# FreeRADIUS/freeradius-server

FreeRADIUS - A multi-protocol policy server.

Repository: https://github.com/FreeRADIUS/freeradius-server
Canonical: https://ross.abutalabs.com/products/freeradius-server
Homepage: http://freeradius.org
Language: C
License: GPL-2.0
License Family: copyleft
Topics: radius, dhcp, c, daemon, posix, otp, eap, dot1x, aaa, authentication, vmps, arp, bfd, policy, freeradius-server
Last push: 2026-08-26T19:02:17+00:00

## Health v2 (maintenance only)
Score: 87/100 (v2, computed 2026-09-03T02:20:16.233290+00:00)
- activity 99, release rhythm 63, longevity 100
- inputs: {"age_days": 6618, "days_push": 7, "days_rel": 91, "gap_med": 101.0, "n_releases_24m": 5}
- flags: none
- formula: round(0.45*activity + 0.35*rhythm + 0.20*longevity); archived -> min(score, 10)

## Adoption (not part of the score)
Stars 2574, forks 1195 (observed 2026-08-28T04:07:01.576521+00:00)

## What it is
FreeRADIUS is a high-performance, highly configurable multi-protocol policy server supporting RADIUS, DHCPv4/v6, DNS, TACACS+, and VMPS, written in C. It centralizes authentication, authorization, and accounting (AAA) for networks, powering ISPs, enterprises, and eduroam for hundreds of millions of users.

## Use cases
- set up a RADIUS server for WiFi 802.1x authentication
- centralize AAA for an ISP with millions of subscribers
- authenticate VPN and PPPoE users against Active Directory or LDAP
- run eduroam Wi-Fi roaming for a university
- integrate RADIUS accounting with MySQL or PostgreSQL backends
- serve DHCPv4 and DHCPv6 alongside RADIUS
- implement EAP-TLS / EAP-TTLS certificate-based network access

## When to choose
- you need a battle-tested, scalable RADIUS/AAA server for enterprise, ISP, or campus networks
- you need 802.1x/EAP authentication with backends like LDAP, SQL, or Active Directory
- you want a modular policy server supporting multiple protocols (RADIUS, DHCP, TACACS+)

## When to avoid
- you need a simple embedded AAA solution with minimal configuration overhead
- you want to run the unreleased version 4 in production before its official release
- you need a lightweight client-only RADIUS tool rather than a full server

## Facets
- artifact type: service
- maturity: stable
- function: auth, authorization, http-server, networking, security, middleware
- domain: networking, security, backend, self-hosted, developer-tools
- platform: bsd, cross-platform, c
- tags: radius, aaa, eap, 8021x, dhcp, tacacs, dot1x, policy-server, eduroam, wpa-enterprise, linux, macos

## Member repositories
- FreeRADIUS/freeradius-server (main) score 87

## Provenance
- Observed fields: from GitHub, fetched 2026-08-28T04:07:01.576521+00:00.
- Health v2: computed from the inputs above; adoption is never an input.
- Inferred fields (summary, facets, guidance): AI-extracted, prompt v1, taxonomy v1, on 2026-08-30T02:22:45.163164+00:00, confidence not recorded.
  - readme: https://github.com/FreeRADIUS/freeradius-server (fetched 2026-08-28T04:07:01.576521+00:00, sha 16b5eef04616)
  - homepage: http://freeradius.org (fetched 2026-08-29T10:05:32.019168+00:00, sha d4c163e875f1)
  - site_page: https://www.freeradius.org/documentation (fetched 2026-08-29T10:05:32.025460+00:00, sha 32d13f6a5a9c)
  - site_page: https://www.freeradius.org/about (fetched 2026-08-29T10:05:32.027712+00:00, sha e94c6b7ca599)
  - site_page: https://www.freeradius.org/releases (fetched 2026-08-29T10:05:32.023304+00:00, sha cf8225bd9ac2)
  - site_page: http://doc.freeradius.org/ (fetched 2026-08-29T10:05:32.029631+00:00, sha a3ba6cb56aa0)
  - site_page: https://www.freeradius.org/community (fetched 2026-08-29T10:05:32.031152+00:00, sha 029d4d6c0052)
- Data as of 2026-08-30T08:39:29.467469+00:00.