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OpenSourceAlternatives

Okta alternatives

5 projects to consider for your Okta workflows.

5 open source

Explore Apache APISIX, Authentik and Authgear. Each takes a different approach to your Okta workflows. Read its capabilities and limitations to find the right fit.

Catalogue facts checked August 31, 2026

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Apache APISIX

Open-source API gateway for routing, security, and AI traffic

Open sourceApache-2.0Self-hosted

Apache APISIX is a self-hosted Apache 2.0 API gateway that routes microservice, Kubernetes, and LLM traffic through a plugin model. Operators manage it by Admin API, declarative files, or dashboard, with etcd under the hood. It suits teams wanting gateway control, not teams seeking a managed service.[1][2]

Good fit. Platform teams that want one self-hosted gateway for routing microservice API traffic with plugin-based policy enforcement.[1][2]

Keep in mind. Production setups require etcd or a compatible store plus container or Kubernetes know-how, which adds operational overhead compared with managed gateways.[1][2]

Repository review signals: unknown status, very stale · Observed October 3, 2026.

Read project review Official website
Sources and editorial review

Source research. Reviewed on October 7, 2026. Written by Sanjib Sah. AI assisted; reviewed by a human editor.

We have not run or tested this product.

One inspected independent evaluation report comparing Apache APISIX routing with Spring Cloud Gateway. Single-report sample; it supports an attributed experience, not prevalence or satisfaction scores.

  1. Apache APISIX official homepage

    official · Observed October 7, 2026

    Official project homepage describing the dynamic API gateway, plugin system, ingress, AI gateway, and observability integrations.

  2. Apache APISIX getting started guide

    official · Observed October 7, 2026

    Official quickstart showing Docker-based gateway and etcd setup, Admin API token use, and route creation.

  3. Evaluating Apache APISIX versus Spring Cloud Gateway

    community · Observed October 7, 2026

    Independent evaluator testing dynamic routing against Spring Cloud Gateway.

Authentik

Self-hosted open-source identity provider for modern SSO

Open sourceMITSelf-hosted

Self-hosted SSO with visual flows Authentik is a self-hosted, MIT-licensed identity provider (25821 GitHub stars, version 2026.8.3) offering SSO over OIDC, SAML, LDAP, SCIM, RADIUS, Kerberos, and proxy with a visual flow builder, TOTP and WebAuthn MFA, and air-gapped deployment. The core is free; Enterprise adds privileged access management and directory integrations at $5 per user per month billed annually.[1][2][3]

Good fit. Teams consolidating logins across many internal applications behind one directory with per-app policies will get the most value from authentik.[1][2]

Keep in mind. Teams without anyone comfortable running Postgres, Redis, and container updates should avoid authentik, since every upgrade, backup, and outage is theirs to handle.[1]

Repository review signals: unknown status, very stale · Observed October 3, 2026.

Read project review Official website
Sources and editorial review

Source research. Reviewed on October 7, 2026. Written by Sanjib Sah. AI assisted; reviewed by a human editor.

We have not run or tested this product.

  1. authentik homepage

    official · Observed October 7, 2026

    Vendor homepage: self-hosted open-source identity provider positioning, over one million installations, named production users, protocol breadth, Kubernetes/Terraform/Docker Compose deployment, API-driven automation.

  2. authentik pricing

    official · Observed October 7, 2026

    Official pricing page: free open-source scope (OIDC, SAML, LDAP, SCIM, RADIUS, Kerberos, proxy, OpenID Certified, RAC, token exchange, account switching), Enterprise at $5/user/month plus $0.02/external user/month billed annually, enterprise-only feature list.

  3. OpenAlternative public project detail for authentik

    official · Observed October 7, 2026

    Platform catalogue record: tagline, description paragraphs, highlights, repository goauthentik/authentik, 25821 stars, version 2026.8.3, MIT license, self-hosted deployment options including air-gapped, no hosted service, alternativeTo Okta and Auth0, moderate deployment difficulty.

