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Cybersecurity · head to head

Authelia vs Mozilla Firefox

Authelia logo

Authelia

Cybersecurity

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

From
Free
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite
Mozilla Firefox logo

Mozilla Firefox

Technology

An independent web browser with its own rendering engine, funded almost entirely by search placement deals.

From
Free
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite

The short version

  • Each has a real cost: Authelia depends on a reverse proxy: it is not a standalone identity provider; Mozilla Firefox roughly 85 per cent of Mozilla's revenue comes from search default placement deals, overwhelmingly with Google, so the organisation that competes with Chrome depends on Chrome's owner for its funding and any renegotiation lands on Firefox's engineering budget within a quarter.
  • They diverge on capability: Authelia covers Reverse proxy integration, Mozilla Firefox covers Gecko engine.
  • Prices and features above were last checked on 30 August 2026.

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which Authelia and Mozilla Firefox actually diverge.

Attributes where Authelia and Mozilla Firefox differ
AttributeAutheliaMozilla Firefox
Pricing modelOpen source, no licence feeUnknown
PlatformsDocker, Kubernetes, Linux, Self-hostedWindows, macOS, Linux, iOS, Android
CategoryCybersecurityTechnology
FoundedUnknown2004

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 Mozilla Firefox

  • Gecko engine
  • Full webRequest blocking
  • Total Cookie Protection
  • Container tabs
  • Extended Support Release
  • policies.json and ADMX
  • Built-in developer tools
  • Firefox Sync

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

Mozilla Firefox

  • Web development where you need to test against a non-Chromium engine before shipping, because Chromium-only testing hides real bugsnot Authelia
  • Users who require a full-strength content blocker, which Chrome's Manifest V3 no longer permitsnot Authelia
  • Managed fleets that need a browser on a slow release cadence with Group Policy control, using the ESR channelnot Authelia
  • Handling several accounts on the same service at once through container tabs, without separate profiles or private windowsnot 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

Mozilla Firefox

  • Roughly 85 per cent of Mozilla's revenue comes from search default placement deals, overwhelmingly with Google, so the organisation that competes with Chrome depends on Chrome's owner for its funding and any renegotiation lands on Firefox's engineering budget within a quarter.
  • Desktop market share sits at a few per cent, so commercial sites are tested against Chrome and Safari and a Firefox-only rendering or WebRTC bug is triaged as low priority by the site owner, leaving you with the workaround.
  • On iOS and iPadOS the browser is a WebKit shell required by Apple's rules, so it delivers the interface and Sync but none of the engine, extension or tracking-protection behaviour that make Firefox worth choosing on desktop.
  • Mozilla declines to implement several hardware-facing APIs on principle, including WebUSB, WebSerial, Web Bluetooth and WebHID, so a web application that talks to a device simply does not run and no configuration flag changes that.
  • Enterprise management is limited to policies.json and ADMX templates; there is no first-party equivalent of Chrome Browser Cloud Management, so fleet-wide reporting on versions and extensions requires third-party tooling you have to buy or build.
  • Mozilla repeatedly ships decisions its own user base objects to, such as enabling Privacy Preserving Attribution by default and the 2025 Terms of Use rewrite, and reversals arrive after the news cycle, so deploying it on a privacy argument means owning the communications work each time.

Pricing, plan by plan

Authelia

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

Mozilla Firefox

Free

No published plan breakdown. See the Mozilla Firefox review.

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 Mozilla Firefox if

  • You need gecko engine.
  • You want to start without paying.
  • You work on Windows, macOS, Linux, iOS, Android.
  • You also want full webrequest blocking.
Mozilla Firefox review

Questions people ask

Is Authelia or Mozilla Firefox better?
Neither clearly leads. Authelia starts at Free and Mozilla Firefox at Free, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, Authelia or Mozilla Firefox?
Authelia starts at Free and Mozilla Firefox at Free.
Does Authelia or Mozilla Firefox run on more platforms?
Authelia runs on Docker, Kubernetes, Linux, Self-hosted. Mozilla Firefox runs on Windows, macOS, Linux, iOS, Android.
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 Mozilla Firefox is typically brought in for.
What can Authelia do that Mozilla Firefox cannot?
Authelia covers Reverse proxy integration, Two-factor authentication, Access control rules, Lightweight backends. Mozilla Firefox covers Gecko engine, Full webRequest blocking, Total Cookie Protection, Container tabs.

Answered from the vendors’ own pages

Authelia: Is Authelia free?

Yes, open source with no licence fee.

Mozilla Firefox: Does uBlock Origin still work on Firefox?

Yes. Firefox has kept the blocking webRequest API that Chrome removed with Manifest V3, so uBlock Origin runs with its full rule set rather than the cut-down Lite version Chrome requires.

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.

Mozilla Firefox: Is Firefox on iPhone the same browser?

No. Apple's platform rules require it to use WebKit, so on iOS and iPadOS you get Firefox's interface, Sync and bookmarks on top of Safari's engine. The privacy and extension behaviour are not the same.

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.

Mozilla Firefox: How is Mozilla funded, and does that matter?

Mainly by payments for making a search engine the default, with Google as the dominant payer. It matters because it is a single-source dependency on a direct competitor, and it has been the subject of antitrust litigation whose outcome Mozilla does not control.

Mozilla Firefox: Can I manage it across a company fleet?

Yes, through policies.json or Windows Group Policy with the ADMX templates, and the ESR channel gives you a roughly yearly major version instead of four-weekly. There is no first-party cloud management console, so reporting needs other tooling.

Mozilla Firefox: Will every site work in it?

Most will. The exceptions cluster around sites tested only in Chrome, legacy enterprise applications, and anything using WebUSB, WebSerial, Web Bluetooth or WebHID, which Firefox does not implement at all.

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