience

Full-stack developers building web applications with JavaScript/TypeScript who need a robust, customizable authentication system that works with any backend or frontend framework.

Value Proposition

Developers choose Auth.js for its open-source nature, flexibility to work with or without a database, strong security defaults, and ability to run anywhere—from Docker to serverless environments—while maintaining full control over authentication data.

Overview

Authentication for the Web.

Use Cases

Best For

  • Implementing OAuth and OpenID Connect in Next.js or React applications
  • Adding passwordless email authentication to a web app
  • Building secure authentication for serverless or edge runtime applications
  • Creating a custom authentication flow with multiple database backends
  • Integrating passkeys/WebAuthn for modern, phishing-resistant sign-in
  • Developing full-stack applications that require stateless authentication without a database

Not Ideal For

  • Projects needing out-of-the-box, zero-configuration authentication with pre-built UI components
  • Legacy applications requiring non-standard authentication protocols not covered by OAuth or OIDC
  • Teams preferring fully managed authentication services over self-hosted solutions

Pros & Cons

Pros

Broad Authentication Support

Supports OAuth 2.0+, OIDC, email/passwordless, and passkeys with built-in providers for services like Google and GitHub, as highlighted in the README for flexible sign-in options.

Database Flexibility

Works with or without a database, offering adapters for MySQL, PostgreSQL, MongoDB, and more, allowing developers to own their data and choose backends freely.

Strong Security Defaults

Promotes passwordless sign-in, uses CSRF tokens, and encrypts JWTs by default following OWASP guidance, ensuring secure authentication out of the box.

Runtime Versatility

Runs anywhere including Docker, Node.js, and serverless environments, making it suitable for diverse deployment scenarios as stated in the README.

Cons

Configuration Complexity

Setting up custom providers, adapters, and advanced session management requires significant manual configuration, which can be daunting for simpler projects.

No Built-in UI

Lacks pre-styled UI components for sign-in pages, forcing developers to build interfaces from scratch, adding to development time.

Transition Uncertainty

With the project now part of Better Auth and recommendations to use it for new projects, there may be breaking changes or reduced focus on Auth.js, as noted in the README.

Frequently Asked Questions

Quick Stats

Stars28,194
Forks4,046
Contributors0
Open Issues386
Last commit9 days ago
CreatedSince 2018

Tags

#oauth#open-source#oauth2#authentication#nextjs#jwt#database-agnostic#security#passwordless#nodejs#typescript#full-stack#csrf#oidc#react#webauthn

Built With

T
TypeScript
N
Node.js
D
Docker

Links & Resources

Website

Included in

Next.js11.1k
Auto-fetched 1 day ago

Related Projects

CopilotKitCopilotKit

The Frontend Stack for Agents & Generative UI. React + Angular. Makers of the AG-UI Protocol

Stars30,382
Forks3,925
Last commit1 day ago
ai-sdkai-sdk

The AI Toolkit for TypeScript. From the creators of Next.js, the AI SDK is a free open-source library for building AI-powered applications and agents

Stars23,714
Forks4,253
Last commit1 day ago
Next SEONext SEO

Next SEO is a plug in that makes managing your SEO easier in Next.js projects.

Stars8,371
Forks436
Last commit2 months ago
Serverless Framework plugin for Next.jsServerless Framework plugin for Next.js

⚡ Deploy your Next.js apps on AWS Lambda@Edge via Serverless Components

Stars4,469
Forks453
Last commit1 year 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