Authentik vs SuperTokens

Authentik and SuperTokens are both open-source identity platforms, but they target different deployment philosophies: Authentik is self-hosted only with broad…

Best for Authentik: Teams needing broad identity protocol support (SAML, LDAP, RADIUS, Kerberos) plus a built-in remote access proxy for internal infrastructure, fully self-hosted.
Best for SuperTokens: Teams building an application who want a managed cloud identity option free under 5,000 monthly active users, with documented support for 25+ frameworks and languages including React, Angular, Vue, Python, Go, Android, Flutter, and iOS.

At a Glance

 AuthentikSuperTokens
Primary categorySecuritySecurity
RatingNot documentedNot documented
Pricing modelFreemiumfreemium
Starting priceFree (open source); Enterprise from $5/internal user/monthFree (self-hosted, or cloud usage under 5,000 monthly active users)
Free planYesYes
Free trialNot documentedNot documented
PlatformsNot documentedNot documented
Team collaborationNot documentedNot documented
AI featuresNot documentedNot documented
Public APIYesYes

Key Differences

Hosting Options

Authentik: Authentik requires self-hosting for every tier, including Enterprise, with no official cloud-hosted option.

SuperTokens: SuperTokens offers both self-hosting (free, unlimited MAU) and a managed cloud service free under 5,000 monthly active users.

Teams without dedicated ops resources need a managed option, which only one of these tools documents.

Protocol Breadth

Authentik: Authentik documents support for OAuth2/OIDC, SAML2, SCIM, LDAP, RADIUS, and Kerberos, plus a general application proxy.

SuperTokens: SuperTokens' documented feature set centers on email/password, passwordless/magic-link login, social login, and SSO, without naming SAML, LDAP, or RADIUS support.

Organizations needing legacy enterprise protocols like SAML or LDAP for federation with existing directory systems need that support confirmed.

Pricing Above the Free Tier

Authentik: Authentik Enterprise costs $5/user/month (internal) plus $0.02/external user/month, and Enterprise Plus starts at $20,000/year.

SuperTokens: SuperTokens' core features are free at any scale when self-hosted; premium add-ons like MFA ($0.01/MAU) and account linking ($0.005/MAU) carry a $100/month minimum.

The pricing models scale differently — per-user for Authentik versus per-monthly-active-user for SuperTokens add-ons — which affects cost at different user volumes.

Remote Access & Proxy Capabilities

Authentik: Authentik provides web-based RDP, VNC, and SSH access plus a general application proxy as a named feature.

SuperTokens: No equivalent remote access proxy capability is documented for SuperTokens.

Teams wanting to use their identity provider to gate access to internal infrastructure (not just apps) need this proxy capability.

Framework & SDK Coverage

Authentik: Authentik's documented differentiators are 30+ named enterprise service integrations (Google Workspace, Microsoft Entra, Slack, GitHub Enterprise, AWS, Grafana, Stripe, Salesforce) rather than a language/framework SDK list.

SuperTokens: SuperTokens states it works with 25+ frameworks and languages, explicitly naming React, Angular, Vue, Python, Go, Android, Flutter, and iOS.

Application developers embedding auth directly into a product need confirmed SDK support for their specific stack.

Feature-by-Feature

Authentication Protocols

FeatureAuthentikSuperTokens
SAML supportAvailableNot documented
LDAP supportAvailableNot documented
Passwordless / magic link loginNot documentedAvailable
Multi-factor authenticationAvailableAvailable
Multi-tenancyNot documentedAvailable

Deployment & Hosting

FeatureAuthentikSuperTokens
Self-hosted optionAvailableAvailable
Managed cloud hostingUnavailableAvailable
Free at unlimited scale (self-hosted)AvailableAvailable

Enterprise & Compliance

FeatureAuthentikSuperTokens
SOC 2 complianceNot documentedAvailable
FIPS/FedRAMP complianceAvailableNot documented
Remote access proxy (RDP/VNC/SSH)AvailableUnavailable
Named enterprise service integrationsAvailableNot documented

Pricing Compared

Starting price reflects the lowest paid tier, not the full cost for every team size or usage level.

