# authentik vs Zulip

> Two self-hosted projects, compared on the numbers selfhost.directory tracks live: score, popularity, release cadence and setup effort.

| | authentik | Zulip |
|---|---|---|
| Score | 81/100 | 82/100 ✓ |
| Rank in category | #1 of 3 in IAM | #1 of 110 in Chat |
| GitHub stars | 26 158 ✓ | 26 133 |
| Stars, last 30 days | +453 ✓ | +190 |
| Stable releases, 12 months | 9 ✓ | 6 |
| Latest release | version/2026.8.5 · 21 Oct 2026 ✓ | 12.3 · 21 Sept 2026 |
| Setup | Moderate | Moderate ✓ |
| Official Docker image | Yes | Yes |
| License | Other | Apache-2.0 |
| Main language | Python | Python |

## Which one should you pick?

Zulip scores 82/100 against 81/100 for authentik, so it is the safer default.

authentik ships more often: 9 stable releases in the past year, against 6 for Zulip.

authentik is growing faster right now (+453 stars in 30 days).

## Details

- [authentik](https://selfhost.directory/project/authentik) (markdown: https://selfhost.directory/project/authentik.md)
- [Zulip](https://selfhost.directory/project/zulip) (markdown: https://selfhost.directory/project/zulip.md)

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Source: https://selfhost.directory/compare/authentik-vs-zulip