Authelia vs Traefik Forward Auth
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
Traefik Forward Auth
Minimal forward authentication service for Traefik
| Feature | Authelia | Traefik Forward Auth |
|---|---|---|
| Category | Reverse Proxy & Gateways | Identity & SSO |
| License | Apache-2.0 | MIT |
| Language | Go | Go |
| Setup difficulty | Medium | Easy |
| Min. RAM | 128 MB | 64 MB |
| Deployment | docker, kubernetes, binary | docker, binary |
| GitHub stars | ★ 28,514 | ★ 2,390 |
| First released | 2017 | 2018 |
| Replaces | Okta, Cloudflare Access | Cloudflare Access |
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 Traefik Forward Auth if…
- Released under the MIT license
- Easy to set up — beginner-friendly
- First-class Docker support for quick deployment
- Active community (2.4k GitHub stars)
Frequently asked questions
Is Authelia or Traefik Forward Auth better?
Neither is universally better. Authelia has the larger community, while Traefik Forward Auth is simpler to set up (easy difficulty). Choose based on the comparison table above and your own setup.
Are Authelia and Traefik Forward Auth free and open-source?
Yes. Authelia is licensed under Apache-2.0 and Traefik Forward Auth under MIT. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.
Can I run Authelia and Traefik Forward Auth with Docker?
Authelia: yes. Traefik Forward Auth: yes.