Authorizer vs Dex
A side-by-side comparison of two self-hosted identity & sso options — licensing, setup difficulty, resource needs, and what each one replaces.
| Feature | Authorizer | Dex |
|---|---|---|
| Deploy effort | Under-an-hour setup | Under-an-hour setup |
| Health score | 85 · Excellent | 90 · Excellent |
| Category | Identity & SSO | Identity & SSO |
| License | Apache-2.0 | Apache-2.0 |
| Language | Go | Go |
| Setup difficulty | Easy | Medium |
| Min. RAM | 256 MB | 128 MB |
| Deployment | docker, binary | docker, kubernetes, binary |
| GitHub stars | ★ 2,007 | ★ 11,120 |
| First released | 2021 | 2016 |
| Replaces | Auth0, Firebase Authentication | Okta, Auth0 |
What are Authorizer and Dex?
Authorizer
Authorizer is a self-hosted authentication and authorization service that provides social login, email and OTP login, and roles through a GraphQL API. It ships with prebuilt login pages and SDKs.
- Social and email login
- GraphQL auth API
- Prebuilt login UI
- Role-based access control
Dex
Dex is an identity service that uses OpenID Connect to drive authentication for other applications. It acts as a portal to other identity providers through connectors such as LDAP, SAML and GitHub.
- OIDC federation broker
- Connectors for LDAP, SAML and GitHub
- Popular in Kubernetes environments
- Lightweight and stateless
Authorizer vs Dex: key differences
Both projects are written in Go. Dex is the lighter option, starting around 128 MB of RAM against 256 MB for Authorizer. Dex is the more established project (first released 2016), while Authorizer arrived in 2021. Dex has the considerably larger community, at 11,120 GitHub stars versus 2,007.
Why pick each one
Choose Authorizer if…
- Released under the Apache-2.0 license
- Easy to set up — beginner-friendly
- First-class Docker support for quick deployment
- Active community (2k GitHub stars)
Choose Dex if…
- Great Kubernetes integration
- Simple and reliable
Watch out for
- No user management of its own
Frequently asked questions
Is Authorizer or Dex better?
Neither is universally better. Dex has the larger community, while Authorizer is simpler to set up (easy difficulty). Choose based on the comparison table above and your own setup.
Are Authorizer and Dex free and open-source?
Yes. Authorizer is licensed under Apache-2.0 and Dex under Apache-2.0. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.
Can I run Authorizer and Dex with Docker?
Authorizer: yes. Dex: yes.
Which is lighter on resources, Authorizer or Dex?
Dex has the smaller minimum footprint at 128 MB of RAM, compared to about 256 MB for Authorizer. Real-world usage depends on library size, user count, and enabled features.