Better Auth vs Keycloak

Both tools have similar popularity levels, with Better Auth having 30,248 stars and Keycloak having 37,276 stars on GitHub. In terms of developer contributions, Keycloak has 9,031 forks, indicating strong developer engagement.

Keycloak is growing faster, adding 567 stars in the last 30 days (+1.5%) against adding 352 stars for Better Auth (+1.2%). Keycloak is both larger and pulling further ahead.

Both projects show recent activity, with Better Auth last updated 10 hours ago and Keycloak 11 hours ago.

Both tools share common technology foundations, being built with JavaScript, CSS, Typescript, JSX. However, they differ in their additional technology choices: Better Auth uses Next.js, Vue, SvelteKit, Nuxt.js, Tanstack Start, Remix while Keycloak leverages Bash, Python, C, Java.

Keycloak has been in development longer, starting 13 years ago, compared to Better Auth which began 2 years ago. This 11.0-year head start suggests Keycloak may have more mature features and established processes.

Better Auth uses the MIT license, which is more permissive than Keycloak's Apache-2.0 license, potentially offering greater flexibility for commercial use and integration.

Both tools serve similar use cases in Authentication & SSO. However, they also have distinct specializations: Keycloak extends into Authorization & Permissions.

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