Django Auth
Open SourceUsers, groups, and permissions out of the box in Django.
Published 27 September 2026
DjangoScores
About Django Auth
Django Auth is the authentication system built into Django — users, groups, granular permissions, password hashing, and session management, all shipped with the framework. The admin, the request user, and the permission checks in templates and views all run on it, and a project gets a working login system before writing any auth code of its own.
Because it is part of the framework, it is Django-shaped: user models can be swapped or extended, and third-party packages layer on social login or MFA. Projects that need those add packages rather than replace the system.
Under the hood, permissions are built on Django's ContentType framework, which is what lets third-party packages like django-guardian add object-level permissions later without touching the core system. Sessions are database-backed by default but can be swapped for cache- or Redis-backed storage, and password hashing is pluggable — PBKDF2 out of the box, with Argon2 or bcrypt available by adding them to PASSWORD_HASHERS.
Key Features
- User, group, and permission models included
- Password hashing with pluggable hashers (PBKDF2 default, Argon2 and bcrypt optional)
- Password validators for length, similarity, and common passwords
- Built-in login, logout, and password-reset views and forms
- login_required, permission_required, and LoginRequiredMiddleware for protecting views
- Swappable or extended user model via AUTH_USER_MODEL
- Database, cache, or signed-cookie session backends
Pros
- Included with every Django project — a working login system exists before any auth code is written
- Users, groups, and granular permissions are ready out of the box and wired into the admin
- Battle-tested and stable since it ships with the framework itself, not a bolt-on dependency
Cons
- No social/OAuth login, MFA, or email verification without adding a package like django-allauth
- Default templates and views are minimal and generally need restyling for production use
- Password reset flows require configuring an email backend before they work
Django Auth Pricing
Open SourceTools Related to Django Auth
Part of(1)
Django Auth is Django's built-in authentication system, shipped with the framework itself.
Alternatives to Django Auth(1)
Django's built-in auth handles the basics (users, groups, permissions, sessions); django-allauth is the alternative when a project needs social/OAuth login, email verification, or MFA out of the box.
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