Authgear vs Rauthy
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
Rauthy
Lightweight OpenID Connect provider written in Rust
| Feature | Authgear | Rauthy |
|---|---|---|
| Deploy effort | Under-an-hour setup | Under-an-hour setup |
| Health score | 86 · Excellent | 84 · Excellent |
| Category | Identity & SSO | Identity & SSO |
| License | Apache-2.0 | Apache-2.0 |
| Language | Go | Rust |
| Setup difficulty | Hard | Medium |
| Min. RAM | 1,024 MB | 128 MB |
| Deployment | docker, kubernetes | docker, binary |
| GitHub stars | ★ 2,065 | ★ 1,339 |
| First released | 2021 | 2023 |
| Replaces | Auth0, Firebase Auth | Keycloak, Auth0 |
What are Authgear and Rauthy?
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
Rauthy
Rauthy is an open-source, security-focused OpenID Connect provider and single sign-on solution written in Rust. It is designed to be lightweight and fully self-hosted with minimal resource usage.
- Lightweight OIDC provider
- Passkey support
- Low memory footprint
- Single binary option
Authgear vs Rauthy: key differences
Authgear is written in Go, while Rauthy is built with Rust. Rauthy is the lighter option, starting around 128 MB of RAM against 1,024 MB for Authgear. Authgear is the more established project (first released 2021), while Rauthy arrived in 2023.
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 Rauthy if…
- Released under the Apache-2.0 license
- First-class Docker support for quick deployment
- Active community (1.3k GitHub stars)
- Written in Rust
Frequently asked questions
Is Authgear or Rauthy better?
Neither is universally better. Authgear has the larger community, while Rauthy is simpler to set up (medium difficulty). Choose based on the comparison table above and your own setup.
Are Authgear and Rauthy free and open-source?
Yes. Authgear is licensed under Apache-2.0 and Rauthy under Apache-2.0. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.
Can I run Authgear and Rauthy with Docker?
Authgear: yes. Rauthy: yes.
Which is lighter on resources, Authgear or Rauthy?
Rauthy has the smaller minimum footprint at 128 MB of RAM, compared to about 1,024 MB for Authgear. Real-world usage depends on library size, user count, and enabled features.