vioscale
Comparison

Better Auth vs Clerk

On the evidence we track, Better Auth leads this comparison with a composite score of 76/100. Scores are only directly comparable because these tools share a category; the full breakdown and every source is below.

Better Auth full profile →Clerk full profile →
Machine formatsJSONMarkdownGraphQLor send Accept: application/json
Attribute comparison across 2 tools
Attribute76Better AuthLeader73Clerk
Vioscale score76 / 100low · 26%73 / 100medium · 61%
Commits last 30d91-
Github stars29,411-
Package downloads weekly6,546,561-
Options{"cloud":true,"self_hosted":true}{"cloud":true}
LongFramework-agnostic authentication framework for TypeScript that runs in your application code. Provides built-in email/password auth, social login, multi-tenancy, and enterprise features including SAML, SCIM, and a plugin ecosystem.Clerk provides full-stack authentication and user management with prebuilt components for sign-up, sign-in, organization management, and billing. Supports B2B multi-tenancy, social login, passwordless auth, MFA, and enterprise SSO.
Capabilities{"mfa":true,"oidc":true,"rbac":true,"hosting":"both","saml_sso":true,"hosted_ui":"headless","open_source":true,"passwordless":true,"social_login":true,"b2b_multi_tenant":true,"passkeys_webauthn":true,"scim_provisioning":true}{"mfa":true,"oidc":false,"rbac":true,"hosting":"cloud","saml_sso":true,"hosted_ui":"both","open_source":false,"passwordless":true,"social_login":true,"b2b_multi_tenant":true,"passkeys_webauthn":false,"scim_provisioning":false}
Count430
List[{"name":"Google"},{"name":"GitHub"},{"name":"Apple"},{"name":"Discord"}][{"name":"React"},{"name":"Next.js"},{"name":"Expo"},{"name":"Vue"},{"name":"Angular"},{"name":"Svelte"},{"name":"Python"},{"name":"Ruby"},{"name":"Go"},{"name":"Java"},{"name":"C#"},{"name":"PHP"},{"name":"Rust"},{"name":"JavaScript"},{"name":"Nuxt"},{"name":"Remix"},{"name":"Express"},{"name":"Fastify"},{"name":"Koa"},{"name":"Hono"},{"name":"Elysia"},{"name":"Tauri"},{"name":"Astro"},{"name":"SolidJS"},{"name":"React Router"},{"name":"TanStack React"},{"name":"Chrome Extension"},{"name":"Android"},{"name":"iOS"},{"name":"Stripe"}]
PrimaryTypeScript-
SpdxMIT-
Availability{"hqCountry":"US","primaryMarkets":["US"],"availabilityScope":"global","availableCountries":[],"notAvailableCountries":[]}{"hqCountry":"US","primaryMarkets":["US","GB","EU"],"availabilityScope":"global","availableCountries":["US","GB"],"notAvailableCountries":[]}
Support{"cli":true,"web":true}{"cli":true,"web":true}
Pricing{"type":"hybrid","plans":[{"free":true,"name":"Starter","summary":"Free","features":["1 dashboard seat","10,000 audit logs/month","1 day retention","1,000 security detections/month","Community support"],"minSeats":1,"components":[{"kind":"fixed","amount":0,"period":"month","currency":"USD"}],"description":"For evaluation and side projects","contactSales":false,"includedLimits":{"audit_logs":"10,000/month","dashboard_seats":"1","audit_log_retention":"1 day","security_detections":"1,000/month"}},{"free":false,"name":"Pro","summary":"$20/month plus usage-based overages","features":["Unlimited dashboard seats","20,000 audit logs/month then $0.0001/event","10,000 security detections/month then $0.001/event","Self-service SSO & Directory Sync (1 connection included, $50/month per additional)","Transactional email & SMS","Email templates & abuse protection","User management","Dashboard RBAC","Email support"],"components":[{"kind":"fixed","amount":20,"period":"month","currency":"USD"},{"per":{"qty":1,"unit":"audit_log_event"},"kind":"metered","amount":0.0001,"currency":"USD"},{"per":{"qty":1,"unit":"security_detection_event"},"kind":"metered","amount":0.001,"currency":"USD"},{"per":{"qty":1,"unit":"email"},"kind":"metered","amount":0.001,"currency":"USD"},{"per":{"qty":1,"unit":"sms"},"kind":"metered","amount":0.09,"currency":"USD"},{"kind":"per_unit","unit":"connection","amount":50,"period":"month","currency":"USD"}],"description":"For production teams running auth in the critical path","contactSales":false,"includedLimits":{"audit_logs":"20,000/month","audit_log_retention":"7 days","security_detections":"10,000/month"}},{"free":false,"name":"Enterprise","summary":"Custom pricing","features":["Custom usage and retention","Custom domain and log drain included","Dashboard RBAC","Slack support and implementation help","Custom MSA and DPA"],"description":"For organizations with bespoke security or volume needs","contactSales":true}],"addOns":[{"name":"Custom domain for Dashboard","components":[{"kind":"fixed","amount":25,"period":"month","currency":"USD"}]},{"name":"Log drain","components":[{"kind":"fixed","amount":25,"period":"month","currency":"USD"}]}],"summary":"Free framework. Managed