authentik

Open-source Identity Provider for modern SSO and authentication

Self-hosted Identity Provider supporting SAML, OAuth2/OIDC, LDAP, and RADIUS. Designed to scale from small labs to enterprise production clusters with flexible deployment options.

Overview

Modern Identity Management for Self-Hosting

authentik is an open-source Identity Provider (IdP) that delivers enterprise-grade single sign-on capabilities for organizations seeking control over their authentication infrastructure. Supporting industry-standard protocols including SAML, OAuth2/OIDC, LDAP, and RADIUS, it serves as a comprehensive replacement for commercial solutions like Okta, Auth0, Entra ID, and Ping Identity.

Flexible Deployment at Any Scale

Built for self-hosting, authentik adapts to your infrastructure needs. Deploy via Docker Compose for development and small environments, leverage Kubernetes with official Helm charts for production clusters, or use one-click AWS CloudFormation and DigitalOcean Marketplace integrations. The platform scales seamlessly from personal labs to large enterprise deployments.

Protocol Support and Integration

With native support for multiple authentication protocols and reverse-proxy capabilities, authentik integrates with existing applications and infrastructure. The platform provides both light and dark UI themes, comprehensive developer documentation, and an active community. Organizations gain robust identity management without vendor lock-in, maintaining full control over user data and authentication flows.

Highlights

Multi-protocol support: SAML, OAuth2/OIDC, LDAP, RADIUS in one platform

Scales from Docker Compose labs to Kubernetes production clusters

Enterprise IdP replacement for Okta, Auth0, Entra ID, and Ping Identity

Self-hosted with flexible deployment via Docker, Kubernetes, AWS, or DigitalOcean

Pros

Comprehensive protocol support eliminates need for multiple identity solutions
True self-hosting provides complete control over authentication infrastructure
Flexible deployment options accommodate diverse infrastructure requirements
Active development with strong community and enterprise support available

Considerations

Self-hosting requires infrastructure management and maintenance overhead
Initial setup complexity higher than managed SaaS alternatives
Scaling expertise needed for large production Kubernetes deployments
Migration from existing IdPs requires planning and protocol mapping

Managed products teams compare with

When teams consider authentik, these hosted platforms usually appear on the same shortlist.

Amazon Cognito

Customer identity and access management service for adding user sign-up, sign-in, and authentication to apps

Auth0

Cloud-based identity management platform for adding user authentication and authorization to applications

Clerk

User authentication and identity APIs for web and mobile apps

Looking for a hosted option? These are the services engineering teams benchmark against before choosing open source.

Fit guide

Great for

Organizations requiring on-premises identity management for compliance
Teams replacing expensive commercial IdP solutions with self-hosted alternatives
Infrastructure engineers needing multi-protocol SSO for diverse application stacks
Enterprises seeking vendor independence and full authentication data control

Not ideal when

Teams without infrastructure resources to manage self-hosted services
Organizations preferring fully managed SaaS with zero operational overhead
Small projects needing only basic OAuth without advanced identity features
Environments lacking Kubernetes or container orchestration expertise for scale

How teams use it

Enterprise IdP Migration

Replace Okta or Auth0 with self-hosted authentik, reducing licensing costs while maintaining SAML and OIDC integrations across all applications

Kubernetes-Native Authentication

Deploy authentik via Helm charts to provide centralized SSO for microservices, internal tools, and admin dashboards in production clusters

Hybrid Protocol Support

Unify legacy LDAP/RADIUS applications with modern OAuth2 services under single identity provider, eliminating authentication silos

Compliance-Driven Self-Hosting

Meet data residency and sovereignty requirements by hosting authentication infrastructure on-premises or in private cloud environments

Tech snapshot

Python52%

TypeScript33%

MDX7%

Go4%

JavaScript2%

CSS1%

Frequently asked questions

What protocols does authentik support?

authentik supports SAML, OAuth2/OIDC, LDAP, RADIUS, and includes reverse-proxy capabilities for flexible authentication integration.

Can authentik replace commercial IdPs like Okta or Auth0?

Yes, authentik is designed as an enterprise-grade replacement for commercial identity providers, offering comparable features with self-hosting control.

What deployment options are available?

Deploy via Docker Compose for small setups, Kubernetes Helm charts for production, AWS CloudFormation templates, or DigitalOcean Marketplace one-click installation.

Is authentik suitable for production enterprise environments?

Yes, authentik scales from small labs to large production clusters. An enterprise offering is available for organizations requiring additional support and features.

What infrastructure is required to run authentik?

Minimum requirements depend on scale: Docker Compose for small deployments, or Kubernetes for production clusters. Container orchestration knowledge recommended for larger installations.

Project at a glance

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Repo age6 years old

Last commit4 hours ago

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