Supabase Auth vs SuperTokens
A side-by-side comparison of two self-hosted identity & sso options — licensing, setup difficulty, resource needs, and what each one replaces.
| Feature | Supabase Auth | SuperTokens |
|---|---|---|
| Deploy effort | Under-an-hour setup | Under-an-hour setup |
| Health score | 87 · Excellent | 95 · Excellent |
| Category | Identity & SSO | Identity & SSO |
| License | MIT | Apache-2.0 |
| Language | Go | Java |
| Setup difficulty | Medium | Medium |
| Min. RAM | 128 MB | 512 MB |
| Deployment | docker, binary | docker, binary |
| GitHub stars | ★ 2,569 | ★ 15,320 |
| First released | 2017 | 2020 |
| Replaces | Auth0 | Auth0, Firebase Auth |
What are Supabase Auth and SuperTokens?
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
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
Supabase Auth vs SuperTokens: key differences
Supabase Auth is written in Go, while SuperTokens is built with Java. Licensing differs — MIT for Supabase Auth versus Apache-2.0 for SuperTokens. Supabase Auth is the lighter option, starting around 128 MB of RAM against 512 MB for SuperTokens. Supabase Auth is the more established project (first released 2017), while SuperTokens arrived in 2020. SuperTokens has the considerably larger community, at 15,320 GitHub stars versus 2,569.
Why pick each one
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
Choose SuperTokens if…
- Easy framework integration
- Good free self-hosted tier
Watch out for
- Some advanced features are paid
Frequently asked questions
Is Supabase Auth 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 Supabase Auth and SuperTokens free and open-source?
Yes. Supabase Auth is licensed under MIT and SuperTokens under Apache-2.0. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.
Can I run Supabase Auth and SuperTokens with Docker?
Supabase Auth: yes. SuperTokens: yes.
Which is lighter on resources, Supabase Auth or SuperTokens?
Supabase Auth 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.