infrastructure: free tier available, Pro from $20/month plus usage overages, Enterprise custom.","currency":"USD","freeTier":true,"sourceUrl":"https://www.better-auth.com","retrievedAt":"2026-08-05T14:07:07.344Z","startingPrice":{"amount":0.0001,"period":"month","currency":"USD"},"billingPeriods":["month"]}{"type":"subscription","plans":[{"free":true,"name":"Hobby","summary":"Free tier","features":["Up to 3 dashboard seats","Unlimited applications","50,000 MRU limit per app","Up to 5 user impersonations","APIs and prebuilt UIs","Custom domain","7 day session lifetime","Application logs 1 day retention","M2M tokens limited per month","Up to 3 social connections"],"components":[{"kind":"fixed","amount":0,"period":"month","currency":"USD"}],"description":"No credit card required. Everything you need to start building.","contactSales":false,"includedLimits":{"users":"50,000 MRU/app","applications":"unlimited","impersonations":"5/month","dashboard_seats":"3","social_connections":"3"}},{"free":false,"name":"Pro","summary":"$20/mo billed annually ($25/mo monthly)","features":["Everything in Hobby","50,000 MRU included per app","Unlimited social connections","1 Enterprise connection included (additional $75/mo)","Remove Clerk branding","Multi-factor authentication (MFA)","Satellite domains ($10/mo each)","Custom session lifetime","Application logs 7 day retention","SMS Authentication available","M2M tokens included"],"components":[{"kind":"fixed","note":"billed annually","amount":20,"period":"month","currency":"USD"},{"kind":"fixed","note":"billed monthly","amount":25,"period":"month","currency":"USD"},{"per":{"qty":1,"unit":"MRU"},"kind":"metered","range":"50,001-100,000/mo","amount":0.02,"currency":"USD"}],"description":"Scale with full-featured authentication.","contactSales":false,"includedLimits":{"users":"50,000 MRU/app included","applications":"unlimited","dashboard_seats":"3","social_connections":"unlimited"}},{"free":false,"name":"Business","summary":"$250/mo billed annually ($300/mo monthly)","features":["Everything in Pro","10 dashboard seats included (additional $20/mo each)","SOC2 Report","Enhanced dashboard roles","Priority support","Application logs 30 day retention"],"components":[{"kind":"fixed","note":"billed annually","amount":250,"period":"month","currency":"USD"},{"kind":"fixed","note":"billed monthly","amount":300,"period":"month","currency":"USD"}],"description":"Tackle compliance and growing teams.","contactSales":false,"includedLimits":{"users":"50,000 MRU/app included","applications":"unlimited","dashboard_seats":"10 included"}},{"free":false,"name":"Enterprise","summary":"Custom pricing. Contact sales.","features":["Everything in Business","Annual committed use discounts","99.99% Uptime SLA","Enterprise SSO for workspace","Premium support SLA + dedicated Slack channel","Application logs custom retention","Log sink destinations (stream to SIEM)","HIPAA compliance available with BAA","Onboarding & migration support","Custom security questionnaires"],"commitment":"annual","description":"Tailored solutions and guarantees.","contactSales":true}],"addOns":[{"name":"B2B Authentication Enhanced","components":[{"kind":"fixed","amount":100,"period":"month","currency":"USD"},{"kind":"fixed","note":"billed annually","amount":85,"period":"month","currency":"USD"}]},{"name":"Administration Enhanced","components":[{"kind":"fixed","amount":100,"period":"month","currency":"USD"},{"kind":"fixed","note":"billed annually","amount":85,"period":"month","currency":"USD"}]},{"name":"Billing","components":[{"of":"billing_volume","kind":"percentage","rate":0.7}]}],"summary":"Free plan available. Paid plans from $20/mo annual ($25/mo monthly). Usage-based overage pricing for additional users.","currency":"USD","freeTier":true,"sourceUrl":"https://clerk.com","retrievedAt":"2026-08-05T14:06:44.374Z","startingPrice":{"amount":0.02,"period":"month","currency":"USD"},"billingPeriods":["month","year"]}
Free tierYesYes
Modelcommercialcommercial
Price levellowlow
Starting gbp00.02
TransparentYesYes
Sla pct-99.99
Status page-Yes
Disclosure policy-Yes
Gdpr-Yes
Hipaa-Yes
Soc2-Yes

Capabilities

Feature-by-feature on the axes that matter for auth & identity software. “-” means undocumented, not absent.

Capability comparison for Auth & Identity Software
CapabilityBetter AuthClerk
Deployment
HostingCloud + self-hostedCloud only
Methods
Social login✓✓
Passwordless✓✓
Passkeys / WebAuthn✓✗
Multi-factor auth✓✓
Enterprise
SAML SSO✓✓
SCIM provisioning✓✗
B2B / multi-tenancy✓✓
Standards
OpenID Connect provider✓✗
Delivery
Hosted UIHeadlessBoth
Access
RBAC✓✓
Licensing
Self-hostable OSS core✓✗

Comparison generated from independently-sourced facts. Every value links to its source and retrieval date. See the method.