authentik is an open-source Identity Provider (IdP) designed to act as the authentication glue for modern applications and infrastructure. It enables organizations to replace proprietary SSO solutions like Okta, Auth0, or Entra ID with a self-hosted alternative that supports SAML, OAuth2/OIDC, LDAP, and RADIUS protocols. Built for scalability from small labs to large Kubernetes clusters, authentik provides a unified interface for managing users, applications, and authentication flows without vendor lock-in. Its modular architecture and web-based admin UI make it accessible for DevOps teams, security engineers, and infrastructure administrators seeking control over their identity stack.
The platform is particularly valuable for teams requiring full data sovereignty, compliance with internal security policies, or cost reduction from commercial IdP subscriptions. With official deployments via Docker Compose, Helm charts, AWS CloudFormation, and DigitalOcean Marketplace, authentik offers flexible installation options suited to any environment.
What You Get
- SAML Identity Provider - Fully functional SAML IdP with support for both SP-initiated and IdP-initiated SSO, including metadata generation, signature validation, and attribute mapping for integration with enterprise applications like Salesforce, Okta, or custom SAML apps.
- OAuth2/OIDC Provider - Complete OAuth2 and OpenID Connect server implementation that acts as an authorization server, enabling secure token-based authentication for web apps, mobile clients, and APIs with support for PKCE, refresh tokens, and custom scopes.
- LDAP Integration - Built-in LDAP backend for synchronizing user directories from Active Directory or OpenLDAP, enabling centralized user management and password sync without requiring direct LDAP exposure to applications.
- RADIUS Authentication - Native RADIUS server support for authenticating network devices, VPNs (like OpenVPN or WireGuard), and legacy systems using standard RADIUS protocols.
- Reverse Proxy & Application Access - Integrated reverse proxy with application routing and access policies, allowing secure exposure of internal apps without exposing them directly to the internet via zero-trust principles.
- Kubernetes-Ready Deployment - Official Helm chart and Docker Compose configurations for seamless deployment in containerized environments, with support for auto-scaling, secrets management via Kubernetes Secrets, and ingress integration.
- Multi-Tenant Admin UI - Web-based administration dashboard with role-based access control (RBAC), application catalog, user management, audit logs, and real-time monitoring of authentication events.
Common Use Cases
- Building a multi-tenant SaaS dashboard with SAML SSO - A SaaS provider uses authentik to offer customers SAML-based single sign-on, mapping customer LDAP directories to application roles while maintaining isolated tenant identities and audit trails.
- Replacing Okta for a mid-sized enterprise - An organization migrates from Okta to authentik to reduce licensing costs and gain full control over user data, using the SAML and LDAP integrations to connect existing Active Directory users to 50+ internal applications.
- Securing remote access with RADIUS and VPN - A DevOps team configures authentik as a RADIUS server to authenticate engineers connecting via OpenVPN, enforcing MFA through the authentik web UI and syncing with corporate AD.
- DevOps teams managing microservices across multiple cloud providers - Teams deploy authentik on AWS EKS and Azure AKS to centralize authentication for internal services, using OIDC tokens issued by authentik to authorize API calls between microservices.
Under The Hood
authentik is a modern, extensible identity and access management platform built on Python and Django, designed to provide comprehensive authentication and authorization capabilities with a strong emphasis on developer experience and infrastructure flexibility. It enables organizations to manage identities, protocols, and deployments through a modular, API-driven architecture.
Architecture
authentik adopts a monolithic yet modular architecture that emphasizes clear separation of concerns and layered design principles.
- The system is organized into distinct modules handling authentication, administration, and enterprise features with well-defined entry points
- It leverages MVC and layered architecture patterns to support scalable and maintainable code organization
- Strong emphasis on API-driven components and reusable backend services for cross-functional integration
Tech Stack
The platform is built using a diverse tech stack that spans backend, frontend, and infrastructure domains.
- The core is developed in Python with Django, complemented by TypeScript and React for the admin UI
- Relies on a rich ecosystem of Django packages, PostgreSQL, Redis, and third-party authentication libraries
- Integrates modern tooling such as Node.js, Docker, CDK for deployment, and Makefiles for orchestration
- Comprehensive test suite includes Django’s testing framework, pytest, and custom validation utilities
Code Quality
authentik demonstrates a mature approach to code quality with consistent testing and error handling practices.
- Extensive test coverage ensures reliability across modules and functional areas
- Error handling is consistently implemented with proper exception management throughout the codebase
- Code style and naming conventions are mostly consistent, though some technical debt remains in duplicated logic
- Linting and CI/CD pipelines are configured to support code quality standards
What Makes It Unique
authentik introduces several innovative approaches that distinguish it from traditional identity management solutions.
- Features a blueprint-based infrastructure-as-code system enabling declarative identity deployment and version control
- Provides a unified abstraction layer for multiple identity protocols including OAuth2, SAML, and OIDC
- Offers extensible file backend support with pluggable storage options like S3 and static providers
- Includes a developer-centric admin UI built with TypeScript components that support rapid customization and extension