If you’re looking to move off Auth0, you have options. Real ones. Here are the 4 open-source, self-hostable alternatives I’ve tested, with honest notes on what each does well and where each falls short.
Why leave Auth0?
- Free tier ends at 7,000 MAUs — paid tier gets very expensive very fast.
- Vendor lock-in — migrating auth is one of the hardest migrations in software.
- Downtime on Auth0 = your product is completely down.
The 4 best self-hosted alternatives to Auth0
Authelia
Homelab-friendly SSO / 2FA. Perfect in front of Traefik or Nginx for internal apps.
Visit Authelia website →Keycloak
The enterprise choice. Everything, but heavy. Maintained by Red Hat.
Visit Keycloak website →Quick comparison
| Alternative | Difficulty | License |
|---|---|---|
| Authelia | Medium | Apache-2.0 |
| Authentik | Medium | MIT |
| Keycloak | Hard | Apache-2.0 |
| Zitadel | Medium | Apache-2.0 |
Frequently asked questions
Is there a free alternative to Auth0?
Yes. Every tool listed above is free and open source. Some, like Authelia, also have optional paid hosted tiers if you don’t want to run the server yourself. Everything else is genuinely free to self-host — you pay only for your own hardware and time.
Which one should I pick if I’ve never self-hosted anything before?
Start with Authelia. It’s the lowest-friction option here — realistic to have running in an afternoon on a small server or Raspberry Pi. If it doesn’t fit your workflow, Authentik is a good second try.
Can I run these on a Raspberry Pi?
Most of them, yes — the tools marked Easy here will comfortably run on a Pi 4 or Pi 5 with 4GB+ of RAM. The Medium tools may work but appreciate a mini PC or a spare desktop. Hard-tagged tools generally want real server hardware.
What about mobile apps?
It varies. Tools like Vaultwarden and Immich have native iOS/Android apps that connect to your server. Others rely on the web UI through your phone browser — fine for occasional use, not a full app experience.