Authelia vs Pomerium
A side-by-side comparison of two self-hosted reverse proxy & gateways options — licensing, setup difficulty, resource needs, and what each one replaces.
Authelia
Authentication and authorization server for reverse proxies
VS
Pomerium
Identity-aware reverse proxy for zero-trust access
| Feature | Authelia | Pomerium |
|---|---|---|
| Deploy effort | Under-an-hour setup | Under-an-hour setup |
| Health score | 98 · Excellent | 90 · Excellent |
| Category | Reverse Proxy & Gateways | Reverse Proxy & Gateways |
| License | Apache-2.0 | Apache-2.0 |
| Language | Go | Go |
| Setup difficulty | Medium | Medium |
| Min. RAM | 128 MB | 256 MB |
| Deployment | docker, kubernetes, binary | docker, kubernetes, helm |
| GitHub stars | ★ 29,069 | ★ 5,016 |
| First released | 2017 | 2019 |
| Replaces | Okta, Cloudflare Access | Cloudflare Access, BeyondCorp |
What are Authelia and Pomerium?
Authelia
Authelia is an open-source authentication and authorization server providing single sign-on and two-factor authentication via a companion to reverse proxies. It protects applications behind the proxy.
- SSO and 2FA portal
- Works with major reverse proxies
- Fine-grained access rules
- LDAP and file backends
Pomerium
Pomerium is an open-source identity-aware reverse proxy that secures internal applications without a VPN. It enforces context-aware access policies on every request.
- Identity-aware access proxy
- Context-aware policies
- No VPN required
- SSO integration
Authelia vs Pomerium: key differences
Both projects are written in Go. Authelia is the lighter option, starting around 128 MB of RAM against 256 MB for Pomerium. Authelia is the more established project (first released 2017), while Pomerium arrived in 2019. Authelia has the considerably larger community, at 29,069 GitHub stars versus 5,016.
Why pick each one
Choose Authelia if…
- Strong 2FA options
- Lightweight Go binary
- Fine-grained access rules
Watch out for
- Extensive YAML configuration
- Needs reverse proxy integration
Choose Pomerium if…
- Released under the Apache-2.0 license
- First-class Docker support for quick deployment
- Kubernetes-ready with Helm charts available
- Mature project with 5k GitHub stars
Frequently asked questions
Is Authelia or Pomerium better?
Neither is universally better. Authelia has the larger community; both share a medium setup difficulty, so the decision comes down to features and licensing.
Are Authelia and Pomerium free and open-source?
Yes. Authelia is licensed under Apache-2.0 and Pomerium under Apache-2.0. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.
Can I run Authelia and Pomerium with Docker?
Authelia: yes. Pomerium: yes.
Which is lighter on resources, Authelia or Pomerium?
Authelia has the smaller minimum footprint at 128 MB of RAM, compared to about 256 MB for Pomerium. Real-world usage depends on library size, user count, and enabled features.