vioscaleAI
Comparison

Better Auth vs Clerk

No clear leader: Clerk (68.0) and Better Auth (65.0) are within the 5-point margin; treat as a tie. The attribute-by-attribute breakdown below, with a source and date on every value, is the honest way to compare them.

Better Auth full profile →Clerk full profile →
Machine formatsMarkdownJSONGraphQLAll open, no key required.
Better Auth65
Clerk68
Score
vioscaleAI score
Better Auth65 / 100low · 39%
Clerk68 / 100medium · 72%
Pricing
Free tier
Better Auth✓
Clerk✗
Model
Better Authcommercial
Clerkcommercial
Price level
Better Authmid
Clerkmid
Starting price
Better Auth–
Clerk$20
Transparent
Better Auth✓
Clerk✓
Integrations
Count
Better Auth21
Clerk5
Security
Certifications
Better Auth–
ClerkSOC 2 Type II
Disclosure policy
Better Auth–
Clerk✓
Gdpr
Better Auth–
Clerk✓
Hipaa
Better Auth–
Clerk✓
Soc2
Better Auth–
Clerk✓
Trust center
Vulnerabilities
Reliability
Sla pct
Better Auth–
Clerk99.99
Status page
Better Auth–
Clerk✓
Adoption
Dependent repos
Better Auth210
Clerk–
Github stars
Better Auth29,896
Clerk–
Package downloads weekly
Better Auth4,702,219
Clerk–
Activity
Commits last 30d
Better Auth100
Clerk–
Release
Cadence days
Better Auth1
Clerk–
History
Better Auth20 items
Clerk–
License
Spdx
Better AuthMIT
Clerk–
Language
Primary
Better AuthTypeScript
Clerk–
Market
Availability
Content
Faq
Better Auth7 items
Clerk6 items

Capabilities

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

Deployment
Hosting
Better AuthCloud + self-hosted
ClerkCloud only
Methods
Social login
Better Auth✓
Clerk✓
Passwordless
Better Auth✓
Clerk✓
Passkeys / WebAuthn
Better Auth✓
Clerk✓
Multi-factor auth
Better Auth✓
Clerk✓
Enterprise
SAML SSO
Better Auth✓
Clerk✓
SCIM provisioning
Better Auth✓
Clerk-
B2B / multi-tenancy
Better Auth✓
Clerk✓
Standards
OpenID Connect provider
Better Auth✓
Clerk✓
Delivery
Hosted UI
Better AuthHeadless
ClerkBoth
Access
RBAC
Better Auth✓
Clerk✓
Licensing
Self-hostable OSS core
Better Auth✓
Clerk✓

What each one is

The product in its own terms, so the numbers below have context.

Better Auth

A TypeScript authentication system offering social login, multi-factor authentication, multi-tenancy, and enterprise features like SAML and SCIM. Includes a plugin ecosystem and supports both self-hosted and cloud-managed deployments.

Independently observed

Clerk

A unified platform providing authentication, user profile management, and billing integration through pre-built components and APIs, enabling developers to implement secure user systems without building them from scratch.

Independently observed

Pricing

List pricing as published by each vendor, with the date we read it. Always verify at the source before you buy.

Better Auth

from $20/moHybridFree tier

Free tier available. Pro from $20/month. Enterprise custom pricing.

  • StarterFree
    • User management
    • Audit log
    • Security detection
    • Abuse protection
    • Email templates
    • +1 more
  • Pro$20/month base, plus per-usage overages
    • Unlimited seats
    • User management
    • Audit log with overage
    • Security detection with overage
    • Transactional Email & SMS
    • +5 more
  • EnterpriseContact sales
    • Custom usage and retention
    • Custom domain for Dashboard
    • Log drain
    • Dashboard RBAC
    • Custom MSA and DPA
    • +2 more
as of verify ↗

Clerk

from $20/moSubscription14-day trial

From $20/month billed annually. 14-day free trial.

  • Pro$20/month billed annually with 5 seats included, $12/month per additional seat
    • Multifactor Authentication
    • Customizable branding
    • Seat-based billing
    • Unlimited members
as of verify ↗

Platform & deployment

Where each product runs and how it can be hosted. A dash means undocumented, not unsupported.

Platforms
Web
Better Auth✓
Clerk✓
iOS
Better Auth✗
Clerk✓
Android
Better Auth✗
Clerk✓
CLI
Better Auth✗
Clerk✓
Deployment
Cloud / SaaS
Better Auth✓
Clerk✓
Self-hosted
Better Auth✓
Clerk✗

Integrations

What each product connects to. Counts come from the vendor's own integration directory where one exists.

Better Auth

24 total
  • Next.js
  • Nuxt
  • SvelteKit
  • Astro
  • Hono
  • Google
  • GitHub
  • Apple
  • Discord
  • Passkey Authentication
  • Magic Link Authentication
  • Email OTP Authentication
  • Two Factor Authentication
  • Username Authentication
  • One Tap Authentication
  • Phone Number Authentication
  • Anonymous Authentication
  • Bearer Authentication
  • Generic OAuth
  • One Time Token Authentication
  • SIWE Authentication
  • Cloudflare
  • Microsoft Entra ID
  • Yandex
Independently observed

Clerk

5 total
  • Google OAuth
  • GitHub OAuth
  • Google Workspace
  • Convex
  • MCP
Independently observed
Still deciding?

Better Auth or Clerk: which one depends on you

A composite score cannot know your constraints. Describe them and both get re-weighted against what you actually need, with the evidence behind every position.

Free to run, no account needed to start. How the evaluation works

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