What is the main difference between Authentik and Keycloak?

Authentik and Keycloak are both authentication & sso providers but differ in their approach, features, and target audience. Compare their GitHub stats, technology stack, and community adoption to make the best choice.

Which is better: Authentik or Keycloak?

The choice between Authentik and Keycloak depends on your specific needs, technical requirements, and team preferences. Both are quality open source solutions with active communities.

Can I migrate from Authentik to Keycloak?

Migration between Authentik and Keycloak is possible but requires careful planning. Consider data export/import capabilities, feature parity, and potential workflow changes.

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Authentik vs Keycloak

Learn how Authentik and Keycloak differ in their key features, development activity, technology stack and community adoption, so you can decide which of these authentication & sso providers is best for you.

Authentik

authentik is an open-source identity provider that offers self-hosted authentication, authorization, and user management for businesses of all sizes.

Visit Authentik

Keycloak

Comprehensive open source identity management solution offering single sign-on, social login, and fine-grained authorization for applications and services.

Visit Keycloak

Detailed Comparison

Keycloak appears to have several advantages over Authentik, particularly in popularity, maturity and licensing. Consider your specific needs regarding popularity, activity, technology, maturity, licensing and features when making your decision.

Keycloak wins

Community & Popularity

Keycloak leads in popularity with 35,912 stars vs 22,551 stars for Authentik. The 59% higher star count indicates stronger community adoption. In terms of developer contributions, Keycloak has 8,706 forks, indicating strong developer engagement.

Comparable

Development Activity

Both projects show recent activity, with Authentik last updated 4 hours ago and Keycloak 6 hours ago.

Comparable

Technology Stack

Both tools share common technology foundations, being built with JavaScript, CSS, Bash, Typescript, JSX, Python. However, they differ in their additional technology choices: Authentik uses Golang, Rust, Django while Keycloak leverages C, Java.

Keycloak wins

Project Maturity

Keycloak has been in development longer, starting 13 years ago, compared to Authentik which began 7 years ago. This 6.6-year head start suggests Keycloak may have more mature features and established processes.

Keycloak wins

Licensing

Keycloak is licensed under Apache-2.0, while Authentik's license terms are not publicly specified.

Comparable

Use Cases & Features

Both tools serve similar use cases in Authentication & SSO, Authorization & Permissions.

Authentik wins

Hosting & Deployment

Authentik provides self-hosting options for complete data control and customization, while Keycloak may be primarily cloud-based or require different deployment approaches.

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Authentik vs Keycloak: A Detailed Comparison of Authentication & SSO Providers in 2026

Authentik vs Keycloak

Learn how Authentik and Keycloak differ in their key features, development activity, technology stack and community adoption, so you can decide which of these authentication & sso providers is best for you.

Authentik

authentik is an open-source identity provider that offers self-hosted authentication, authorization, and user management for businesses of all sizes.

Visit Authentik

Keycloak

Comprehensive open source identity management solution offering single sign-on, social login, and fine-grained authorization for applications and services.

Visit Keycloak

Detailed Comparison

Keycloak appears to have several advantages over Authentik, particularly in popularity, maturity and licensing. Consider your specific needs regarding popularity, activity, technology, maturity, licensing and features when making your decision.

Keycloak wins

Community & Popularity

Comparable

Development Activity

Both projects show recent activity, with Authentik last updated 4 hours ago and Keycloak 6 hours ago.

Comparable

Technology Stack

Keycloak wins

Project Maturity

Keycloak wins

Licensing

Keycloak is licensed under Apache-2.0, while Authentik's license terms are not publicly specified.

Comparable

Use Cases & Features

Both tools serve similar use cases in Authentication & SSO, Authorization & Permissions.

Authentik wins

Hosting & Deployment

Authentik provides self-hosting options for complete data control and customization, while Keycloak may be primarily cloud-based or require different deployment approaches.

Other tool comparisons to consider