SAML Jackson vs Supabase Auth
A side-by-side comparison of two self-hosted identity & sso options — licensing, setup difficulty, resource needs, and what each one replaces.
| Feature | SAML Jackson | Supabase Auth |
|---|---|---|
| Deploy effort | Under-an-hour setup | Under-an-hour setup |
| Health score | 80 · Excellent | 87 · Excellent |
| Category | Identity & SSO | Identity & SSO |
| License | Apache-2.0 | MIT |
| Language | TypeScript | Go |
| Setup difficulty | Medium | Medium |
| Min. RAM | 512 MB | 128 MB |
| Deployment | docker | docker, binary |
| GitHub stars | ★ 2,266 | ★ 2,569 |
| First released | 2022 | 2017 |
| Replaces | Auth0, WorkOS | Auth0 |
What are SAML Jackson and Supabase Auth?
SAML Jackson
BoxyHQ Jackson (SAML Jackson) is a self-hosted service that abstracts SAML and OIDC enterprise single sign-on behind a simple OAuth 2.0 API. It lets apps add enterprise SSO without per-provider code.
- SAML and OIDC abstraction
- OAuth 2.0 API
- Directory sync (SCIM)
- Self-hostable
Supabase Auth
GoTrue is a lightweight JSON Web Token based authentication API for managing users and sessions, originally from Netlify and extended by Supabase. It is self-hosted as a small Go service.
- JWT-based auth API
- Email and OAuth login
- Lightweight Go service
- Self-hostable
SAML Jackson vs Supabase Auth: key differences
SAML Jackson is written in TypeScript, while Supabase Auth is built with Go. Licensing differs — Apache-2.0 for SAML Jackson versus MIT for Supabase Auth. Supabase Auth is the lighter option, starting around 128 MB of RAM against 512 MB for SAML Jackson. Supabase Auth is the more established project (first released 2017), while SAML Jackson arrived in 2022.
Why pick each one
Choose SAML Jackson if…
- Released under the Apache-2.0 license
- First-class Docker support for quick deployment
- Active community (2.3k GitHub stars)
- Written in TypeScript
Choose Supabase Auth if…
- Released under the MIT license
- First-class Docker support for quick deployment
- Active community (2.6k GitHub stars)
- Written in Go
Frequently asked questions
Is SAML Jackson or Supabase Auth better?
Neither is universally better. Supabase Auth has the larger community; both share a medium setup difficulty, so the decision comes down to features and licensing.
Are SAML Jackson and Supabase Auth free and open-source?
Yes. SAML Jackson is licensed under Apache-2.0 and Supabase Auth under MIT. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.
Can I run SAML Jackson and Supabase Auth with Docker?
SAML Jackson: yes. Supabase Auth: yes.
Which is lighter on resources, SAML Jackson or Supabase Auth?
Supabase Auth has the smaller minimum footprint at 128 MB of RAM, compared to about 512 MB for SAML Jackson. Real-world usage depends on library size, user count, and enabled features.