Better Auth vs Clerk
On the evidence we track, Clerk leads this comparison with a composite score of 71/100. Scores are only directly comparable because these tools share a category; the full breakdown and every source is below.
Capabilities
Feature-by-feature on the axes that matter for auth & identity software. “-” means undocumented, not absent.
What each one is
The product in its own terms, so the numbers below have context.
Better Auth
An open-source authentication framework that provides multiple authentication methods including social login, passkeys, passwordless auth, and enterprise features like SSO and directory sync, with optional managed cloud infrastructure for auditing and security monitoring.
Clerk
LeaderProvides embeddable components and APIs for adding authentication, profile management, organizations, and subscription billing to applications. Supports enterprise features like SAML, SCIM provisioning, and multi-tenancy.
Pricing
List pricing as published by each vendor, with the date we read it. Always verify at the source before you buy.
Better Auth
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
Clerk
LeaderFree up to 50K MRU. Pro from $20/mo billed annually (includes 50K MRU + 1 enterprise connection). Add-ons available.
- FreeFree
- Social authentication (Google, GitHub, Facebook)
- Email/password authentication
- Magic links
- Organizations
- Multifactor authentication
- +1 more
- Pro$20/mo billed annually (includes 50K MRU + 1 enterprise connection)
- 50K monthly retained users included
- 1 enterprise SSO connection included
- Custom session lifetime
- Clerk branding removal
- Directory sync
- +5 more
Platform & deployment
Where each product runs and how it can be hosted. A dash means undocumented, not unsupported.
Integrations
What each product connects to. Counts come from the vendor's own integration directory where one exists.
- GitHub
- Microsoft Entra ID
Better Auth
- Next.js
- Nuxt
- SvelteKit
- Astro
- Hono
- 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
- Yandex
Clerk
Leader- Google OAuth
- GitHub OAuth
- Google Workspace
- Convex
- MCP
- Stripe
- Okta Workforce
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.