authentik vs Pingora
A side-by-side comparison of two self-hosted reverse proxy & gateways options — licensing, setup difficulty, resource needs, and what each one replaces.
Not the right match-up?
authentik
Open-source identity provider with proxy outpost
VS
Pingora
Rust framework to build fast, reliable network services
| Feature | authentik | Pingora |
|---|---|---|
| Category | Reverse Proxy & Gateways | Reverse Proxy & Gateways |
| License | MIT | Apache-2.0 |
| Language | Python | Rust |
| Setup difficulty | Medium | Hard |
| Min. RAM | 1,024 MB | 128 MB |
| Deployment | docker, kubernetes, helm | binary, source |
| GitHub stars | ★ 23,666 | ★ 27,153 |
| First released | 2020 | 2024 |
| Replaces | Okta, Auth0 | Nginx |
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
Choose Pingora if…
- Released under the Apache-2.0 license
- Mature project with 27.2k GitHub stars
- Written in Rust
- Tiny footprint — runs in 128 MB RAM
Frequently asked questions
Is authentik or Pingora better?
Neither is universally better. Pingora has the larger community, while authentik is simpler to set up (medium difficulty). Choose based on the comparison table above and your own setup.
Are authentik and Pingora free and open-source?
Yes. authentik is licensed under MIT and Pingora under Apache-2.0. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.
Can I run authentik and Pingora with Docker?
authentik: yes. Pingora: check the project docs for container support.