authentik vs SafeLine
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
SafeLine
Self-hosted web application firewall with a web console
| Feature | authentik | SafeLine |
|---|---|---|
| Category | Reverse Proxy & Gateways | Reverse Proxy & Gateways |
| License | MIT | GPL-3.0 |
| Language | Python | Go |
| Setup difficulty | Medium | Medium |
| Min. RAM | 1,024 MB | 1,024 MB |
| Deployment | docker, kubernetes, helm | docker |
| GitHub stars | ★ 23,666 | ★ 22,312 |
| First released | 2020 | 2023 |
| Replaces | Okta, Auth0 | Cloudflare WAF |
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 SafeLine if…
- Released under the GPL-3.0 license
- First-class Docker support for quick deployment
- Mature project with 22.3k GitHub stars
- Written in Go
Frequently asked questions
Is authentik or SafeLine better?
Neither is universally better. authentik has the larger community; both share a medium setup difficulty, so the decision comes down to features and licensing.
Are authentik and SafeLine free and open-source?
Yes. authentik is licensed under MIT and SafeLine under GPL-3.0. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.
Can I run authentik and SafeLine with Docker?
authentik: yes. SafeLine: yes.