SHSelfHostIndex

Pocket ID 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.

Not the right match-up?
Pocket ID Simple OIDC provider that uses only passkeys VS SU Supabase Auth Small JWT-based user authentication API service
FeaturePocket IDSupabase Auth
Deploy effort≈5-minute setupUnder-an-hour setup
Health score92 · Excellent87 · Excellent
CategoryIdentity & SSOIdentity & SSO
LicenseBSD-2-ClauseMIT
LanguageGoGo
Setup difficultyEasyMedium
Min. RAM128 MB128 MB
Deploymentdockerdocker, binary
GitHub stars★ 9,266★ 2,569
First released20242017
ReplacesAuth0, AutheliaAuth0

What are Pocket ID and Supabase Auth?

Pocket ID

Pocket ID is an open-source, simple OpenID Connect provider that authenticates users exclusively with passkeys. It is self-hosted to add passwordless SSO to applications with minimal configuration.

  • Passkey-only authentication
  • Simple OIDC provider
  • Minimal configuration
  • Lightweight

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

Pocket ID vs Supabase Auth: key differences

Both projects are written in Go. Licensing differs — BSD-2-Clause for Pocket ID versus MIT for Supabase Auth. Supabase Auth is the more established project (first released 2017), while Pocket ID arrived in 2024. Pocket ID has the considerably larger community, at 9,266 GitHub stars versus 2,569.

Why pick each one

Choose Pocket ID if…

  • Released under the BSD-2-Clause license
  • Easy to set up — beginner-friendly
  • First-class Docker support for quick deployment
  • Mature project with 9.3k GitHub stars
Pocket ID details

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
Supabase Auth details

Frequently asked questions

Is Pocket ID or Supabase Auth better?

Pocket ID is the stronger all-round pick: it has both the larger community and the simpler easy setup. Consider Supabase Auth if its specific feature set fits your needs better.

Are Pocket ID and Supabase Auth free and open-source?

Yes. Pocket ID is licensed under BSD-2-Clause and Supabase Auth under MIT. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.

Can I run Pocket ID and Supabase Auth with Docker?

Pocket ID: yes. Supabase Auth: yes.

Related comparisons