# keycloak vs nforwardauth

> Two self-hosted [Authentication projects](https://selfhost.directory/authentication), compared on the numbers selfhost.directory tracks live: score, popularity, release cadence and setup effort.

| | keycloak | nforwardauth |
|---|---|---|
| Score | 86/100 ✓ | 44/100 |
| Rank in category | #1 of 40 in Authentication | #28 of 40 in Authentication |
| GitHub stars | 37 573 ✓ | 159 |
| Stars, last 30 days | +606 | — |
| Stable releases, 12 months | 14 ✓ | 1 |
| Latest release | 26.8.1 · 13 Oct 2026 ✓ | v1.5.1 · 10 Jul 2026 |
| Setup | Moderate | Moderate ✓ |
| Official Docker image | Yes | Yes |
| License | Apache-2.0 | MIT |
| Main language | Java | Rust |

## Which one should you pick?

keycloak scores 86/100 against 44/100 for nforwardauth, so it is the safer default.

keycloak ships more often: 14 stable releases in the past year, against 1 for nforwardauth.

keycloak is growing faster right now (+606 stars in 30 days).

## Details

- [keycloak](https://selfhost.directory/project/keycloak) (markdown: https://selfhost.directory/project/keycloak.md)
- [nforwardauth](https://selfhost.directory/project/nforwardauth) (markdown: https://selfhost.directory/project/nforwardauth.md)

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Source: https://selfhost.directory/compare/keycloak-vs-nforwardauth