Rauthy vs SuperTokens
A side-by-side comparison of two self-hosted identity & sso options — licensing, setup difficulty, resource needs, and what each one replaces.
Rauthy
Lightweight OpenID Connect provider written in Rust
VS
SuperTokens
Open-source user authentication you can self-host
| Feature | Rauthy | SuperTokens |
|---|---|---|
| Deploy effort | Under-an-hour setup | Under-an-hour setup |
| Health score | 84 · Excellent | 95 · Excellent |
| Category | Identity & SSO | Identity & SSO |
| License | Apache-2.0 | Apache-2.0 |
| Language | Rust | Java |
| Setup difficulty | Medium | Medium |
| Min. RAM | 128 MB | 512 MB |
| Deployment | docker, binary | docker, binary |
| GitHub stars | ★ 1,339 | ★ 15,320 |
| First released | 2023 | 2020 |
| Replaces | Keycloak, Auth0 | Auth0, Firebase Auth |
What are Rauthy and SuperTokens?
Rauthy
Rauthy is an open-source, security-focused OpenID Connect provider and single sign-on solution written in Rust. It is designed to be lightweight and fully self-hosted with minimal resource usage.
- Lightweight OIDC provider
- Passkey support
- Low memory footprint
- Single binary option
SuperTokens
SuperTokens is an open-source authentication solution that handles login, sessions, social login and more. It can be self-hosted and offers SDKs and prebuilt UI components for rapid integration.
- Email/password and passwordless login
- Social and enterprise SSO
- Secure session management
- Prebuilt frontend components
Rauthy vs SuperTokens: key differences
Rauthy is written in Rust, while SuperTokens is built with Java. Rauthy is the lighter option, starting around 128 MB of RAM against 512 MB for SuperTokens. SuperTokens is the more established project (first released 2020), while Rauthy arrived in 2023. SuperTokens has the considerably larger community, at 15,320 GitHub stars versus 1,339.
Why pick each one
Choose Rauthy if…
- Released under the Apache-2.0 license
- First-class Docker support for quick deployment
- Active community (1.3k GitHub stars)
- Written in Rust
Choose SuperTokens if…
- Easy framework integration
- Good free self-hosted tier
Watch out for
- Some advanced features are paid
Frequently asked questions
Is Rauthy or SuperTokens better?
Neither is universally better. SuperTokens has the larger community; both share a medium setup difficulty, so the decision comes down to features and licensing.
Are Rauthy and SuperTokens free and open-source?
Yes. Rauthy is licensed under Apache-2.0 and SuperTokens under Apache-2.0. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.
Can I run Rauthy and SuperTokens with Docker?
Rauthy: yes. SuperTokens: yes.
Which is lighter on resources, Rauthy or SuperTokens?
Rauthy has the smaller minimum footprint at 128 MB of RAM, compared to about 512 MB for SuperTokens. Real-world usage depends on library size, user count, and enabled features.