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Cybersecurity · head to head

Authelia vs Unleash

Authelia logo

Authelia

Cybersecurity

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

From
Free
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite
Unleash logo

Unleash

Software Development

Open-source feature flag and experimentation service

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; Unleash the Pay-As-You-Go plan is priced per seat, which can get costly for larger teams.
  • They diverge on capability: Authelia covers Reverse proxy integration, Unleash covers Feature flags.
  • Prices and features above were last checked on 29 August 2026.

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which Authelia and Unleash actually diverge.

Attributes where Authelia and Unleash differ
AttributeAutheliaUnleash
Pricing modelOpen source, no licence feefreemium
PlatformsDocker, Kubernetes, Linux, Self-hostedweb, api, linux
CategoryCybersecuritySoftware Development

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 Unleash

  • Feature flags
  • A/B/n testing
  • Custom targeting
  • SDKs
  • SSO
  • Audit logs

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

Unleash

  • Gradual and progressive feature rolloutsnot Authelia
  • Running A/B/n experiments tied to flagsnot Authelia
  • Self-hosting feature management for compliance needsnot Authelia
  • Enterprise SSO-controlled feature flag governancenot 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

Unleash

  • The Pay-As-You-Go plan is priced per seat, which can get costly for larger teams.
  • Self-hosted Enterprise requires a minimum of 5 seats and an annual contract.
  • Additional API traffic beyond the included quota is billed per million requests.
  • Advanced SLAs and dedicated customer success are reserved for the custom Enterprise tier.

Pricing, plan by plan

Authelia

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

Unleash

Free
  • Pay-As-You-Go$75/month
    • Cloud-hosted
    • 53M API requests/month included
    • Unlimited feature flags, projects and environments
  • Custom Enterprise$undefined/mo
    • Cloud, self-hosted or hybrid
    • Premium support options
    • 99.99% uptime SLA

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 Unleash if

  • You need feature flags.
  • You want to start without paying.
  • You work on web, api, linux.
  • You also want a/b/n testing.
Unleash review

Questions people ask

Is Authelia or Unleash better?
Neither clearly leads. Authelia starts at Free and Unleash at Free, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, Authelia or Unleash?
Authelia starts at Free and Unleash at Free.
Does Authelia or Unleash run on more platforms?
Authelia runs on Docker, Kubernetes, Linux, Self-hosted. Unleash runs on web, api, linux.
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 Unleash is typically brought in for.
What can Authelia do that Unleash cannot?
Authelia covers Reverse proxy integration, Two-factor authentication, Access control rules, Lightweight backends. Unleash covers Feature flags, A/B/n testing, Custom targeting, SDKs.

Answered from the vendors’ own pages

Authelia: Is Authelia free?

Yes, open source with no licence fee.

Unleash: What does Unleash cost?

Unleash offers a Pay-As-You-Go cloud plan at $75/seat/month with a 14-day free trial, plus a custom-priced Enterprise plan for self-hosted or hybrid deployments.

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.

Unleash: How is usage metered?

The Pay-As-You-Go plan includes 53M API requests per month, with additional traffic billed at $5 per million requests thereafter.

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.

Unleash: What does Unleash integrate with, and is there an API?

Unleash provides an API and 25+ official SDKs across languages, along with SSO integrations via SAML 2.0 and OpenID Connect.

Source
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