StackShareStackShare
Follow on
StackShare

Discover and share technology stacks from companies around the world.

Follow on

© 2025 StackShare. All rights reserved.

Product

  • Stacks
  • Tools
  • Feed

Company

  • About
  • Contact

Legal

  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms of Service
  1. Stackups
  2. Utilities
  3. Authentication
  4. User Management And Authentication
  5. FreeRADIUS vs OpenID Connect

FreeRADIUS vs OpenID Connect

OverviewComparisonAlternatives

Overview

OpenID Connect
OpenID Connect
Stacks233
Followers133
Votes0
FreeRADIUS
FreeRADIUS
Stacks28
Followers36
Votes1

FreeRADIUS vs OpenID Connect: What are the differences?

Introduction:

FreeRADIUS and OpenID Connect are two widely used technologies in the field of authentication and authorization. While FreeRADIUS is an open source protocol for providing AAA (authentication, authorization, and accounting) services, OpenID Connect is an authentication layer on top of the OAuth 2.0 authorization framework. Despite both being authentication methods, there are several key differences between FreeRADIUS and OpenID Connect that we will discuss below.

  1. Protocol vs. Framework: FreeRADIUS is a protocol that provides AAA services, whereas OpenID Connect is a framework built on top of the OAuth 2.0 authorization framework. This means that FreeRADIUS has its defined set of rules and structure, while OpenID Connect follows a more flexible and extensible approach.

  2. Client-Server vs. Identity Provider: FreeRADIUS is a client-server authentication protocol, where the RADIUS server validates user credentials and provides access based on predefined policies. On the other hand, OpenID Connect relies on an Identity Provider (IdP) that authenticates users and generates identity tokens, which can be used by clients to access resources.

  3. Radius-specific vs. Widely Adopted: FreeRADIUS is a protocol that is mainly used within the RADIUS ecosystem for network access control. It provides features like AAA services, accounting, and policy enforcement. In contrast, OpenID Connect is a widely adopted authentication framework that can be used across a variety of applications and services, making it more versatile and scalable.

  4. Challenge-Response vs. Token-based: FreeRADIUS uses a challenge-response mechanism for authentication, where the server sends a challenge to the client, which needs to respond correctly based on shared secrets or certificates. On the other hand, OpenID Connect uses tokens for authentication, such as ID tokens and access tokens, which are obtained through the OAuth 2.0 authorization flow.

  5. Basic Authentication vs. Federated Authentication: FreeRADIUS typically relies on basic authentication methods, such as username and password, to authenticate users. In contrast, OpenID Connect supports federated authentication by allowing users to authenticate using various identity providers like Google, Facebook, or other OpenID Connect compliant services. This enables a more seamless and user-friendly authentication experience.

  6. Customization vs. Interoperability: FreeRADIUS provides a high level of customization and flexibility, allowing administrators to define their own policies and authentication mechanisms. On the other hand, OpenID Connect follows a standardized approach, promoting interoperability between different systems and services. This means that OpenID Connect implementations are more likely to work seamlessly with other compliant systems, while FreeRADIUS offers more customization options.

In summary, the key differences between FreeRADIUS and OpenID Connect are that FreeRADIUS is a protocol mainly used for network access control, while OpenID Connect is a widely adopted authentication framework. FreeRADIUS relies on a client-server model with challenge-response authentication, while OpenID Connect uses a token-based approach and supports federated authentication. FreeRADIUS offers high customization options, whereas OpenID Connect promotes interoperability.

Share your Stack

Help developers discover the tools you use. Get visibility for your team's tech choices and contribute to the community's knowledge.

View Docs
CLI (Node.js)
or
Manual

Detailed Comparison

OpenID Connect
OpenID Connect
FreeRADIUS
FreeRADIUS

It is a simple identity layer on top of the OAuth 2.0 protocol. It allows Clients to verify the identity of the End-User based on the authentication performed by an Authorization Server, as well as to obtain basic profile information about the End-User in an interoperable and REST-like manner.

It is the open source implementation of RADIUS, an IETF protocol for AAA (Authorisation, Authentication, and Accounting).. It is responsible for authenticating one third of all users on the Internet.

Statistics
Stacks
233
Stacks
28
Followers
133
Followers
36
Votes
0
Votes
1
Pros & Cons
No community feedback yet
Pros
  • 1
    Very Lightweight
Integrations
JSON Web Token
JSON Web Token
Spring Security
Spring Security
OAuth2
OAuth2
PHP
PHP
MySQL
MySQL
OpenLDAP
OpenLDAP

What are some alternatives to OpenID Connect, FreeRADIUS ?

Auth0

Auth0

A set of unified APIs and tools that instantly enables Single Sign On and user management to all your applications.

Stormpath

Stormpath

Stormpath is an authentication and user management service that helps development teams quickly and securely build web and mobile applications and services.

Keycloak

Keycloak

It is an Open Source Identity and Access Management For Modern Applications and Services. It adds authentication to applications and secure services with minimum fuss. No need to deal with storing users or authenticating users. It's all available out of the box.

Devise

Devise

Devise is a flexible authentication solution for Rails based on Warden

Firebase Authentication

Firebase Authentication

It provides backend services, easy-to-use SDKs, and ready-made UI libraries to authenticate users to your app. It supports authentication using passwords, phone numbers, popular federated identity providers like Google,

Amazon Cognito

Amazon Cognito

You can create unique identities for your users through a number of public login providers (Amazon, Facebook, and Google) and also support unauthenticated guests. You can save app data locally on users’ devices allowing your applications to work even when the devices are offline.

WorkOS

WorkOS

Start selling to enterprise customers with just a few lines of code.

OAuth.io

OAuth.io

OAuth is a protocol that aimed to provide a single secure recipe to manage authorizations. It is now used by almost every web application. However, 30+ different implementations coexist. OAuth.io fixes this massive problem by acting as a universal adapter, thanks to a robust API. With OAuth.io integrating OAuth takes minutes instead of hours or days.

OmniAuth

OmniAuth

OmniAuth is a Ruby authentication framework aimed to abstract away the difficulties of working with various types of authentication providers. It is meant to be hooked up to just about any system, from social networks to enterprise systems to simple username and password authentication.

ORY Hydra

ORY Hydra

It is a self-managed server that secures access to your applications and APIs with OAuth 2.0 and OpenID Connect. It is OpenID Connect Certified and optimized for latency, high throughput, and low resource consumption.

Related Comparisons

Postman
Swagger UI

Postman vs Swagger UI

Mapbox
Google Maps

Google Maps vs Mapbox

Mapbox
Leaflet

Leaflet vs Mapbox vs OpenLayers

Twilio SendGrid
Mailgun

Mailgun vs Mandrill vs SendGrid

Runscope
Postman

Paw vs Postman vs Runscope