Authelia vs LessPass
| Tagline | Self-hosted authentication server with TOTP, WebAuthn, and SSO | Stateless password manager that derives passwords instead of storing them |
| Category | Password Managers & Secrets | Password Managers & Secrets |
| Replaces | 1Password, HashiCorp Vault | 1Password, LastPass |
| GitHub stars | 23k | 5.5k |
| Language | Go | JavaScript |
| License | Apache-2.0 | GPL-3.0 |
| Self-host difficulty | 3/5 Moderate | 2/5 Easy |
| Deploy options | Docker Docker Compose Kubernetes Manual | Docker Manual |
| Managed hosting | ||
| Last updated | 1 month ago | 1 month ago |
| View repo | View repo |
Where each falls short
The honest trade-offs — what you give up with each, versus the proprietary tools they replace.
Authelia
- Not a password vault; does not store or generate passwords for websites
- Requires a reverse proxy to function; no standalone mode
- LDAP/AD integration configuration is complex for non-enterprise users
LessPass
- If the master password is compromised, all generated passwords are at risk simultaneously
- Cannot store arbitrary secrets such as credit cards, notes, or SSH keys
- Changing a generated password requires incrementing a counter, which can be confusing
Bottom line
Choose LessPass if you want the lower-effort setup; choose Authelia for the larger community and ecosystem. Open each guide below for deploy steps and the full feature gap.
LessPass
Stateless password manager that derives passwords instead of storing them