Authelia vs Shibboleth Identity Provider
A side-by-side comparison of two self-hosted apps from related categories — licensing, setup difficulty, resource needs, and what each one replaces.
Not the right match-up?
Authelia
Authentication and authorization server for reverse proxies
VS
Shibboleth Identity Provider
Standards-based SAML identity provider for federations
| Feature | Authelia | Shibboleth Identity Provider |
|---|---|---|
| Category | Reverse Proxy & Gateways | Identity & SSO |
| License | Apache-2.0 | Apache-2.0 |
| Language | Go | Java |
| Setup difficulty | Medium | Hard |
| Min. RAM | 128 MB | 1,024 MB |
| Deployment | docker, kubernetes, binary | bare-metal, docker, source |
| GitHub stars | ★ 28,514 | ★ 200 |
| First released | 2017 | 2003 |
| Replaces | Okta, Cloudflare Access | Okta, Ping Identity |
Why pick each one
Choose Authelia if…
- Released under the Apache-2.0 license
- First-class Docker support for quick deployment
- Kubernetes-ready with Helm charts available
- Mature project with 28.5k GitHub stars
Choose Shibboleth Identity Provider if…
- Gold standard for SAML federations
- Highly configurable
Frequently asked questions
Is Authelia or Shibboleth Identity Provider better?
Authelia is the stronger all-round pick: it has both the larger community and the simpler medium setup. Consider Shibboleth Identity Provider if its specific feature set fits your needs better.
Are Authelia and Shibboleth Identity Provider free and open-source?
Yes. Authelia is licensed under Apache-2.0 and Shibboleth Identity Provider under Apache-2.0. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.
Can I run Authelia and Shibboleth Identity Provider with Docker?
Authelia: yes. Shibboleth Identity Provider: yes.