# Clerk vs WorkOS

| Attribute | Clerk | WorkOS |
|---|---|---|
| **vioscaleAI score** | 71.4 (71% (medium)) | 72 (71% (medium)) |
| content.faq | `[{"answer":"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. It is indexed under Auth & Identity Software.","source":"https://clerk.com/components/pricing-table","question":"What is Clerk?","confidence":0.6},{"answer":"Clerk is a paid product; published pricing starts at $12 per user per month. There is no free tier. Prices are published openly on the vendor's own pricing page. Pricing changes often, so verify at source before relying on it.","source":"https://clerk.com/components/pricing-table","question":"How much does Clerk cost?","confidence":0.6},{"answer":"Clerk supports the web, iOS, Android and a command-line interface. Platforms we have not confirmed are simply not listed here rather than ruled out.","source":"https://clerk.com/components/pricing-table","question":"What platforms does Clerk support?","confidence":0.6},{"answer":"We have only confirmed a cloud / SaaS deployment for Clerk, so it appears to be vendor-hosted. If a self-hosted option exists we have not found it documented publicly.","source":"https://clerk.com/components/pricing-table","question":"Can Clerk be self-hosted?","confidence":0.6},{"answer":"We have confirmed 5 integrations for Clerk, including Google OAuth, GitHub OAuth, Google Workspace, Convex and MCP. This is what we could verify from public sources, so the vendor may support others we have not indexed.","source":"https://clerk.com/components/pricing-table","question":"What does Clerk integrate with?","confidence":0.6},{"answer":"We have independently confirmed SOC 2, HIPAA and GDPR for Clerk. Certifications we do not list are ones we have not been able to verify from public sources, which is not the same as Clerk not holding them. Always confirm compliance directly before you rely on it.","source":"https://clerk.com/components/pricing-table","question":"What security certifications does Clerk have?","confidence":0.6}]` | `[{"answer":"WorkOS provides a unified interface for integrating enterprise authentication methods, including SAML and OIDC identity providers, along with user directory synchronization and access control features. It helps developers quickly add enterprise-ready authentication to their applications. It is indexed under Auth & Identity Software.","source":"https://workos.com/","question":"What is WorkOS?","confidence":0.6},{"answer":"WorkOS offers a free tier, so you can start without paying. Pricing changes often, so verify at source before relying on it.","source":"https://workos.com/blog/auth0-pricing-how-it-works-and-compares-to-workos","question":"Is WorkOS free?","confidence":0.6},{"answer":"We have confirmed browser-based access to WorkOS. That is the extent of what we could verify from public sources, so it may well offer desktop or mobile clients we have not indexed.","source":"https://workos.com/","question":"What platforms does WorkOS support?","confidence":0.6},{"answer":"We have only confirmed a cloud / SaaS deployment for WorkOS, so it appears to be vendor-hosted. If a self-hosted option exists we have not found it documented publicly.","source":"https://workos.com/","question":"Can WorkOS be self-hosted?","confidence":0.6},{"answer":"We have confirmed 25 integrations for WorkOS, including LinkedIn, Slack, GitLab, Bitbucket, Xero, Rippling, ADP and Intuit, plus 17 more. This is what we could verify from public sources, so the vendor may support others we have not indexed.","source":"https://workos.com/","question":"What does WorkOS integrate with?","confidence":0.6},{"answer":"We have independently confirmed SOC 2, HIPAA and GDPR for WorkOS. Certifications we do not list are ones we have not been able to verify from public sources, which is not the same as WorkOS not holding them. Always confirm compliance directly before you rely on it.","source":"https://workos.com/security","question":"What security certifications does WorkOS have?","confidence":0.7},{"answer":"WorkOS is available worldwide. Its primary market is the United States.","source":"https://workos.com/blog/auth0-pricing-how-it-works-and-compares-to-workos","question":"Where is WorkOS available?","confidence":0.5}]` |
| deployment.options | `{"cloud":true}` | `{"cloud":true}` |
| description.long | Provides 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. | A platform providing identity infrastructure including SSO, multi-factor authentication, directory synchronization, and user management capabilities for SaaS applications and enterprise software. |
