Authelia vs Authentik: Which Self-Hosted Identity Provider is Better in 2025?
- Philip Moses
- Sep 23
- 3 min read
When it comes to securing self-hosted apps, two open-source identity providers stand out in 2025: Authelia and Authentik. Both give you single sign-on (SSO), multi-factor authentication (MFA), and a way to control who gets access to your apps. But they take very different approaches.
👉 In this blog, we’ll explain what Authelia and Authentik are, compare their features, ease of use, and community support, and help you decide which one is right for you.
What is Authelia?
Authelia is a lightweight, open-source authentication server. It works alongside reverse proxies like Traefik or Nginx to protect your web apps. Once set up, it shows a login portal where users sign in with a password and second factor (like TOTP or a passkey).
License & model: Fully open-source (Apache 2.0), no paid edition.
Focus: Web SSO and MFA for self-hosted services.
Notable in 2025: Authelia is now OIDC certified and supports passwordless login with Passkeys.
It’s popular among homelab users and small teams who want a fast, secure way to gate apps without paying for cloud IdPs.
What is Authentik?
Authentik is a full identity provider platform that can replace commercial solutions like Okta or Auth0. It supports a wide range of authentication methods including OIDC, OAuth2, SAML2, LDAP, and RADIUS.
License & model: Open-source core (MIT license), with paid Pro/Enterprise editions from Authentik Security.
Focus: Complete SSO, user directory, and identity management.
Notable in 2025: Authentik now supports mutual TLS login and enhanced LDAP sync.
It’s built for both hobbyists and enterprises. Small teams can use the free version, while larger orgs can add enterprise features like advanced audit logs and compliance tools.
Key Features Compared
Authelia Highlights:
Lightweight: 20 MB Docker image, ~30 MB RAM.
Strong MFA options: TOTP, Duo, WebAuthn, Passkeys.
Access rules: restrict apps by user, group, network, or path.
Config-file driven (YAML), no GUI.
Authentik Highlights:
Supports OIDC, SAML, LDAP, RADIUS, SCIM, Kerberos.
Visual flow editor for building custom login steps.
Built-in user dashboard and admin portal.
Includes application proxy and secure remote access gateway.
User Experience
Authelia: Minimalist. End users only see a login page and password reset screen. No user dashboard. Admins configure everything in YAML.
Authentik: Rich web interface. Users get an app dashboard. Admins can manage apps, policies, and MFA directly in the browser.
Deployment and Setup
Authelia: Very easy to deploy. Runs in Docker or Kubernetes, uses YAML config. Lightweight and quick to set up, but requires manual config.
Authentik: Heavier. Needs PostgreSQL and a large container image (~690 MB). More steps at install, but once it’s running, most tasks are GUI-driven.
Community and Ecosystem in 2025
Authelia: ~25k GitHub stars. Community-driven, donation-funded, with active Discord and regular updates.
Authentik: ~18k GitHub stars. Backed by a company (Authentik Security), frequent releases, official enterprise support, and connectors for Google/Microsoft.
Pros and Cons
Authelia Pros:
Free forever, no paid tier.
Lightweight and fast.
Modern MFA and OIDC certified.
Authelia Cons:
No SAML support yet.
No GUI, config only.
Limited to web SSO use cases.
Authentik Pros:
Feature-rich: OIDC, SAML, LDAP, RADIUS, SCIM.
GUI with user and admin dashboards.
Scales from homelab to enterprise.
Authentik Cons:
Heavy on resources.
Setup more complex.
Some features locked behind paid plans.
Conclusion
In 2025, Authelia vs Authentik comes down to your needs:
Choose Authelia if you want a lightweight, no-cost SSO + MFA solution for web apps, with simple config and low resource use.
Choose Authentik if you need a full identity provider with a GUI, SAML support, and enterprise-grade features – even if it’s heavier and more complex.
Both tools are improving fast, but the bottom line is simple: Authelia is great for simplicity, Authentik is great for flexibility.
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