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Cybersecurity · head to head

Authelia vs Baffle

Authelia logo

Authelia

Cybersecurity

Open-source authentication and two-factor portal for reverse proxies

From
Free
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite
Baffle logo

Baffle

Cybersecurity

Transparent proxy that encrypts, tokenises and masks database fields without application code changes

From
On request
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite

The short version

  • Only Authelia has a free tier, so it costs nothing to try first.
  • Each has a real cost: Authelia depends on a reverse proxy: it is not a standalone identity provider; Baffle the proxy sits in the production data path, so it becomes a latency contributor and a failure domain, and any deployment needs load and failover testing that customers routinely underestimate.
  • They diverge on capability: Authelia covers Reverse proxy integration, Baffle covers Transparent proxy deployment.
  • Prices and features above were last checked on 31 August 2026.

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which Authelia and Baffle actually diverge.

Attributes where Authelia and Baffle differ
AttributeAutheliaBaffle
Starting priceFreeOn request
Pricing modelOpen source, no licence feequote
Free tierYesNo
PlatformsDocker, Kubernetes, Linux, Self-hostedLinux, Web

Identical on both: user rating (Not yet rated), category (Cybersecurity).

What each one covers

Drawn from each product's published feature list. An absence here means we hold no record of it - not that the product lacks it.

Only in Authelia

  • Reverse proxy integration
  • Two-factor authentication
  • Access control rules
  • Lightweight backends

Only in Baffle

  • Transparent proxy deployment
  • Field-level encryption
  • Tokenisation
  • Format-preserving de-identification
  • Dynamic data masking
  • Bring your own key
  • Analytics and pipeline support
  • AI pipeline protection

What people use each for

The jobs each tool is most often brought in to do.

Authelia

  • Putting a login and 2FA in front of self-hosted services that have nonenot Baffle
  • Adding SSO across a small set of internal tools without a full identity platformnot Baffle
  • Home and small-team infrastructure behind a single reverse proxynot Baffle

Baffle

  • A bank with a legacy application it cannot safely refactor that has an audit finding requiring field-level encryption of account datanot Authelia
  • A company wanting to take a reporting database out of PCI scope by tokenising card fields before they landnot Authelia
  • A healthcare organisation that must ensure database administrators and cloud operators cannot read patient identifiers in the tables they administernot Authelia
  • A team moving regulated data into a warehouse or an AI retrieval pipeline that needs identifiers de-identified in transit without rewriting the ingest jobsnot Authelia

Where each one falls short

Documented limitations, not opinions. Every one is a constraint you would hit in normal use.

Authelia

  • Depends on a reverse proxy: it is not a standalone identity provider
  • Configuration is YAML-first with no administrative interface, so changes mean editing files
  • Not a full IAM: user management, provisioning and federation are limited compared with Keycloak
  • Scales poorly as an organisation-wide identity solution, which is not its target

Baffle

  • The proxy sits in the production data path, so it becomes a latency contributor and a failure domain, and any deployment needs load and failover testing that customers routinely underestimate.
  • What you can still do in SQL depends on the protection mode chosen, and stronger modes restrict comparisons, joins and aggregations on protected columns, which can quietly break existing reports and analytics.
  • Database and driver coverage is finite, so an organisation with an unusual engine, an old driver or heavy use of stored procedures may find its most important system is exactly the one not supported.
  • Pricing is unpublished and scales with protected data stores, which means an enterprise trying to protect a long tail of small databases pays disproportionately compared with protecting a handful of large ones.
  • Key management is your responsibility under bring your own key, and while that is the correct security posture, it moves a real operational burden and a genuine data-loss risk onto the customer.

Pricing, plan by plan

Authelia

Free
  • AutheliaFree
    • Full functionality
    • No usage limits
    • Community support

Baffle

On request
  • Baffle Data Protection Services$undefined/year
    • Quoted by protected data stores and deployment scale
    • Self-managed and cloud marketplace deployment options
    • Annual subscription

Which should you pick?

Choose Authelia if

  • You need reverse proxy integration.
  • You want to start without paying.
  • You work on Docker, Kubernetes, Linux, Self-hosted.
  • You also want two-factor authentication.
Authelia review

Choose Baffle if

  • You need transparent proxy deployment.
  • You work on Linux, Web.
  • You also want field-level encryption.
Baffle review

Questions people ask

Is Authelia or Baffle better?
Neither clearly leads. Authelia starts at Free and Baffle at On request, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, Authelia or Baffle?
Authelia has a free tier; the other does not. Paid plans start at Free for Authelia and On request for Baffle.
Does Authelia or Baffle run on more platforms?
Authelia runs on Docker, Kubernetes, Linux, Self-hosted. Baffle runs on Linux, Web.
Can I use Authelia for free?
Yes. Authelia has a free tier, so you can try it without paying. Baffle starts at On request.
What is Authelia best used for?
Authelia is most often used for putting a login and 2fa in front of self-hosted services that have none, adding sso across a small set of internal tools without a full identity platform, home and small-team infrastructure behind a single reverse proxy. Of those, putting a login and 2fa in front of self-hosted services that have none and adding sso across a small set of internal tools without a full identity platform are not what Baffle is typically brought in for.
What can Authelia do that Baffle cannot?
Authelia covers Reverse proxy integration, Two-factor authentication, Access control rules, Lightweight backends. Baffle covers Transparent proxy deployment, Field-level encryption, Tokenisation, Format-preserving de-identification.

Answered from the vendors’ own pages

Authelia: Is Authelia free?

Yes, open source with no licence fee.

Baffle: Do applications need code changes?

No. That is the central design choice. Baffle intercepts traffic as a proxy rather than requiring an SDK call at every read and write.

Authelia: Does Authelia need a reverse proxy?

Yes. It integrates through forward authentication with Nginx, Traefik, Caddy or HAProxy rather than sitting in front of traffic itself.

Baffle: Can you still query encrypted columns?

Partly, and it depends on the protection mode. Some modes preserve equality matching and format, stronger modes restrict what SQL operations remain possible, so this must be tested against your actual queries.

Authelia: Authelia or Keycloak?

Authelia is far lighter and aimed at protecting self-hosted services behind a proxy. Keycloak is a full identity and access management platform, and much more to run.

Baffle: Does it take systems out of PCI scope?

Tokenisation can reduce scope by ensuring card data never lands in the protected system, but scope reduction is an assessor judgement, not a product setting.

Baffle: Who holds the encryption keys?

You do, through your own key management service. Baffle supports bring your own key rather than holding customer keys itself.

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