goauthentik/authentik

Analysis updated 2026-06-21

★ 21,347PythonAudience · ops devopsComplexity · 4/5LicenseSetup · moderate

Mindmap

mindmap
  root((repo))
    What it does
      User login
      Access management
      SSO provider
    Protocols
      OAuth2 OIDC
      SAML
      LDAP RADIUS
    Deployment
      Docker Compose
      Kubernetes Helm
      DigitalOcean
    Use cases
      Replace Okta
      Home lab auth
      Enterprise SSO
    Audience
      DevOps engineers
      Self-hosters

mindmap root((repo)) What it does User login Access management SSO provider Protocols OAuth2 OIDC SAML LDAP RADIUS Deployment Docker Compose Kubernetes Helm DigitalOcean Use cases Replace Okta Home lab auth Enterprise SSO Audience DevOps engineers Self-hosters

Click or tap to explore — scroll the page freely

What do people build with it?

USE CASE 1

Replace Okta or Auth0 with a self-hosted single sign-on system for your internal tools and apps.

USE CASE 2

Add OAuth2 or OIDC login to a home lab application without depending on a third-party service.

USE CASE 3

Manage user access and permissions across multiple apps from one centralized identity dashboard.

USE CASE 4

Deploy enterprise-grade identity management on Kubernetes using the official Helm chart.

What is it built with?

PythonDockerKubernetesHelm

How does it compare?

	goauthentik/authentik	ahujasid/blender-mcp	mementum/backtrader
Stars	21,347	21,335	21,413
Language	Python	Python	Python
Setup difficulty	moderate	hard	easy
Complexity	4/5	3/5	3/5
Audience	ops devops	developer	developer

Figures from each repo's GitHub metadata at analysis time.

How do you get it running?

Difficulty · moderate Time to first run · 30min

Docker Compose deployment is beginner-friendly, Kubernetes with Helm requires more infrastructure planning.

Use freely for any purpose including commercial, enterprise features require a separate commercial license.

In plain English

authentik is an open-source Identity Provider, which means it handles login and authentication for other apps and services. Think of it as the "who are you?" layer that sits in front of your tools, it verifies users and manages who has access to what. It supports widely-used standards like OAuth2, OIDC, SAML, LDAP, and RADIUS, so it can integrate with a broad range of software. The project is designed for self-hosting, meaning you run it on your own infrastructure rather than relying on a third-party service. It scales from small home lab setups to large production environments. Installation is available via Docker Compose for smaller or test deployments, Kubernetes with a Helm chart for larger setups, AWS CloudFormation for Amazon cloud deployments, and a one-click option through the DigitalOcean Marketplace. authentik positions itself as a self-hosted replacement for commercial identity services like Okta, Auth0, Entra ID, and Ping Identity. An enterprise offering is available for organizations that need large-scale identity management. The project is MIT licensed (with a separate enterprise license for enterprise features) and has a translation program via Transifex for multiple languages. It has over 21,000 GitHub stars, indicating wide community adoption.

Copy-paste prompts

Prompt 1

How do I set up authentik with Docker Compose and configure it as an OAuth2 provider for my app?

Prompt 2

Walk me through configuring SAML authentication in authentik to connect an enterprise application.

Prompt 3

How do I integrate authentik with an existing LDAP directory so users can log in with their existing credentials?

Prompt 4

Show me how to configure authentik as a Kubernetes ingress authentication layer using the outpost proxy.

Prompt 5

How do I set up multi-factor authentication in authentik for all users in my organization?

Frequently asked questions

What is authentik?

authentik is a self-hosted login and identity management system that handles user authentication for your apps using industry-standard protocols like OAuth2, SAML, and LDAP, a replacement for Okta or Auth0 you run yourself.

What language is authentik written in?

Mainly Python. The stack also includes Python, Docker, Kubernetes.

What license does authentik use?

Use freely for any purpose including commercial, enterprise features require a separate commercial license.

How hard is authentik to set up?

Setup difficulty is rated moderate, with roughly 30min to a first successful run.

Who is authentik for?

Mainly ops devops.

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