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Comparison · Infra & APIs
authentik vs OpenMQTTGateway
A side-by-side editorial comparison of authentik and OpenMQTTGateway — release velocity, themes, recent moves, and the top alternatives to consider.
authentik vs OpenMQTTGateway: at a glance
What is authentik?
authentik 2026.8 ships: Actors, domain-joined Agents, and a push past browser-mediated SSO
2026.8.0 is out, closing a seven-candidate train that ran through early August. The GA tag itself is the last cherry-pick batch — SCIM group membership removals, a proxy redirect that preserves query strings, session deletion on user deactivation — but the release it finalizes is where the substance lives: an Actors primitive in core, an enterprise Agent requiring a domain join and its own API scope, OAuth2 token exchange delegation, and a CAS source integration.
What is OpenMQTTGateway?
OpenMQTTGateway spent three years shedding its dependencies, then stopped shipping entirely.
The last release was January 2025, a single bug fix for adaptive scanning restarting the gateway. Before that, the project moved steadily toward standing alone: 1.8.0 embedded an MQTT broker via PicoMQTT so a gateway no longer needs an external server, 1.6.0 added a web interface so it no longer needs a home automation controller to configure, and 1.5.0 brought device trackers for presence detection with over-the-air updates from the controller. Hardware arrived alongside software, with the Theengs Bridge in 1.7.0 and the Theengs Plug in 1.3.0.
authentik vs OpenMQTTGateway: editorial side-by-side
authentik
6.3INFRA · APIS
authentik 2026.8 ships: Actors, domain-joined Agents, and a push past browser-mediated SSO
◆ Current state
2026.8.0 is out, closing a seven-candidate train that ran through early August. The GA tag itself is the last cherry-pick batch — SCIM group membership removals, a proxy redirect that preserves query strings, session deletion on user deactivation — but the release it finalizes is where the substance lives: an Actors primitive in core, an enterprise Agent requiring a domain join and its own API scope, OAuth2 token exchange delegation, and a CAS source integration.
◆ Where it's heading
Two threads converge in this major. The identity surface keeps broadening at the protocol edge — CAS, WS-Fed, token exchange delegation, on-behalf-of — while the enterprise tier grows an endpoint story that reaches machines and devices rather than browser sessions. The RC train's shape reinforces it: six candidates fired in one day on CI and docs, then one heavy candidate carrying the features, then a fix-only close. That is release engineering hardened around a major, not a routine point release.
◆ Prediction
With Agents and Actors now GA rather than cherry-picks, the next branch should build out what they enable — device-conditioned policies or agent-brokered credentials — while 2026.8.x settles into backport patches.
OpenMQTTGateway
0.0INFRA · APIS
OpenMQTTGateway spent three years shedding its dependencies, then stopped shipping entirely.
◆ Current state
The last release was January 2025, a single bug fix for adaptive scanning restarting the gateway. Before that, the project moved steadily toward standing alone: 1.8.0 embedded an MQTT broker via PicoMQTT so a gateway no longer needs an external server, 1.6.0 added a web interface so it no longer needs a home automation controller to configure, and 1.5.0 brought device trackers for presence detection with over-the-air updates from the controller. Hardware arrived alongside software, with the Theengs Bridge in 1.7.0 and the Theengs Plug in 1.3.0.
◆ Where it's heading
The arc through 1.2 to 1.8 is one of progressive independence — first from a controller for configuration, then from a broker for messaging — turning a bridge component into a self-contained device. Release intervals widened throughout: monthly in early 2023, then annual, then nothing for nineteen months. Whatever the roadmap was, the feed has not recorded activity since.
◆ Prediction
The evidence here does not support a confident prediction about what ships next; the project has published nothing in nineteen months. If it resumes, the unfinished thread is the embedded broker, which shipped in 1.8.0 and received only a scanning bug fix afterward.
Alternatives to authentik and OpenMQTTGateway
Other Infra & APIs products tracked by Sparkpulse, ranked by recent ship velocity. Each card links to a full editorial trajectory and lets you pivot into a head-to-head comparison with either authentik or OpenMQTTGateway.
Apache CloudStack
CloudStack ships two LTS branches in lockstep and publishes nothing but pointers
Kinsta
Kinsta is moving MyKinsta's controls into its API, one surface per month
Verdaccio
Verdaccio's 7.0 line is subtraction — forks dropped, toolchain swapped, tags mostly empty
ToolJet
Observability lands on OpenTelemetry semconv in the LTS train
Honeycomb
Canvas agents gain memory, and onboarding moves into the editor
See all authentik alternatives → · See all OpenMQTTGateway alternatives →
Recent activity from authentik and OpenMQTTGateway
Latest ship moves from both products, interleaved chronologically. ⚡ = editorial spark.
- 1d agoauthentikauthentik 2026.8 goes GA with Actors and domain-joined Agents ⚡
- 9d agoauthentikauthentik 2026.8.0-rc7 lands Actors, enterprise Agents, and CAS sources
- 16d agoauthentik2026.8.0-rc6: flaky test and CI metadata fixes
- 16d agoauthentik2026.8.0-rc5: release plumbing only
- 16d agoauthentik2026.8.0-rc4: fix-only candidate
- 16d agoauthentik2026.8.0-rc3: cherry-picked fixes and CI work
- 1y agoOpenMQTTGatewayAdaptive scanning restart bug fixed
- 1y agoOpenMQTTGatewayAn MQTT broker moves inside the gateway ⚡
- 2y agoOpenMQTTGatewayTheengs Bridge hardware and Ethernet onboarding
- 3y agoOpenMQTTGatewayWeb interface removes the controller dependency
- 3y agoOpenMQTTGatewayWorkaround for stuck BLE scans
- 3y agoOpenMQTTGatewayPresence detection via automatic device trackers
Frequently asked questions
What is the difference between authentik and OpenMQTTGateway?
They serve adjacent needs but don't currently overlap on shipped themes. authentik is currently shipping more aggressively (velocity 6.3 vs 0.0), with 1 editorial sparks in the last 30 days against 0. See the at-a-glance table above for a side-by-side breakdown of velocity, recent sparks, and editorial themes.
Is authentik better than OpenMQTTGateway?
Sparkpulse doesn't pick a winner — we score release velocity, not feature parity. authentik is currently shipping more aggressively (velocity 6.3 vs 0.0), with 1 editorial sparks in the last 30 days against 0. For your specific use case, the alternatives sections above list other Infra & APIs products to evaluate alongside.
What are the best alternatives to authentik?
Top authentik alternatives in Infra & APIs are ranked by recent ship velocity. Browse the "authentik alternatives" section above for the current picks, or visit /alternatives/authentik for the full list with editorial commentary on each.
What are the best alternatives to OpenMQTTGateway?
Top OpenMQTTGateway alternatives in Infra & APIs are ranked by recent ship velocity. Browse the "OpenMQTTGateway alternatives" section above for the current picks, or visit /alternatives/openmqttgateway for the full list with editorial commentary on each.