authentik vs SuperTokens
Both are alternatives to Auth0. Here's how they stack up — verified facts, no spin.
authentik
A modern, self-hostable identity provider with a flexible visual flow builder.
authentik is a self-hosted identity provider built around a visual 'flow' system that lets you customize login, enrollment, and recovery steps without deep protocol expertise. It supports OIDC, SAML, LDAP, SCIM, and social login, and ships as a straightforward Docker Compose or Helm deployment aimed at teams who want Keycloak-class capability with a friendlier setup experience.
SuperTokens
A developer-friendly, self-hostable auth core built for fast integration into existing apps.
SuperTokens is an authentication solution built to drop into an existing app quickly, with official SDKs for popular frontend and backend frameworks and pre-built session-management, MFA, and passwordless flows. It ships a self-hostable core service plus a managed cloud option, aimed at teams that want Auth0-like integration speed without the recurring per-MAU cost.
Side by side
| authentik | SuperTokens | |
|---|---|---|
| Sovereignty Score | 85 | 80 |
| Open source | Yes | Yes |
| Self-hostable | Yes | Yes |
| Local-first | Yes | Yes |
| License | MIT (core); authentik/enterprise/ subdirectory carries its own separate license for paid enterprise features | Apache-2.0 (core); ee/ subdirectory carries its own separate license for paid enterprise features |
| Pricing | Free / self-host for the core MIT-licensed product; a hosted 'authentik Security' cloud offering and an Enterprise tier (support SLA, extra features under the separate enterprise/ license) are available paid. | Free / self-host for the Apache-2.0 core; a managed SuperTokens cloud and a paid Enterprise tier (SSO/SAML, advanced MFA policies under the ee/ license) are available for teams that want those features or don't want to self-host. |
authentik edges it on the Sovereignty Score, but the right pick depends on the trade-offs below.
authentik
Strengths
- +Genuinely MIT-licensed for the core product — no AGPL copyleft concerns for embedding or forking
- +Visual flow builder makes multi-step login/enrollment/recovery customization far more approachable than editing raw protocol config
- +Good out-of-box support for LDAP and SCIM alongside OIDC/SAML, useful for bridging older enterprise directories
- +Active, fast-moving project with frequent releases
Trade-offs
- −The enterprise/ directory ships under authentik's own separate license, not MIT — some advanced features are gated behind the paid tier even when self-hosting the core
- −Younger and smaller community than Keycloak, so fewer third-party guides and Stack Overflow answers exist for edge cases
- −Flow builder flexibility means misconfiguration is possible; production hardening still requires real identity-ops knowledge
SuperTokens
Strengths
- +Genuinely permissive Apache-2.0 core license for self-hosting the base authentication service
- +SDK-first design with strong framework coverage makes initial integration noticeably faster than headless-only alternatives
- +Built-in session-management primitives (rotating refresh tokens, anti-CSRF) are handled for you rather than left to the integrator
- +Free self-hosted core has no MAU cap, unlike Auth0's metered model
Trade-offs
- −Enterprise SSO/SAML and some advanced MFA policies live behind the separately-licensed ee/ directory, not the free core — verify feature-tier fit before committing
- −Smaller community and third-party plugin ecosystem than Keycloak
- −Fewer built-in identity-brokering options (LDAP, legacy enterprise directories) than Keycloak or authentik out of the box
Facts verified 2026-07-14. Licenses and pricing change — spotted something out of date? That's a correction we want.