authentikvsOpenWA
Two self-hosted projects, compared on the numbers selfhost.directory tracks live: score, popularity, release cadence and setup effort.
| authentik | OpenWA | |
|---|---|---|
| Score | 81/100 | 77/100 |
| Rank in category | #1 of 3 in IAM | #2 of 19 in API Management |
| GitHub stars | 26 159 | 16 355 |
| Stars, last 30 days | +454 | +349 |
| Stable releases, 12 months | 9 | 3 |
| Latest release | version/2026.8.5 · 21 Oct 2026 | v0.26.0 · 28 Oct 2026 |
| Setup | Moderate | Easy |
| Official Docker image | Yes | Yes |
| License | Other | MIT |
| Main language | Python | Typescript |
Which one should you pick?
authentik scores 81/100 against 77/100 for OpenWA, so it is the safer default.
authentik ships more often: 9 stable releases in the past year, against 3 for OpenWA.
If you want the quickest setup, OpenWA is easier to run; authentik needs more configuration.
authentik details →OpenWA details →