Authgear vs Hello Identity Coop
A side-by-side comparison of two self-hosted identity & sso options — licensing, setup difficulty, resource needs, and what each one replaces.
Authgear
Open-source authentication and user management server
VS
Hello Identity Coop
Open-source authentication broker for passwordless login
| Feature | Authgear | Hello Identity Coop |
|---|---|---|
| Deploy effort | Under-an-hour setup | Under-an-hour setup |
| Health score | 86 · Excellent | 69 · Good |
| Category | Identity & SSO | Identity & SSO |
| License | Apache-2.0 | MIT |
| Language | Go | TypeScript |
| Setup difficulty | Hard | Medium |
| Min. RAM | 1,024 MB | 256 MB |
| Deployment | docker, kubernetes | docker, binary |
| GitHub stars | ★ 2,065 | ★ 7 |
| First released | 2021 | 2022 |
| Replaces | Auth0, Firebase Auth | Auth0, Firebase Auth |
What are Authgear and Hello Identity Coop?
Authgear
Authgear is an open-source authentication-as-a-service platform supporting passwordless login, social login, and multi-factor authentication. It is self-hosted to provide identity for web and mobile apps.
- Passwordless and social login
- Built-in MFA
- User management dashboard
- OIDC compliant
Hello Identity Coop
Hello is an open-source identity and login service that lets users authenticate with email, phone or social providers without passwords. The wallet and broker components can be self-hosted.
- Passwordless login flows
- Email, phone and social providers
- Standard OpenID Connect
- Developer SDKs and integrations
Authgear vs Hello Identity Coop: key differences
Authgear is written in Go, while Hello Identity Coop is built with TypeScript. Licensing differs — Apache-2.0 for Authgear versus MIT for Hello Identity Coop. Hello Identity Coop is the lighter option, starting around 256 MB of RAM against 1,024 MB for Authgear. Authgear has the considerably larger community, at 2,065 GitHub stars versus 7.
Why pick each one
Choose Authgear if…
- Released under the Apache-2.0 license
- First-class Docker support for quick deployment
- Kubernetes-ready with Helm charts available
- Active community (2.1k GitHub stars)
Choose Hello Identity Coop if…
- Simple passwordless onboarding
- Open standards
Watch out for
- Younger project
Frequently asked questions
Is Authgear or Hello Identity Coop better?
Neither is universally better. Authgear has the larger community, while Hello Identity Coop is simpler to set up (medium difficulty). Choose based on the comparison table above and your own setup.
Are Authgear and Hello Identity Coop free and open-source?
Yes. Authgear is licensed under Apache-2.0 and Hello Identity Coop under MIT. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.
Can I run Authgear and Hello Identity Coop with Docker?
Authgear: yes. Hello Identity Coop: yes.
Which is lighter on resources, Authgear or Hello Identity Coop?
Hello Identity Coop has the smaller minimum footprint at 256 MB of RAM, compared to about 1,024 MB for Authgear. Real-world usage depends on library size, user count, and enabled features.