Authgear

Open source auth with SSO, passkeys, and user management

Open sourceApache-2.0Self-hostedManaged hosting

Open-source auth with passkeys, SSO, and a 100k-MAU free tier Authgear is an open-source customer identity platform that gives SaaS and mobile teams login, single sign-on, and user management without building auth in-house. Its cloud free tier covers up to 100,000 monthly active users, while Standard and Enterprise plans add SSO, audit logs, SLAs, and regional data residency on usage-based pricing.[1][2][3]

Good fit. SaaS teams that want login, MFA, and SSO handled outside their own codebase, starting on a free tier of up to 100,000 monthly active users.[1][2]

Keep in mind. Single sign-on, audit logs, custom SLAs, dedicated support, and custom data processing terms all require paid Standard or Enterprise plans, so the free tier suits only teams without enterprise buyer requirements.[1]

Repository review signals: unknown status, very stale · Observed October 3, 2026.

Read project review Official website
Sources and editorial review

Source research. Reviewed on October 7, 2026. Written by Sanjib Sah. AI assisted; reviewed by a human editor.

We have not run or tested this product.

One inspected G2 review excerpt about Authgear's support for login customizations. Community sample is a single G2 review excerpt; the full G2 review page could not be loaded on 2026-10-07 (repeated timeouts), so no broader sentiment, version context, or counterexamples could be inspected. No suitable original Reddit report was found within the research budget.

  1. Pricing - Authgear

    official · Observed October 7, 2026

    Official pricing page: free tier limits, Standard and Enterprise usage-based pricing, SSO and audit-log gating, data regions, compliance badges. Read 2026-10-07.

  2. Authgear Documentation

    official · Observed October 7, 2026

    Official documentation home: authentication methods, SSO, Authflows customization, SDKs, Admin Portal, audit log, hooks. Read 2026-10-07.

  3. authgear/authgear-server on GitHub

    official · Observed October 7, 2026

    Public server repository: open-source Auth0 and Keycloak alternative positioning, passkeys, SSO, MFA, self-hosted or cloud. Search result inspected 2026-10-07.

  4. Authgear Reviews on G2

    community · Observed October 7, 2026

    G2 review excerpt praising Authgear product-team support for login customizations; full review page timed out on repeated loads, so only the inspected excerpt is quoted.

Cerbos

Self-hosted authorization layer with versioned YAML policies and audit logs

Open sourceApache-2.0Self-hostedManaged hosting

Microservices teams that want policy-as-code authorization with per-decision audit logs will benefit most from Cerbos. Its central decision point, YAML policies with roles and attributes, and native JWT support directly address scattered permission logic. Teams without developers to write policies and integrate SDKs, or needing a no-code access tool, should choose something else. If you have developers and accept the open-core cost model, choose Cerbos; if you need no-code simplicity, look at simpler alternatives instead.[1][2][3]

Good fit. Microservices teams replacing scattered permission logic: central policies remove duplicated allow-or-deny code across services.[1][2]

Keep in mind. Non-technical teams wanting no-code access control: policies are YAML code and integration needs SDK work, so the workflow assumes developers.[1]

Repository review signals: unknown status, very stale · Observed October 3, 2026.

Read project review Official website
Sources and editorial review

Source research. Reviewed on October 9, 2026. Written by Sanjib Sah. AI assisted; reviewed by a human editor.

We have not run or tested this product.

Inspected G2 Cerbos reviews page in October 2026: 4 reviews from engineer, founder, and CTO reviewers with ratings from 4.3 to 5.0. Sample of four cannot establish prevalence; difficulty or disagreement reports may be underrepresented; no verbatim quotes are reused in this revision.

  1. Cerbos documentation home

    official · Observed October 9, 2026

    Official documentation home: PDP/Hub/Synapse structure, 8 SDKs, policy bundles, playground, AuthZEN, deployment targets (binary, container, K8s, serverless, systemd, on-prem, air-gapped).

  2. Cerbos pricing

    official · Observed October 9, 2026

    Official pricing page: open-core model, PDP free forever, Hub Development and Production tiers priced per monthly active principal; vendor-supplied customer quotes not reused as testimonials.

  3. Cerbos reviews on G2

    community · Observed October 9, 2026

    G2 product reviews page: 4 reviews, ratings 4.3 to 5.0, vendor-listed pricing tiers; no verbatim quote text retained so no testimonial reuse.

