Is Authelia or Helix better?

Neither clearly leads. Authelia starts at Free and Helix at Free, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.

Which is cheaper, Authelia or Helix?

Authelia starts at Free and Helix at Free.

Does Authelia or Helix run on more platforms?

Authelia runs on Docker, Kubernetes, Linux, Self-hosted. Helix runs on linux, mac, windows.

Can I use Authelia for free?

Both have a free tier, so you can try either at no cost before committing.

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 Helix is typically brought in for.

What can Authelia do that Helix cannot?

Authelia covers Reverse proxy integration, Two-factor authentication, Access control rules, Lightweight backends. Helix covers Multiple Selections, Tree-sitter Syntax Trees, Built-in LSP Support, Fuzzy File Finder.

Cybersecurity · head to head

Authelia vs Helix

Authelia

Cybersecurity

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

From: Free
Rated: -

Full review Website

Helix

Developer Tools

Post-modern modal text editor for the terminal, written in Rust

From: Free
Rated: -

Full review Website

The short version

Each has a real cost: Authelia depends on a reverse proxy: it is not a standalone identity provider; Helix no official GUI application yet, so it requires comfort with terminal workflows.
They diverge on capability: Authelia covers Reverse proxy integration, Helix covers Multiple Selections.
Prices and features above were last checked on 29 August 2026.

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which Authelia and Helix actually diverge.

Attributes where Authelia and Helix differ
Attribute	Authelia	Helix
Pricing model	Open source, no licence fee	open-source
Platforms	Docker, Kubernetes, Linux, Self-hosted	linux, mac, windows
Category	Cybersecurity	Developer Tools

Identical on both: starting price (Free), free tier (Yes), user rating (Not yet rated).

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 Helix

Multiple Selections
Tree-sitter Syntax Trees
Built-in LSP Support
Fuzzy File Finder
Project-wide Search

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 Helix
Adding SSO across a small set of internal tools without a full identity platformnot Helix
Home and small-team infrastructure behind a single reverse proxynot Helix

Helix

Editing code over SSH or in tmux sessionsnot Authelia
Working with syntax-aware selection and navigationnot Authelia
Getting IDE-like completion and diagnostics without plugin setupnot Authelia
Lightweight, low-resource code editing on laptopsnot 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

Helix

No official GUI application yet, so it requires comfort with terminal workflows.
Plugin ecosystem is far smaller than Vim's or Neovim's, limiting customization.
Keybindings differ from both Vim and Kakoune, adding a learning curve for users of either.
Configuration is more limited than Neovim's Lua-based extensibility.

Pricing, plan by plan

Authelia

Free

AutheliaFree
- Full functionality
- No usage limits
- Community support

Helix

Free

FreeFree
- Full editor, no paid tiers

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 Helix if

You need multiple selections.
You want to start without paying.
You work on linux, mac, windows.
You also want tree-sitter syntax trees.

Helix review

Questions people ask

Is Authelia or Helix better?: Neither clearly leads. Authelia starts at Free and Helix at Free, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, Authelia or Helix?: Authelia starts at Free and Helix at Free.
Does Authelia or Helix run on more platforms?: Authelia runs on Docker, Kubernetes, Linux, Self-hosted. Helix runs on linux, mac, windows.
Can I use Authelia for free?: Both have a free tier, so you can try either at no cost before committing.
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 Helix is typically brought in for.
What can Authelia do that Helix cannot?: Authelia covers Reverse proxy integration, Two-factor authentication, Access control rules, Lightweight backends. Helix covers Multiple Selections, Tree-sitter Syntax Trees, Built-in LSP Support, Fuzzy File Finder.

Answered from the vendors’ own pages

Authelia: Is Authelia free?

Yes, open source with no licence fee.

Helix: Is Helix free to use?

Yes, Helix is free and open source, licensed under the Mozilla Public License 2.0 (MPL-2.0), with no paid tiers or subscriptions.

Source

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.

Helix: How do I install Helix?

Install via your operating system's package manager, or download pre-built binaries from GitHub Releases; the nightly version requires building from source.

Source

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.

Helix: Does Helix support plugins?

Not yet. Helix currently has no plugin system, though the project intends to add one eventually; it instead ships with built-in LSP and tree-sitter support out of the box.

Source

Helix: How do I configure Helix?

Helix ships with sane modern defaults requiring much less config-file fiddling than Vim, though settings can still be customized in a config.toml file.

Source

Helix: Where can I get help or support?

Support is community-driven via GitHub for code and issues, the Matrix chat for discussion, and OpenCollective for funding ongoing development.

Source

Authelia vs Helix

Authelia

Helix

The short version

Where they differ

What each one covers

Only in Authelia

Only in Helix

What people use each for

Authelia

Helix

Where each one falls short

Authelia

Helix

Pricing, plan by plan

Authelia

Helix

Which should you pick?

Choose Authelia if

Choose Helix if

Questions people ask

Answered from the vendors’ own pages

Related pages

More on Authelia

More on Helix

Keep looking

Other head to heads