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IdentityServer VS Tinyauth

Compare IdentityServer VS Tinyauth and see what are their differences

BusinessLOG SOC
A centralized log management and SIEM platform built for compliance, auditing, anomaly detection, and infrastructure visibility. featured
Contents:
  1. ยป Base Details
  2. ยป Videos
  3. ยป Reviews
  4. ยป Alternatives

IdentityServer logo IdentityServer

An open-source, standards-compliant, and flexible OpenID Connect and OAuth 2.x framework for ASP.NET Core

Tinyauth logo Tinyauth

The simplest way to protect your apps with a login screen.
  • IdentityServer Landing page
    Landing page //
    2023-02-03
  • Tinyauth Landing page
    Landing page //
    2025-06-01

IdentityServer features and specs

  • Open Source Foundation
    IdentityServer is built on an open-source foundation. It has been widely used and developed by a community, ensuring transparency, reliability, and continuous improvements.
  • Comprehensive Protocol Support
    It supports industry standards such as OpenID Connect and OAuth 2.0, which are essential for authentication and authorization processes.
  • Customizability
    IdentityServer offers high levels of customizability, allowing developers to tailor authentication and authorization features to specific application needs.
  • Enterprise-Ready
    Designed to handle complex enterprise scenarios with robust performance and scalability options suitable for large-scale applications.
  • Strong Security Features
    Includes several security mechanisms to protect sensitive data, such as secure token storage and advanced encryption options.
  • Comprehensive Documentation
    Provides extensive documentation and resources, helping developers to implement and troubleshoot the server effectively in their systems.

Possible disadvantages of IdentityServer

  • Licensing Cost
    Since its transition from IdentityServer4 to a non-OSS model under Duende Software, organizations need to purchase a license for commercial use, impacting budget-conscious projects.
  • Complexity
    Can be complex to set up and configure properly, especially for teams that are new to security protocols like OAuth and OpenID Connect.
  • Maintenance Overhead
    Requires ongoing maintenance and updates to ensure security and compatibility with evolving protocols, which can be resource-intensive.
  • Potential Overhead for Small Projects
    May be overkill for smaller projects or teams that do not require robust authentication systems, where simpler solutions might suffice.
  • Community vs. Commercial Transition
    The switch from a community-driven open-source project to a commercial product may alienate previous users who relied on its open-source nature.

Tinyauth features and specs

No features have been listed yet.

Analysis of Tinyauth

Overall verdict

  • Tinyauth is a solid, lightweight authentication solution for self-hosters who want a simple way to add a login screen and access control to their applications without the complexity of heavier identity providers.

Why this product is good

  • Extremely lightweight and easy to deploy, typically running as a small Docker container with minimal resource usage
  • Simple configuration aimed at self-hosters, making it quick to set up in front of existing apps and services
  • Integrates well with reverse proxies like Traefik, Nginx, and Caddy for forward authentication
  • Supports multiple login methods including username/password and OAuth providers like Google and GitHub
  • Open source and free, giving users transparency and control over their authentication layer
  • Good fit for protecting internal dashboards and homelab services that lack built-in authentication

Recommended for

  • Self-hosters and homelab enthusiasts wanting simple access control
  • Users who need to add a login layer in front of apps that lack authentication
  • People running reverse proxies like Traefik, Nginx, or Caddy
  • Small teams or individuals seeking a lightweight alternative to heavy SSO/identity platforms
  • Anyone protecting internal dashboards and personal web services

IdentityServer videos

+ Add

Federated Identity: An intro to OAuth2, Open Id Connect & Duende IdentityServer 5 | Anthony Nguyen

More videos:

  • Review - There's an IdentityServer in my API project - Anders Abel

Tinyauth videos

+ Add

Tinyauth is Simple, Lightweight, and Perfect for the Homelab

More videos:

