authentik vs Ory Hydra
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?
authentik
Open-source identity provider with proxy outpost
VS
Ory Hydra
Certified OAuth 2.0 and OpenID Connect server
| Feature | authentik | Ory Hydra |
|---|---|---|
| Category | Reverse Proxy & Gateways | Identity & SSO |
| License | MIT | Apache-2.0 |
| Language | Python | Go |
| Setup difficulty | Medium | Hard |
| Min. RAM | 1,024 MB | 256 MB |
| Deployment | docker, kubernetes, helm | docker, kubernetes, binary |
| GitHub stars | ★ 23,666 | ★ 17,462 |
| First released | 2020 | 2015 |
| Replaces | Okta, Auth0 | Okta, Auth0 |
Why pick each one
Choose authentik if…
- Released under the MIT license
- First-class Docker support for quick deployment
- Kubernetes-ready with Helm charts available
- Mature project with 23.7k GitHub stars
Frequently asked questions
Is authentik or Ory Hydra better?
authentik is the stronger all-round pick: it has both the larger community and the simpler medium setup. Consider Ory Hydra if its specific feature set fits your needs better.
Are authentik and Ory Hydra free and open-source?
Yes. authentik is licensed under MIT and Ory Hydra under Apache-2.0. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.
Can I run authentik and Ory Hydra with Docker?
authentik: yes. Ory Hydra: yes.