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Best auth for vibe-coded apps (2026)

Sign-in is the first thing a real app needs and the easiest thing to get wrong. These auth providers and libraries are compared on how many monthly active users (MAU) the free plan really covers, what you pay after that, and how fast a coding agent or app builder can wire them up. Supabase Auth and Firebase Authentication come bundled with their backends; Clerk and Kinde are drop-in hosted auth; Better Auth keeps users in your own database.

Editorial picks for this use case. See each tool page for its score breakdown. Last updated 2026-10-25.

#1
C
Clerk
User management and authentication
Verified
87
/ 100
 #2
B
Better Auth open source
Open-source TypeScript auth framework
Verified
86
/ 100
 #3
S
Supabase Auth open source
Auth built into your Supabase Postgres, with 50,000 free MAU
Verified
85
/ 100
 #4
K
Kinde
Auth, B2B organizations and billing in one, with 10,500 free MAU
Verified
76
/ 100
 #5
F
Firebase Authentication
Google's drop-in auth for web and mobile apps
Verified
74
/ 100
 #6
W
WorkOS
Enterprise-ready auth and SSO
Verified
78
/ 100
 #7
D
Descope
Drag-and-drop auth flows, plus MCP and AI-agent auth
Verified
70
/ 100
 #8
A
Auth.js (NextAuth.js) open source
The classic open-source auth library for Next.js, now part of Better Auth
Verified
73
/ 100

Side-by-side comparison

ToolScoreFree tierPricingBest for
Clerk87Yes: 50,000 monthly retained users per appPro $25/mo ($20 annual), then $0.02/MRU over 50KThe fastest auth for Next.js/React SaaS
Better Auth86Yes: MIT library free to self-host; Infrastructure Starter $0Library free; optional Infrastructure Pro $20/moOwning auth in your own database with no per-user fees
Supabase Auth85Yes: 50,000 monthly active users on the Supabase Free plan (free projects pause after 1 week of inactivity, 2 active projects max)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 featuresApps already on Supabase, or vibe-coded apps from Lovable and Bolt that need sign-in tied to row-level security
Kinde76Yes: 10,500 MAU free forever, no credit card, including social login, MFA, organizations and custom domainFree $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 freeSaaS founders who want auth, orgs and subscription billing from one provider
Firebase Authentication74Yes: 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-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 SMSMobile and Flutter apps, or projects already on Firebase and Google Cloud
WorkOS78Yes: AuthKit free up to 1M MAUSSO/Directory Sync $125/connection/mo (volume discounts)SaaS that will sell to enterprises needing SSO/SCIM
Descope70Yes: 7,500 MAU, 10 tenants and 3 SSO connections free forever, no overages (upgrade required past limits)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 customB2B apps and MCP servers that need tenant SSO or agent auth without writing flows by hand
Auth.js (NextAuth.js)73Yes: fully free and open source, no per-user feesFree (ISC open source); you host it and pay only for your own databaseExisting Next.js apps already on next-auth; new projects should look at Better Auth first

FAQ

What is the best auth for vibe-coded apps in 2026?
Our top pick is Clerk (score 87/100): User management and authentication. Runners-up: Better Auth, Supabase Auth, Kinde, Firebase Authentication, WorkOS, Descope, Auth.js (NextAuth.js).
Is Clerk free?
Clerk free tier: Yes: 50,000 monthly retained users per app. Paid pricing: Pro $25/mo ($20 annual), then $0.02/MRU over 50K.
Is Better Auth free?
Better Auth free tier: Yes: MIT library free to self-host; Infrastructure Starter $0. Paid pricing: Library free; optional Infrastructure Pro $20/mo.
Is Supabase Auth free?
Supabase Auth free tier: Yes: 50,000 monthly active users on the Supabase Free plan (free projects pause after 1 week of inactivity, 2 active projects max). Paid pricing: 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.
How are these tools ranked?
Each tool is scored out of 100 on fit, vibe-coder friendliness, output quality, pricing, ecosystem, momentum and code ownership, using desk research of official docs and pricing pages. Affiliate status never affects scores.

Sources

Related guides

See the full category ranking · How we score