FreeRADIUS vs Passport

Overview

Passport

Stacks471

Followers368

Votes0

GitHub Stars23.5K

Forks1.2K

FreeRADIUS

Stacks28

Followers36

Votes1

FreeRADIUS vs Passport: What are the differences?

Introduction

FreeRADIUS and Passport are both authentication and authorization servers used in different contexts. While FreeRADIUS is primarily used for providing network access and AAA services, Passport is a middleware used for third-party authentication and identity management. Despite serving similar purposes, there are key differences between the two:

Architecture: FreeRADIUS follows a client-server architecture, where it acts as a server providing authentication, authorization, and accounting services for network devices. On the other hand, Passport acts as a middleware that enables third-party authentication for websites and applications.
Supported Protocols: FreeRADIUS supports a wide range of authentication protocols such as PAP, CHAP, MS-CHAP, EAP, etc., making it compatible with various network devices and technologies. In contrast, Passport mainly focuses on OAuth and OpenID Connect protocols, allowing it to integrate with external identity providers like Google, Facebook, etc.
Open Source vs Proprietary: FreeRADIUS is an open-source software widely used and maintained by the community. It provides flexibility for customization and is often deployed in enterprise environments. Passport, on the other hand, is a proprietary middleware developed by Microsoft specifically for integrating with Azure Active Directory and Microsoft identity platform.
Use Cases: FreeRADIUS is commonly used in network environments, providing services like Wi-Fi authentication, VPN access, and centralized AAA services for wired and wireless networks. Passport, on the other hand, is used for web applications that require third-party authentication, allowing users to authenticate using their Microsoft or other external identities.
Configuration Complexity: FreeRADIUS offers extensive configuration options and requires in-depth knowledge of RADIUS protocols and network infrastructure. It requires manual configuration of clients, realms, policies, and attributes. Passport, however, provides a simplified configuration process by leveraging Azure Active Directory and Microsoft identity platform, making it easier to integrate third-party authentication in web applications.
Scalability and Performance: FreeRADIUS is known for its scalability and performance, allowing it to handle large-scale network deployments with high concurrent user connections. Passport, as a middleware service provided by Microsoft, benefits from the scalability and performance of Azure Active Directory, making it suitable for web applications with varying user loads.

In summary, FreeRADIUS primarily focuses on network access and AAA services, supporting a wide range of authentication protocols, while Passport is a middleware solution that enables third-party authentication for web applications, mainly using OAuth and OpenID Connect protocols, and leveraging Azure Active Directory and Microsoft Identity Platform.

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CLI (Node.js)

Manual

Advice on Passport, FreeRADIUS

Vaibhav

Jul 17, 2020

Needs advice

Currently, Passport.js repo has 324 open issues, and Jared (the original author) seems to be the one doing most of the work. Also, given that the documentation is not proper. Is it worth using Passport.js?

As of now, StackShare shows it has 29 companies using it. How do you implement auth in your project or your company? Are there any good alternatives to Passport.js? Should I implement auth from scratch?

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Comments

Detailed Comparison

Passport	FreeRADIUS
It is authentication middleware for Node.js. Extremely flexible and modular, It can be unobtrusively dropped in to any Express-based web application. A comprehensive set of strategies support authentication using a username and password, Facebook, Twitter, and more.	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.
Single sign-on with OpenID and OAuth; Easily handle success and failure	-
Statistics
GitHub Stars 23.5K	GitHub Stars -
GitHub Forks 1.2K	GitHub Forks -
Stacks 471	Stacks 28
Followers 368	Followers 36
Votes 0	Votes 1
Pros & Cons
No community feedback yet	Pros 1 Very Lightweight
Integrations
ExpressJS Vue.js JSON Web Token	PHP MySQL OpenLDAP

What are some alternatives to Passport, FreeRADIUS ?

Auth0

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

Stormpath

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

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 is a flexible authentication solution for Rails based on Warden

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

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

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

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 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

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

FreeRADIUS vs Passport: What are the differences?

Introduction

Architecture: FreeRADIUS follows a client-server architecture, where it acts as a server providing authentication, authorization, and accounting services for network devices. On the other hand, Passport acts as a middleware that enables third-party authentication for websites and applications.
Supported Protocols: FreeRADIUS supports a wide range of authentication protocols such as PAP, CHAP, MS-CHAP, EAP, etc., making it compatible with various network devices and technologies. In contrast, Passport mainly focuses on OAuth and OpenID Connect protocols, allowing it to integrate with external identity providers like Google, Facebook, etc.
Open Source vs Proprietary: FreeRADIUS is an open-source software widely used and maintained by the community. It provides flexibility for customization and is often deployed in enterprise environments. Passport, on the other hand, is a proprietary middleware developed by Microsoft specifically for integrating with Azure Active Directory and Microsoft identity platform.
Use Cases: FreeRADIUS is commonly used in network environments, providing services like Wi-Fi authentication, VPN access, and centralized AAA services for wired and wireless networks. Passport, on the other hand, is used for web applications that require third-party authentication, allowing users to authenticate using their Microsoft or other external identities.
Configuration Complexity: FreeRADIUS offers extensive configuration options and requires in-depth knowledge of RADIUS protocols and network infrastructure. It requires manual configuration of clients, realms, policies, and attributes. Passport, however, provides a simplified configuration process by leveraging Azure Active Directory and Microsoft identity platform, making it easier to integrate third-party authentication in web applications.
Scalability and Performance: FreeRADIUS is known for its scalability and performance, allowing it to handle large-scale network deployments with high concurrent user connections. Passport, as a middleware service provided by Microsoft, benefits from the scalability and performance of Azure Active Directory, making it suitable for web applications with varying user loads.

FreeRADIUS vs Passport

Overview

FreeRADIUS vs Passport: What are the differences?