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Cybersecurity · head to head

authentik vs DVC

authentik logo

authentik

Cybersecurity

Open-source identity provider with flexible authentication flows

From
Free
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite
DVC logo

DVC

Machine Learning

Git-style versioning for data sets and models, with the files kept in object storage

From
Free
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite

The short version

  • Each has a real cost: authentik smaller project than Keycloak, with a correspondingly smaller community and fewer integration guides; DVC dVC knows only about files that were added through DVC, so one person copying data in by hand leaves a pipeline that reproduces to a different answer with no error and nothing to indicate which result is the real one.
  • They diverge on capability: authentik covers Configurable flows, DVC covers Pointer-file versioning.
  • Prices and features above were last checked on 30 August 2026.

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which authentik and DVC actually diverge.

Attributes where authentik and DVC differ
AttributeauthentikDVC
Pricing modelOpen-source core with a paid enterprise tieropen-source
PlatformsDocker, Kubernetes, Linux, Self-hostedLinux, Mac, Windows
CategoryCybersecurityMachine Learning
FoundedUnknown2018

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 authentik

  • Configurable flows
  • Protocol support
  • Application proxy
  • Modern admin interface

Only in DVC

  • Pointer-file versioning
  • Remote storage backends
  • Pipeline definitions
  • Stage caching
  • Experiment tracking
  • Metrics and plots comparison
  • Data registry pattern
  • Content-addressed cache

What people use each for

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

authentik

  • Self-hosted SSO across internal services without commercial identity pricingnot DVC
  • Putting authentication in front of applications that have none, via the proxynot DVC
  • Teams who tried Keycloak and wanted something less heavynot DVC

DVC

  • Making a model reproducible by tying the exact data set version, code commit and parameters together in one Git historynot authentik
  • Keeping large training data out of Git while still having a repository that describes it preciselynot authentik
  • Skipping expensive preprocessing stages that have not changed, when iterating on a later stage of a pipelinenot authentik
  • Teams that need reproducibility but cannot get approval or budget to stand up a platform for itnot authentik

Where each one falls short

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

authentik

  • Smaller project than Keycloak, with a correspondingly smaller community and fewer integration guides
  • The flow model is flexible but conceptually unfamiliar, and simple setups can feel over-abstracted
  • Enterprise support and some governance features sit behind the paid tier
  • Self-hosted identity is still yours to secure, patch and keep available

DVC

  • DVC knows only about files that were added through DVC, so one person copying data in by hand leaves a pipeline that reproduces to a different answer with no error and nothing to indicate which result is the real one.
  • Every tracked revision writes a new pointer into Git and a new copy into the remote cache, so a data set revised daily accumulates full copies in object storage and the storage bill grows with the length of the history rather than the size of the data.
  • Merge conflicts in dvc.lock and dvc.yaml are routine on parallel branches and are unreadable to anyone who has not learned the format, which in practice means the person who introduced DVC resolves all of them.
  • Checking out a large data set materialises it in the working directory, so a laptop working against a repository with several hundred gigabytes tracked needs disk for the workspace and the cache together, and the reflink or hardlink optimisations that avoid doubling that are filesystem-dependent.
  • It has no access control of its own and inherits whatever the remote grants, so a repository everyone can read plus a bucket everyone can read means everyone can reconstruct every historical version of every data set, which is frequently not what was intended.

Pricing, plan by plan

authentik

Free
  • Open sourceFree
    • Full identity provider
    • All protocols
    • Community support

DVC

Free
  • Open SourceFree
    • Data versioning
    • Pipeline management
    • Experiment tracking
  • DVC StudioFree
    • Web UI
    • Team collaboration
    • Visualizations

Which should you pick?

Choose authentik if

  • You need configurable flows.
  • You want to start without paying.
  • You work on Docker, Kubernetes, Linux, Self-hosted.
  • You also want protocol support.
authentik review

Choose DVC if

  • You need pointer-file versioning.
  • You want to start without paying.
  • You work on Linux, Mac, Windows.
  • You also want remote storage backends.
DVC review

Questions people ask

Is authentik or DVC better?
Neither clearly leads. authentik starts at Free and DVC at Free, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, authentik or DVC?
authentik starts at Free and DVC at Free.
Does authentik or DVC run on more platforms?
authentik runs on Docker, Kubernetes, Linux, Self-hosted. DVC runs on Linux, Mac, Windows.
Can I use authentik for free?
Both have a free tier, so you can try either at no cost before committing.
What is authentik best used for?
authentik is most often used for self-hosted sso across internal services without commercial identity pricing, putting authentication in front of applications that have none, via the proxy, teams who tried keycloak and wanted something less heavy. Of those, self-hosted sso across internal services without commercial identity pricing and putting authentication in front of applications that have none, via the proxy are not what DVC is typically brought in for.
What can authentik do that DVC cannot?
authentik covers Configurable flows, Protocol support, Application proxy, Modern admin interface. DVC covers Pointer-file versioning, Remote storage backends, Pipeline definitions, Stage caching.

Answered from the vendors’ own pages

authentik: Is authentik free?

The open-source edition is free and complete for most use. An enterprise tier adds support and additional features.

DVC: Does DVC put my data in Git?

No. Git gets a small pointer file containing a hash. The data goes to a cache on disk and to a remote you configure, such as an S3 bucket.

authentik: authentik or Keycloak?

authentik is generally reported as easier to run and administer; Keycloak is more established with a larger community and Red Hat behind it.

DVC: Do I need to run a server?

No, and that is most of its appeal. It is a command line tool plus storage you already have. DVC Studio, the hosted web interface, is optional and separately paid.

authentik: Can authentik protect apps with no login of their own?

Yes. Its application proxy places authentication in front of services that have no built-in authentication.

DVC: How is it different from Git LFS?

Git LFS versions large files and stops there. DVC also defines pipelines, tracks which stage produced which output, records metrics and lets you compare experiments, and it works with ordinary object storage rather than an LFS server.

DVC: Is it free?

The tool is Apache 2.0 and free. You pay for the object storage that holds the data, and optionally for DVC Studio.

DVC: Can several people work on the same data set?

Yes, through the shared remote, but only if all of them use DVC for every change. The tool cannot enforce a discipline it does not own, and a single manual copy silently breaks the guarantee.

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