AuthentikOpen source, self-hosted identity provider for unified authentication.
vs
DescopeDrag & drop customer and agentic IAM for apps, AI agents and MCP servers.
Comparison · Identity & Access Management · weekly run Nov 3
Authentik vs Descope
Which one do AI engines recommend, and how do they differ on price, fit and features?
The short answer
Authentik is the stronger AI pick in Identity & Access Management: it has a visibility score of 2.7 versus 1.9 for Descope.
Choose Authentik if…
- You want the brand AI engines rank higher (2.7 vs 1.9)
- You want a lower entry price ($5 vs $249)
- AI answers describe it more positively (67% vs 62% positive)
- You need OpenID Certified coverage
Choose Descope if…
- You need SOC 2 Type 2 or ISO 27001 or CSA STAR Level 2 or PCI DSS or HIPAA or FedRAMP High coverage
- You prefer a larger, established vendor (51–200 employees)
- Usage-based pricing suits your budget better than per seat
- Low-code option
AI visibility side by side
Latest weekly run · Nov 3
| Metric | Authentik | Descope |
|---|---|---|
| Visibility score | 2.7% | 1.9% |
| Change vs last week | up+1.7% | down−3% |
| Rank in Identity & Access Management | #24 | #26 |
| Share of voice | 0.6% | 0.6% |
| Mentions this run | 2 | 2 |
| Positive in AI answers | 67% | 62% |
The stronger value in each row is marked with a ✓.
Visibility score trend
Weekly runs over the last 60 days
Authentik +1.0000000000000002pp · Descope −2pp over 1 weekly runs.
Engine by engine
Authentik leads on 2 of 3 engines
ChatGPT
AI Mode
Perplexity
AuthentikDescope
Head to head in AI answers
0 engine answers name both brands
0Authentik ranked higher
0Descope ranked higher
Features, pricing & fit
| Dimension | Authentik | Descope |
|---|---|---|
| Pricing model | Per seat | Usage-based |
| Entry price | Free; paid from $5 per seat / mo | Free; paid from $249 / mo |
| Free plan | Yes | Yes |
| Deployment | Self-hosted (Kubernetes, Terraform, Docker Compose, AWS CloudFormation); no hosted version offered | Cloud SaaS |
| Compliance | OpenID Certified | SOC 2 Type 2, ISO 27001, CSA STAR Level 2, PCI DSS, HIPAA, FedRAMP High |
| Support | Community Discord, GitHub community support, Ticket-based support (Enterprise over $1k), Dedicated support with SLAs (Enterprise Plus) | Community support, Web and email support, Slack support, Dedicated CS engineer |
| Founded | 2018 | 2022 |
| Headquarters | — | Los Altos, California, United States |
| Employees | 1–10 | 51–200 |
| Funding | Later-stage VC · $2M raised | Seed extension · $88M raised |
| Best for | Organizations that want to self-host their identity provider and keep control of their identity data, from homelabs to enterprises with thousands of users. | Startups, SaaS companies and enterprises adding customer auth, B2B SSO/SCIM, or identity for AI agents and MCP servers. |
Plans side by side
Authentik
Open Source$0free
Enterprise$5user / month, billed annually
Enterprise Plus$20,000year (starting at)
Descope
Free Forever$0month
Pro$249month, billed annually
Growth$799month, billed annually
EnterpriseCustom
Pros and cons
Themes from the AI answers that mention each brand
Authentik
- fully open-source, self-hosted IAM platform
- modern UI
- easy to administer
- affordable, reliable, secure IAM platform for business use
- highly flexible with built-in MFA and proxy outposts
- you must manage hosting, updates, backups, and security yourself
Descope
- Low-code option
- High user ratings (4.8/5) in a narrow category
- Robust developer-focused free tier with built-in MFA
- Visual drag-and-drop workflow builder that is easy to use
Data collected ·ChatGPT, Perplexity, Google AI Mode·coverage 98.8%·next run
Cite as: SlateIndex, “Authentik vs Descope”, https://slateindex.ai/compare/authentik-vs-descope, data of Nov 3, 2026. Licence: CC BY 4.0.