  • Review - Tinyauth - ะปะตะณะบะฐั ะฐะฒั‚ะพั€ะธะทะฐั†ะธั ะดะปั ะฒะฐัˆะธั… ะฟั€ะธะปะพะถะตะฝะธะน

Category Popularity

0-100% (relative to IdentityServer and Tinyauth)

IdentityServer

Tinyauth

Identity Provider
72 72%
Identity Provider
28% 28
SSO
64 64%
SSO
36% 36
Identity And Access Management
66 66%
Identity And Access Management
34% 34
Network & Admin
100 100%
Network & Admin
0% 0

User comments

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Reviews

These are some of the external sources and on-site user reviews we've used to compare IdentityServer and Tinyauth

IdentityServer Reviews

10+ Open-source Single-Sign On (SSO) Solutions
If you are looking for a certified and complaint system to OpenID Foundation, with .Net technologies, then IdentityServer is your answer.
Source: medevel.com
Top 5 Open Source Single Sign-On Software In the Year 2021
IdentityServer is an open source free single sign-on software. It is a cross-platform framework based on OpenID Connect and OAuth 2. Further, this open source software provides central authentication and authorization capabilities for multiple applications. It supports federated identities, multiple flows, and API authorization. Moreover, this self hosting software enables...
Source: blog.containerize.com

Tinyauth Reviews

We have no reviews of Tinyauth yet.
Be the first one to post

Social recommendations and mentions

Based on our record, IdentityServer seems to be more popular. It has been mentiond 7 times since March 2021. We are tracking product recommendations and mentions on various public social media platforms and blogs. They can help you identify which product is more popular and what people think of it.

IdentityServer mentions (7)

  • Identity server 4
    Its deprecated in favor of Duende Identityserver which introduced a license model. Source: over 2 years ago
  • How does cookie based authentication work?
    Tokens usually have a lifetime and they are separate from the user's authentication principals like username and password. Unless you are rolling your own form of token provider (not something that would be recommended) the token creation is handled for you. Take a look at https://identityserver4.readthedocs.io/en/latest/ or if your organization makes under 1M in income a year the free version of what Identity... Source: over 3 years ago
  • ImageSharp leaving the .NET Foundation due to licensing change
    I think Duende (Identity Server) handled the situation pretty well. https://duendesoftware.com/products/identityserver > Standard License Pricing. - Source: Hacker News / over 3 years ago
  • Why is authentication such a sh*t show with .NET 6?
    He's referring to IdentityServer 3/4, which was open sourced, and was not owned by Microsoft. That 3rd party is commercializing their work (and to be fair, it's a lot of work) as https://duendesoftware.com/products/identityserver , and has a different commercial licensing model. Source: about 4 years ago
  • Show HN: Open-Source Identity Server Written in Go (Ory Kratos)
    I think "Identity Provider" is more correct, no? "IdentityServer" is the name of a specific IdP implemented in .NET (formerly OSS as https://identityserver4.readthedocs.io/en/latest, and now as a more commercial form as Duende IdentityServer: https://duendesoftware.com/products/identityserver). - Source: Hacker News / about 4 years ago
View more

Tinyauth mentions (0)

We have not tracked any mentions of Tinyauth yet. Tracking of Tinyauth recommendations started around Jun 2025.

What are some alternatives?

When comparing IdentityServer and Tinyauth, you can also consider the following products

DotNetOpenAuth - DotNetOpenAuth is a free-to-use compiled library that comes with the real support to your site visitor to login with the help of openIDs via getting control of the ASP.NET control onto the page.

Keycloak - Open Source Identity and Access Management for modern Applications and Services.

ASP.NET Identity - ASP.NET Identity is a membership-based software system designed for the authentication and authorization of the users via building an ASP.NET application.

authentik - authentik is an open-source identity provider focused on flexibility and versatility.

ASP.NET SAML - ASP.NET SAML is an open-source authentication utility that has been used for exchanging authentication and authorization data between the channels.

Auth0 - Auth0 is a program for people to get authentication and authorization services for their own business use.

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