authentikvsunleash
Two self-hosted projects, compared on the numbers selfhost.directory tracks live: score, popularity, release cadence and setup effort.
| authentik | unleash | |
|---|---|---|
| Score | 81/100 | 75/100 |
| Rank in category | #1 of 3 in IAM | #1 of 8 in Feature Flags |
| GitHub stars | 26 159 | 13 912 |
| Stars, last 30 days | +454 | +90 |
| Stable releases, 12 months | 9 | 15 |
| Latest release | version/2026.8.5 · 21 Oct 2026 | v8.3.0 · 27 Oct 2026 |
| Setup | Moderate | Easy |
| Official Docker image | Yes | Yes |
| License | Other | AGPL-3.0 |
| Main language | Python | Typescript |
Which one should you pick?
authentik scores 81/100 against 75/100 for unleash, so it is the safer default.
unleash ships more often: 15 stable releases in the past year, against 9 for authentik.
If you want the quickest setup, unleash is easier to run; authentik needs more configuration.
authentik is growing faster right now (+454 stars in 30 days).
authentik details →unleash details →