KrakenD

Stateless open-source API gateway for aggregation and traffic control

Open sourceApache-2.0Self-hosted

KrakenD fits platform teams that want to collapse chatty microservice calls into single edge endpoints without operating a database for the gateway itself. Its declarative JSON configuration, response aggregation, and gateway-level JWT, OAuth2, and rate-limit enforcement carry the recommendation. Teams wanting a visual admin console, plugin marketplace, or fully managed cloud should look elsewhere, since KrakenD is config-file driven and self-hosted only. If your staff can own a JSON-defined gateway on Docker or Kubernetes, choose KrakenD; if you need no-code management, consider a dashboard-led gateway such as Apache APISIX.[1][2][3]

Good fit. Teams whose mobile or frontend apps fan out to many services gain the most, because aggregation directly removes round trips their users feel.[1][2]

Keep in mind. The Community Edition is configured in files, so operators expecting a built-in console or click-through setup will find daily work unfamiliar.[1][2]

Repository review signals: unknown status, repository move, stale · Observed October 11, 2026.

Read project review Official website
Sources and editorial review

Source research. Reviewed on October 11, 2026. Written by Sanjib Sah. AI assisted; reviewed by a human editor.

We have not run or tested this product.

Inspected G2 review listing for KrakenD AI and API Gateway showing 63 reviews and a 4.7 average, with individually read verified reviews from small-business to enterprise users dated 2022-2026. One listing page with individually read verified reviews from 2022-2026; excerpts support attributed experience, not prevalence or satisfaction scores. The 4.7 average is G2's displayed aggregate, not our measurement.

  1. KrakenD official homepage

    official · Observed October 11, 2026

    Official homepage: gateway positioning, aggregation, transformation, auth, traffic management, run-anywhere self-hosting, Community and Enterprise editions.

  2. KrakenD documentation index

    official · Observed October 11, 2026

    Docs index for the 2.11 line: configuration, endpoints, backends, security, auth, throttling, service discovery, observability, deployment, Docker, Kubernetes, Enterprise docs.

  3. KrakenD G2 reviews

    community · Observed October 11, 2026

    G2 listing showing 63 reviews and 4.7 average with individually read verified reviews 2022-2026 covering aggregation, config ease, K8s operation, JWT/OIDC, pricing, and managed-hosting gap.

Compare Okta alternatives

Known catalogue facts at a glance. Columns with no reviewed values are omitted. “Not reviewed” means unknown, not that a capability is absent.

Known facts for Okta alternatives
ProjectLicense policyHostingDeploymentOfflineEnterprise supportBest fit
Apache APISIXApache-2.0 · OSI-approvedSelf-hostedmoderateNot reviewedYesRouting microservice API traffic; Running Kubernetes ingress
AuthentikMIT · OSI-approvedSelf-hostedmoderateYesYesCentralized single sign-on across internal applications; Customer identity for SaaS products and portals
AuthgearApache-2.0 · OSI-approvedSelf-hosted + ManagedadvancedNot reviewedYesSaaS teams outsourcing login, SSO, and MFA; Consumer apps needing passkeys and OTP login
CerbosApache-2.0 · OSI-approvedSelf-hosted + ManagedmoderateYesYesMicroservices needing centralized authorization checks; Teams replacing scattered permission logic with policy as code
KrakenDApache-2.0 · OSI-approvedSelf-hostedmoderateNot reviewedYesAggregating microservice APIs behind single endpoints; Securing edge traffic with auth and rate limits

Before you switch

  • Check that the project covers the workflows and data you need to move.
  • Confirm that the license terms fit how you plan to run, modify, and distribute it.
  • Choose between self-hosting responsibility and a reviewed managed option.
  • Open the project page for repository freshness, review dates, and any unresolved requirements.
About Okta

Okta is aimed at employee identity rather than customer identity: single sign-on across hundreds of business applications, lifecycle provisioning tied to a HR system, and the access reviews auditors ask for.

It is deeply embedded once adopted, which is both the value and the risk. Integration breadth is unmatched, and the same breadth makes any migration a multi-quarter programme.

Okta · From $2/user/month per product, enterprise negotiated · Checked August 31, 2026

Official website
How this list is ordered

Recommended · Organic catalogue order.

A deterministic editorial score using relationship confidence, category fit, logarithmic popularity, as-of maintenance and freshness, with bounded anomaly quarantine and known-data penalties. Payment is fixed at zero.

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