Kanidmvsnforwardauth
Two self-hosted projects, compared on the numbers selfhost.directory tracks live: score, popularity, release cadence and setup effort.
| Kanidm | nforwardauth | |
|---|---|---|
| Score | 67/100 | 44/100 |
| Rank in category | #3 of 3 in IAM | #28 of 40 in Authentication |
| GitHub stars | 5 511 | 159 |
| Stars, last 30 days | +107 | — |
| Stable releases, 12 months | 14 | 1 |
| Latest release | v1.11.2 · 11 Sept 2026 | v1.5.1 · 10 Jul 2026 |
| Setup | Advanced | Moderate |
| Official Docker image | Yes | Yes |
| License | MPL-2.0 | MIT |
| Main language | Rust | Rust |
Which one should you pick?
Kanidm scores 67/100 against 44/100 for nforwardauth, so it is the safer default.
Kanidm ships more often: 14 stable releases in the past year, against 1 for nforwardauth.
If you want the quickest setup, nforwardauth is easier to run; Kanidm needs more configuration.
Kanidm is growing faster right now (+107 stars in 30 days).
Kanidm details →nforwardauth details →