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Kinde vs WorkOS (2026)

Head-to-head comparison for vibe coders: scores, free tiers, pricing and best-for, using the same evidence-based methodology. Rankings are never for sale.

Kinde

Auth, B2B organizations and billing in one, with 10,500 free MAU

76
WorkOS

Enterprise-ready auth and SSO

78

Side-by-side comparison

Criterion Kinde WorkOS
Score76/10078/100
Free tierYes: 10,500 MAU free forever, no credit card, including social login, MFA, organizations and custom domainYes: AuthKit free up to 1M MAU
Open sourceNoNo
PricingFree $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 freeSSO/Directory Sync $125/connection/mo (volume discounts)
Best forSaaS founders who want auth, orgs and subscription billing from one providerSaaS that will sell to enterprises needing SSO/SCIM
CategoryAuthAuth

Score breakdown

Criterion Kinde WorkOS
Fit for the use case /25 21 21
Vibe-coder friendliness /15 11 11
Output quality & reliability /15 12 13
Pricing & free tier /15 14 14
Ecosystem & integrations /10 7 8
Momentum /10 7 7
Code ownership & lock-in /10 4 4

Based on desk research of official pricing pages and docs; see methodology.

How they differ

Both are hosted auth with enterprise SSO. WorkOS (78) is built for B2B SaaS that sells to companies: its AuthKit user management is free up to 1 million monthly active users, and it earns money on each enterprise customer that connects single sign-on (SSO) or directory sync (SCIM), plus add-ons like audit log streaming and Radar bot protection. Kinde (76) bundles auth with subscription billing, feature flags and multi-tenant organizations in one product, with flat plan prices ($0, $25, $75, $250 a month) plus a per-MAU fee above 10,500 users.

What you pay for users

WorkOS: the first 1 million MAU are free, then $2,500/mo per extra million. A WorkOS MAU is anyone who signs up, signs in or updates their profile in a calendar month. Kinde: every plan includes 10,500 MAU; the Free plan is capped there, and paid plans charge $0.0175 (Pro), $0.0163 (Plus) or $0.0151 (Scale) per extra MAU. Users paying you more than $4/month through Kinde billing are not counted. At 50,000 users that is $0 on WorkOS versus about $716/mo on Kinde Pro ($25 + 39,500 × $0.0175); at 100,000 users, $0 versus about $1,534/mo on Kinde Plus ($75 + 89,500 × $0.0163).

What you pay for SSO and SCIM

This is where Kinde can win. Kinde Free and Pro include 1 enterprise SSO connection, and Plus ($75/mo) and Scale ($250/mo) include unlimited enterprise SSO at no extra cost. SCIM directory sync is listed as coming soon on Scale. WorkOS charges $125/mo per SSO connection and $125/mo per directory sync connection for 1 to 15, falling to $100, $80 and $65 per connection at higher volumes. So a B2B app with 10 enterprise customers on SSO and 8,000 users pays $75/mo on Kinde Plus and $1,250/mo on WorkOS.

Features beyond sign-in

Kinde includes subscription billing on every plan (0.7% per transaction on Free and Pro, 0.6% on Plus, 0.5% on Scale, on top of Stripe fees), feature flags, custom roles and permissions, a custom domain on every plan, and choice of data residency. Passkeys and API keys need Pro or higher. WorkOS AuthKit includes email and password, social login, passkeys, MFA and magic auth, plus an Admin Portal IT teams use to set up their own SSO. Its custom domain is $99/mo, audit log streaming is $125/mo per SIEM connection, and Radar is free for the first 1,000 checks then $100 per 50,000.

Which to pick

Pick WorkOS if you expect a lot of users (consumer sign-ups, freemium, PLG) or only a handful of enterprise customers: user management stays free up to 1 million MAU. Pick Kinde if you sell to many companies that each need SSO and you stay under a few tens of thousands of users, or if you want auth, subscription billing and feature flags from one vendor. Both are proprietary hosted services; if you want users in your own database, look at Better Auth instead.

Who wins: Kinde or WorkOS?

By score, WorkOS wins Kinde vs WorkOS at 78/100 vs 76/100. WorkOS: Free to 1M MAU is exceptional, and enterprise features are pay-per-connection. Proprietary. Kinde: A strong free tier with B2B orgs and custom domains included, plus billing that makes paying users free on MAU. Smaller ecosystem and AI-builder mindshare than Clerk or Supabase. WorkOS is best for SaaS that will sell to enterprises needing SSO/SCIM. Kinde is best for SaaS founders who want auth, orgs and subscription billing from one provider.

FAQ

Which is better, Kinde or WorkOS?
By our score, WorkOS (78/100) ranks above Kinde (76/100). WorkOS is best for SaaS that will sell to enterprises needing SSO/SCIM. The right pick still depends on your workflow; see the side-by-side table.
What is the Kinde vs WorkOS score?
Kinde scores 76/100 and WorkOS scores 78/100 on PromptToProd's evidence-based ranking. Scores are never for sale.
Is Kinde cheaper than WorkOS?
It depends on users versus SSO customers. WorkOS is cheaper on users: free up to 1 million MAU, while Kinde charges per MAU above 10,500. Kinde is cheaper on enterprise SSO: Plus at $75/mo includes unlimited SSO connections, while WorkOS charges $125/mo per connection at low volume.
Does Kinde include enterprise SSO for free?
Kinde Free and Pro include 1 enterprise SSO connection. Plus ($75/mo) and Scale ($250/mo) include unlimited enterprise SSO with no extra connection fees.
Does WorkOS have a free plan?
Yes. AuthKit user management is free up to 1 million monthly active users, including social login, passkeys and MFA. You pay for SSO and directory sync connections, a custom domain and other add-ons.
Can Kinde handle subscription billing?
Yes. Kinde billing is included on all plans and charges 0.5% to 0.7% per transaction (on top of Stripe fees), and users on paid subscriptions above $4/month don’t count toward your MAU.

Sources (checked Oct 25, 2026)

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