Authentik

Open Source — Free N/A
Enterprise — From $5/internal user/month Annual
Enterprise Plus — Starting at $20,000/year Annual

SuperTokens

Self-Hosted Open Source — Free n/a
Cloud — Free under 5,000 MAU, then 0.02 dollars per MAU (100 dollar monthly minimum) monthly
Add-ons — Varies (from 0.005 dollars per MAU) monthly

Pros & Cons

Authentik

Pros

  • Free open-source core is fully featured for self-hosting
  • Broad protocol support (OIDC, SAML, LDAP, SCIM, RADIUS)
  • Over 1 million reported installations and active development
  • Flexible deployment via Docker, Kubernetes, or Terraform

Cons

  • Enterprise features like advanced compliance and dedicated support require a paid tier
  • Self-hosting requires ongoing infrastructure management
  • External-user pricing on the Enterprise tier can be harder to estimate for consumer-scale deployments

SuperTokens

Pros

  • Open-source core is free to self-host at unlimited scale with full data ownership
  • Cloud plan has a generous free tier of up to 5,000 monthly active users
  • Broad SDK coverage across Node.js, Python, Go, React, and React Native
  • Avoids vendor lock-in compared to closed-source identity providers
  • Backed by Y Combinator with active development and community support

Cons

  • Self-hosting requires engineering time to deploy, secure, and maintain infrastructure
  • Several useful features like multi-factor authentication and account linking are paid add-ons rather than included
  • Multi-tenancy and machine-to-machine auth pricing require contacting sales rather than transparent self-serve pricing
  • Smaller team and community than large incumbents like Auth0 may mean slower support response for edge cases
  • Dashboard user pricing at 20 dollars per user per month can add up for larger internal teams

Use Cases

Choose Authentik: Teams needing broad identity protocol support (SAML, LDAP, RADIUS, Kerberos) plus a built-in remote access proxy for internal infrastructure, fully self-hosted.
Choose SuperTokens: Teams building an application who want a managed cloud identity option free under 5,000 monthly active users, with documented support for 25+ frameworks and languages including React, Angular, Vue, Python, Go, Android, Flutter, and iOS.
Need both: There isn't a realistic scenario for running both together — they compete directly as identity providers for the same authentication layer, so a team would evaluate and standardize on one rather than operate both in parallel.

Authentik

  • Self-hosted SSO for internal apps — Centralizing authentication for internally hosted tools and services.
  • Enterprise identity management — Integrating with Google Workspace or Microsoft Entra ID with compliance and audit needs.

SuperTokens

  • Custom authentication for SaaS products — Engineering teams building a SaaS product use SuperTokens to add login, session management, and MFA without building it from scratch or fully outsourcing to a closed vendor.
  • Data-sovereign self-hosted auth — Companies with strict data residency or compliance requirements self-host SuperTokens so user credentials never leave their own infrastructure.
  • Replacing legacy or expensive identity providers — Teams migrating off costly proprietary identity platforms use SuperTokens to reduce per-user authentication costs while keeping similar functionality.

Frequently Asked Questions

Are Authentik and SuperTokens both free?

Yes, both have free self-hosted options; SuperTokens also offers a free managed cloud tier under 5,000 monthly active users, while Authentik has no official cloud-hosted tier at any price.

Does SuperTokens offer cloud hosting?

Yes, SuperTokens' managed cloud service is free for under 5,000 monthly active users.

Does Authentik offer cloud hosting?

No, all Authentik tiers, including Enterprise, require self-hosting.

Which supports more identity protocols?

Authentik documents broader protocol coverage — OAuth2/OIDC, SAML2, SCIM, LDAP, RADIUS, and Kerberos — while SuperTokens' documented features center on email/password, passwordless, social login, and SSO without naming SAML or LDAP.

How does pricing scale above the free tier?

Authentik Enterprise costs $5/user/month (internal) plus $0.02/external user/month; SuperTokens' premium add-ons (MFA, account linking) are billed per monthly active user with a $100/month minimum.

Which frameworks and languages are supported?

SuperTokens states it works with 25+ frameworks including React, Angular, Vue, Python, Go, Android, Flutter, and iOS; Authentik's documentation instead lists 30+ named enterprise service integrations rather than an SDK framework list.

Read the full Authentik review · Read the full SuperTokens review