Authelia vs authentik vs Logto
Authelia is a single Go binary that adds SSO and MFA in front of apps behind your reverse proxy. authentik is a full identity provider on Django with Go outposts for LDAP, RADIUS and proxying. Logto is a TypeScript/Koa OIDC and OAuth 2.1 platform aimed at SaaS apps that need multi-tenancy and RBAC.
- Authelia
- Go · Apache-2.0
- Authentik
- Python · NOASSERTION
- Logto
- TypeScript · MPL-2.0
- Updated
- 2026-09-25
Which one should you pick?
- You want to protect existing web apps at the reverse proxy with SSO and MFA
- You want one small Go binary with SQLite, MySQL or PostgreSQL
- You need WebAuthn passkeys, TOTP or Duo push
- You need a full IdP speaking SAML, OAuth2/OIDC, LDAP and RADIUS
- You want PostgreSQL to be the only stateful dependency (no Redis)
- You need multi-tenancy in a self-hosted IdP
- You are building a SaaS or AI product and need customer-facing auth
- You want OIDC/OAuth 2.1, multi-tenancy, enterprise SSO and RBAC in a TypeScript stack
- You want social and enterprise connectors as plugins
Side by side
| Attribute | Authelia | Authentik | Logto |
|---|---|---|---|
| Written in | GoTypeScript | PythonTypeScriptRust | TypeScriptSCSS |
| License | Apache-2.0 | NOASSERTION | MPL-2.0 |
| Frontend | ReactVite@simplewebauthn/browseri18next | LitViteStorybookDocusaurus | ReactViteSCSS |
| Backend & APIs | Gofasthttpauthelia.com/provider/oauth2go-webauthn/webauthngo-ldap/ldap | PythonDjangoDjango REST FrameworkDjango ChannelsRust (Axum) | Koa |
| Data & persistence | PostgreSQLMySQLSQLiteRedis | PostgreSQLdjango-channels-postgresdjango-postgres-cachedjango-dramatiq-postgres | PostgreSQLSlonik |
| Infrastructure & deploy | DockerBuildkite | DockerKubernetespnpm | DockerRenderpnpmGitHub Actions |
| Key decisions |
|
|
|
| Audited | 8da42b2 · 2026-09-17 | 836aad0 · 2026-09-17 | c12d89f · 2026-09-17 |
How they differ
What each one is
Authelia is an authentication portal, OIDC provider and MFA server compiled into one Go binary (fasthttp, its own OAuth2/OIDC provider), with a React portal embedded. It sits beside your reverse proxy and decides who may reach each app. authentik is a general identity provider: a Django core with Django REST Framework and Channels, a Lit web UI, and separate Go “outpost” binaries for legacy protocols. Logto is identity infrastructure for applications: a Koa OIDC/OAuth core with separate Console and Experience packages.
Storage
Authelia supports SQLite, MySQL and PostgreSQL by design and can use Redis for sessions. authentik runs on PostgreSQL alone, moving channels, cache and tasks off Redis. Logto uses PostgreSQL through a typed Slonik query layer instead of an ORM.
Extensibility
authentik treats multi-tenancy as a first-class dependency. Logto ships social and enterprise connectors as a plugin ecosystem. Authelia focuses on the reverse-proxy integration and a pluggable user backend (LDAP or a file).
Architecture diagrams
Frequently asked questions
Does authentik still need Redis?
The audited authentik codebase replaces Redis with PostgreSQL for channels, cache and the task queue, so PostgreSQL is its main stateful dependency.
Which of Authelia, authentik and Logto is written in Go?
Authelia's server is Go. authentik's core is Python/Django, with Go outposts and a Rust (Axum) workspace. Logto is TypeScript on Koa.
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