authentik vs OATH (Open Authentication): Side-by-Side Comparison (2026)

authentik: Open-source identity provider with SSO, MFA, and application proxy capabilities. built by authentik. Core capabilities include Multi-factor authentication, Single sign-on with OAuth2/OIDC and SAML2 support, Application proxy..

OATH (Open Authentication): Vendor-neutral org publishing open standards for OTP & strong auth. built by OATH (Open Authentication). Core capabilities include Open, royalty-free OTP specifications (HOTP, TOTP, OCRA), HOTP (RFC 4226): counter-based HMAC one-time password standard, TOTP (RFC 6238): time-based one-time password standard..

Both serve the Multi-Factor Authentication and Single Sign-On market but differ in approach, feature depth, and target audience.

authentik differentiates with Multi-factor authentication, Single sign-on with OAuth2/OIDC and SAML2 support, Application proxy. OATH (Open Authentication) differentiates with Open, royalty-free OTP specifications (HOTP, TOTP, OCRA), HOTP (RFC 4226): counter-based HMAC one-time password standard, TOTP (RFC 6238): time-based one-time password standard.

authentik is developed by authentik. OATH (Open Authentication) is developed by OATH (Open Authentication). Vendor maturity, funding stage, and team size can be important factors when evaluating long-term viability and support quality.

authentik and OATH (Open Authentication) serve similar Multi-Factor Authentication and Single Sign-On use cases: both are Multi-Factor Authentication and Single Sign-On tools, both cover Authentication, MFA, Open Source. Key differences: authentik is Commercial while OATH (Open Authentication) is Free. Review the feature comparison above to determine which fits your requirements.