Pomerium vs Traefik Forward Auth
A side-by-side comparison of two self-hosted apps from related categories — licensing, setup difficulty, resource needs, and what each one replaces.
Not the right match-up?
Pomerium
Identity-aware reverse proxy for zero-trust access
VS
Traefik Forward Auth
Minimal forward authentication service for Traefik
| Feature | Pomerium | Traefik Forward Auth |
|---|---|---|
| Category | Reverse Proxy & Gateways | Identity & SSO |
| License | Apache-2.0 | MIT |
| Language | Go | Go |
| Setup difficulty | Medium | Easy |
| Min. RAM | 256 MB | 64 MB |
| Deployment | docker, kubernetes, helm | docker, binary |
| GitHub stars | ★ 4,944 | ★ 2,390 |
| First released | 2019 | 2018 |
| Replaces | Cloudflare Access, BeyondCorp | Cloudflare Access |
Why pick each one
Choose Pomerium if…
- Released under the Apache-2.0 license
- First-class Docker support for quick deployment
- Kubernetes-ready with Helm charts available
- Active community (4.9k GitHub stars)
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 Pomerium or Traefik Forward Auth better?
Neither is universally better. Pomerium 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 Pomerium and Traefik Forward Auth free and open-source?
Yes. Pomerium is licensed under Apache-2.0 and Traefik Forward Auth under MIT. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.
Can I run Pomerium and Traefik Forward Auth with Docker?
Pomerium: yes. Traefik Forward Auth: yes.