Is Authelia or WorkOS better?

Neither clearly leads. Authelia starts at Free and WorkOS at $125/one-time per connection, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.

Which is cheaper, Authelia or WorkOS?

Authelia has a free tier; the other does not. Paid plans start at Free for Authelia and $125/one-time per connection for WorkOS.

Does Authelia or WorkOS run on more platforms?

Authelia runs on Docker, Kubernetes, Linux, Self-hosted. WorkOS runs on Web, API.

Can I use Authelia for free?

Yes. Authelia has a free tier, so you can try it without paying. WorkOS starts at $125/one-time per connection.

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 WorkOS is typically brought in for.

What can Authelia do that WorkOS cannot?

Authelia covers Reverse proxy integration, Two-factor authentication, Access control rules, Lightweight backends.

Cybersecurity · head to head

Authelia vs WorkOS

Authelia

Cybersecurity

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

From: Free
Rated: -

Full review Website

WorkOS

Cybersecurity

Developer platform for enterprise-ready authentication and identity.

From: $125/one-time per connection
Rated: -

Full review Website

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; WorkOS authKit free tier limited to 1 million monthly active users; additional millions cost $2,500/month
Prices and features above were last checked on 29 August 2026.

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which Authelia and WorkOS actually diverge.

Attributes where Authelia and WorkOS differ
Attribute	Authelia	WorkOS
Starting price	Free	$125/one-time per connection
Pricing model	Open source, no licence fee	usage-based
Free tier	Yes	No
Platforms	Docker, Kubernetes, Linux, Self-hosted	Web, API

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 WorkOS

Nothing recorded that Authelia does not also cover.

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

WorkOS

SaaS applications needing rapid enterprise SSO deploymentnot Authelia
Companies selling to mid-market and enterprise customersnot Authelia
Applications requiring SCIM directory sync with corporate identity systemsnot Authelia
Product teams needing audit logs for compliance (SOC 2, ISO 27001)not Authelia
Platforms with multiple identity provider requirementsnot 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

WorkOS

AuthKit free tier limited to 1 million monthly active users; additional millions cost $2,500/month
Per-connection pricing for SSO and Directory Sync ($125–$50 each) scales poorly for enterprises with many identity providers
Audit logs require separate subscription at $125/month per SIEM connection or $99/month per 1 million events
Radar fraud protection billed separately at $100/month per 50,000 additional checks beyond 1,000 free checks
Custom domain feature requires $99/month subscription
Requires annual commitment for SLA and support guarantees; pay-as-you-go tier lacks uptime guarantee

Pricing, plan by plan

Authelia

Free

AutheliaFree
- Full functionality
- No usage limits
- Community support

WorkOS

$125/one-time per connection

Pay as You Go$undefined/variable
- Per-connection pricing from $125 to $50 with volume discounts
- Up to 60% discount at scale
- Quick deployment
Annual Credits$undefined/variable
- Custom pricing with volume discounts
- 99.99% uptime SLA
- Guided migration

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 WorkOS if

You work on Web, API.

WorkOS review

Questions people ask

Is Authelia or WorkOS better?: Neither clearly leads. Authelia starts at Free and WorkOS at $125/one-time per connection, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, Authelia or WorkOS?: Authelia has a free tier; the other does not. Paid plans start at Free for Authelia and $125/one-time per connection for WorkOS.
Does Authelia or WorkOS run on more platforms?: Authelia runs on Docker, Kubernetes, Linux, Self-hosted. WorkOS runs on Web, API.
Can I use Authelia for free?: Yes. Authelia has a free tier, so you can try it without paying. WorkOS starts at $125/one-time per connection.
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 WorkOS is typically brought in for.
What can Authelia do that WorkOS cannot?: Authelia covers Reverse proxy integration, Two-factor authentication, Access control rules, Lightweight backends.

Answered from the vendors’ own pages

Authelia: Is Authelia free?

Yes, open source with no licence fee.

WorkOS: How quickly can I implement WorkOS SSO?

Developers can implement single sign-on in minutes instead of months. Multiple customers report setting up SSO in less than a week, with WorkOS handling the complexity of SAML and OIDC protocols.

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.

WorkOS: What SDKs does WorkOS provide?

WorkOS offers SDKs for Node.js, Python, Ruby, Go, PHP, Java, and .NET.

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.

WorkOS: Does WorkOS support SCIM provisioning?

Yes. WorkOS supports SCIM provisioning integration with systems like Okta and Entra ID for automated user management.

Source

Authelia vs WorkOS

Authelia

WorkOS

The short version

Where they differ

What each one covers

Only in Authelia

Only in WorkOS

What people use each for

Authelia

WorkOS

Where each one falls short

Authelia

WorkOS

Pricing, plan by plan

Authelia

WorkOS

Which should you pick?

Choose Authelia if

Choose WorkOS if

Questions people ask

Answered from the vendors’ own pages

Related pages

More on Authelia

More on WorkOS

Keep looking

Other head to heads