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Authgear
Apache-2.0Authgear replaces Auth0 and Clerk with an open-source identity server offering passkeys, MFA, and SAML SSO with zero feature gates.
Open-source alternative to — compare it against:
Overview
A growth-stage SaaS platform rolling out enterprise single sign-on watches its Auth0 invoice multiply the moment a customer requests SAML federation. Scaling monthly active users on commercial identity providers turns authentication into an escalating budget line item. Authgear runs that entire identity stack—including passkeys, multi-factor verification, and SAML integrations—from an open-source Go server inside your infrastructure without per-user surcharges.
Why Authgear instead of Auth0
Auth0 prices identity on monthly active users and gates standard B2B capabilities behind enterprise tiers. While Auth0 offers rapid setup, enterprise contracts often demand custom pricing that charges thousands of dollars annually to unlock SAML single sign-on or enforced multi-factor authentication. Authgear removes feature gating entirely: SAML 2.0, biometric login, passkeys, and one-time passwords function out of the box whether self-hosted on Kubernetes or consumed as managed cloud.
The trade-off shifts from software licensing to operational ownership. Auth0 offloads infrastructure management and compliance to an external vendor, freeing teams from hosting login infrastructure. Authgear requires provisioning PostgreSQL with the pg_partman extension, running Redis, and maintaining your own database backups and updates. Teams migrating away from Auth0 gain data ownership and predictable costs, but they assume the responsibility of running production authentication.
What it does well
- Native passkey support: Implements WebAuthn without third-party plugins, enabling biometric logins across iOS, Android, and web frontends.
- Ungated SAML and OIDC: Includes enterprise single sign-on and social identity connectors across all deployments without pricing paywalls.
- Pre-built AuthUI and Admin API: Provides customizable interfaces for login, registration, and user settings, paired with a GraphQL API for programmatic provisioning.
- Modular Go architecture: Packages the core identity engine, admin portal, workers, and image server as distinct entry points for independent scaling.
- Cloud-native deployment: Supplies an official Helm chart and Docker Compose reference topologies with health checks and Prometheus metrics.
- Declarative flow engine: Resolves authentication steps through a node graph, allowing developers to execute custom logic via webhooks and TypeScript hooks.
