Best Clerk alternatives (2026)
Clerk scores 87/100 in Auth. Here are 10 alternatives ranked by the same evidence-based score, with pricing and free tiers side by side. Rankings are never for sale.
| Tool | Score | Free tier | Open source | Pricing |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Clerk (current pick) | 87 | Yes: 50,000 monthly retained users per app | No | Pro $25/mo ($20 annual), then $0.02/MRU over 50K |
| Better Auth | 86 | Yes: MIT library free to self-host; Infrastructure Starter $0 | Yes | Library free; optional Infrastructure Pro $20/mo |
| Supabase Auth | 85 | Yes: 50,000 monthly active users on the Supabase Free plan (free projects pause after 1 week of inactivity, 2 active projects max) | Yes | Included in Supabase plans: Free $0 (50,000 MAU); Pro from $25/mo (100,000 MAU, then $0.00325 per MAU); Team from $599/mo; Enterprise custom. Advanced phone MFA, SAML SSO and leaked-password protection are paid features |
| Hanko | 78 | Yes: 10,000 monthly active users and 2 projects on Hanko Cloud, or self-host free | Yes | Starter free up to 10,000 MAU; Pro $29/mo plus $0.01 per MAU over 10,000; Enterprise custom; startup plan with 1M free MAU on application |
| WorkOS | 78 | Yes: AuthKit free up to 1M MAU | No | SSO/Directory Sync $125/connection/mo (volume discounts) |
| Kinde | 76 | Yes: 10,500 MAU free forever, no credit card, including social login, MFA, organizations and custom domain | No | Free $0 (10,500 MAU); Pro $25/mo (10,500 MAU included, then $0.0175 per extra MAU); Plus $75/mo (free enterprise SSO); Scale $250/mo; billing customers through Kinde adds 0.5–0.7% per transaction (0.7% Free/Pro, 0.6% Plus, 0.5% Scale), and those billed users' MAU is free |
| Firebase Authentication | 74 | Yes: no-cost on the Spark plan; with Identity Platform free up to 50K MAU (Spark caps Identity Platform at 3,000 daily active users, and password-reset emails at 150/day) | No | No-cost Spark plan; with Identity Platform, no-cost up to 50K MAU (50 MAU for SAML/OIDC), then Google Cloud pricing; phone verification SMS is Blaze (pay-as-you-go) only and billed per SMS |
| Auth.js (NextAuth.js) | 73 | Yes: fully free and open source, no per-user fees | Yes | Free (ISC open source); you host it and pay only for your own database |
| Auth0 | 70 | Yes: up to 25,000 MAU | No | Essentials from $35/mo (B2C, 500 MAU) or $150/mo (B2B) |
| Descope | 70 | Yes: 7,500 MAU, 10 tenants and 3 SSO connections free forever, no overages (upgrade required past limits) | No | Free Forever $0 (7,500 MAU, 10 tenants, 3 SSO connections, hard limits); Pro from $249/mo billed annually (10,000 MAU, then $0.05/MAU); Growth from $799/mo (25,000 MAU); Enterprise custom |
| Stytch | 68 | Yes: 10,000 MAU, 5 SSO/SCIM connections | No | Usage-based above free allowance; SSO/SCIM $125/connection |
Why switch from Clerk?
Best DX and prebuilt UI, with a generous free tier (50K MRU). Hosted and proprietary.
The alternatives in detail
Best for: Owning auth in your own database with no per-user fees
Best for: Apps already on Supabase, or vibe-coded apps from Lovable and Bolt that need sign-in tied to row-level security
Best for: Apps that want passkeys and modern login with the option to own their auth data or keep it in the EU
Best for: SaaS that will sell to enterprises needing SSO/SCIM
Best for: SaaS founders who want auth, orgs and subscription billing from one provider
Best for: Mobile and Flutter apps, or projects already on Firebase and Google Cloud
Best for: Existing Next.js apps already on next-auth; new projects should look at Better Auth first
Best for: Enterprise identity requirements and compliance
Best for: B2B apps and MCP servers that need tenant SSO or agent auth without writing flows by hand
Best for: Passwordless and fraud-aware auth