Casbin vs Traefik Forward Auth
A side-by-side comparison of two self-hosted identity & sso options — licensing, setup difficulty, resource needs, and what each one replaces.
Not the right match-up?
Casbin
Authorization library supporting many access control models
VS
Traefik Forward Auth
Minimal forward authentication service for Traefik
| Feature | Casbin | Traefik Forward Auth |
|---|---|---|
| Category | Identity & SSO | Identity & SSO |
| License | Apache-2.0 | MIT |
| Language | Go | Go |
| Setup difficulty | Medium | Easy |
| Min. RAM | 128 MB | 64 MB |
| Deployment | source | docker, binary |
| GitHub stars | ★ 20,311 | ★ 2,390 |
| First released | 2017 | 2018 |
| Replaces | Auth0 RBAC | Cloudflare Access |
Why pick each one
Choose Casbin if…
- Released under the Apache-2.0 license
- Mature project with 20.3k GitHub stars
- Written in Go
- Tiny footprint — runs in 128 MB RAM
Choose Traefik Forward Auth if…
- Released under the MIT license
- Easy to set up — beginner-friendly
- First-class Docker support for quick deployment
- Active community (2.4k GitHub stars)
Frequently asked questions
Is Casbin or Traefik Forward Auth better?
Neither is universally better. Casbin has the larger community, while Traefik Forward Auth is simpler to set up (easy difficulty). Choose based on the comparison table above and your own setup.
Are Casbin and Traefik Forward Auth free and open-source?
Yes. Casbin is licensed under Apache-2.0 and Traefik Forward Auth under MIT. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.
Can I run Casbin and Traefik Forward Auth with Docker?
Casbin: check the project docs for container support. Traefik Forward Auth: yes.