| features.capabilities | `{"mfa":true,"oidc":true,"rbac":true,"hosting":"cloud","saml_sso":true,"hosted_ui":"both","open_source":true,"passwordless":true,"social_login":true,"b2b_multi_tenant":true,"passkeys_webauthn":true,"scim_provisioning":true}` | `{"mfa":true,"oidc":true,"rbac":true,"hosting":"cloud","saml_sso":true,"hosted_ui":"both","open_source":false,"passwordless":true,"social_login":true,"b2b_multi_tenant":true,"scim_provisioning":true}` |
| integrations.count | 7 | 17 |
| integrations.list | `[{"name":"Google OAuth"},{"name":"GitHub OAuth"},{"name":"Google Workspace"},{"name":"Convex"},{"name":"MCP"},{"name":"Stripe","native":true,"category":"payments","direction":"bidirectional"},{"name":"Okta Workforce","native":true,"category":"sso","direction":"inbound"},{"name":"Microsoft Entra ID","native":true,"category":"sso","direction":"inbound"},{"name":"Google","native":true,"category":"social_login","direction":"inbound"},{"name":"GitHub","native":true,"category":"social_login","direction":"inbound"},{"name":"Facebook","native":true,"category":"social_login","direction":"inbound"}]` | `[{"name":"LinkedIn"},{"name":"Slack"},{"name":"GitLab"},{"name":"Bitbucket"},{"name":"Xero"},{"name":"Rippling"},{"name":"ADP"},{"name":"Intuit"},{"name":"Google"},{"name":"GitHub"},{"name":"Microsoft"},{"name":"Apple"},{"name":"SAML","native":true,"direction":"inbound"},{"name":"OIDC","native":true,"direction":"inbound"},{"name":"Vercel","native":true,"category":"authentication","direction":"inbound"},{"name":"Clever","native":true,"category":"authentication","direction":"inbound"},{"name":"Asana","native":true},{"name":"Box","native":true},{"name":"Dropbox","native":true},{"name":"Front","native":true},{"name":"HelpScout","native":true},{"name":"Hubspot","native":true,"category":"crm"},{"name":"Intercom","native":true,"category":"chat"},{"name":"Jira","native":true},{"name":"Sentry","native":true},{"name":"Mailgun","native":true,"category":"email","direction":"outbound"},{"name":"Microsoft Sentinel","native":true,"direction":"outbound"}]` |
| market.availability | `{"primaryMarkets":[],"availabilityScope":"global","availableCountries":[],"notAvailableCountries":[]}` | `{"primaryMarkets":["US"],"availabilityScope":"global","availableCountries":[],"notAvailableCountries":[]}` |
| platform.support | `{"cli":true,"ios":true,"web":true}` | `{"ios":true,"web":true,"android":true}` |
| pricing | `{"type":"subscription","plans":[{"free":true,"name":"Free","summary":"Free, up to 50K MRU","features":["Social authentication (Google, GitHub, Facebook)","Email/password authentication","Magic links","Organizations","Multifactor authentication","Basic billing features"],"description":"Up to 50,000 monthly retained users","contactSales":false,"includedLimits":{"mru":"50000/mo"}},{"free":false,"name":"Pro","summary":"$20/mo billed annually (includes 50K MRU + 1 enterprise connection)","features":["50K monthly retained users included","1 enterprise SSO connection included","Custom session lifetime","Clerk branding removal","Directory sync","Team dashboard","API keys","Events stream","Premium support SLA","99.99% Uptime SLA"],"components":[{"kind":"fixed","amount":20,"period":"month","currency":"USD"}],"description":"For growing applications","contactSales":false,"includedLimits":{"mru":"50000/mo","enterprise_sso_connections":"1"}}],"addOns":[{"name":"Additional Monthly Retained Users","components":[{"per":{"qty":1,"unit":"mru"},"kind":"metered","amount":0.02,"currency":"USD"}]},{"name":"Additional Enterprise SSO Connection","components":[{"kind":"fixed","amount":75,"period":"month","currency":"USD"}]},{"name":"Directory Sync","components":[{"kind":"fixed","amount":75,"period":"month","currency":"USD"}]},{"name":"MFA Connection","components":[{"kind":"fixed","amount":10,"period":"month","currency":"USD"}]},{"name":"SMS Authentication","components":[{"per":{"qty":1,"unit":"sms"},"kind":"metered","amount":0.01,"currency":"USD"}]},{"name":"Clerk Billing with Stripe","components":[{"of":"transaction","kind":"percentage","plus":{"amount":0.3,"currency":"USD"},"rate":2.9},{"of":"billing_volume","kind":"percentage","rate":0.7}]}],"summary":"Free up to 50K MRU. Pro from $20/mo billed annually (includes 50K MRU + 1 enterprise connection). Add-ons available.","currency":"USD","freeTier":true,"sourceUrl":"https://clerk.com/pricing","retrievedAt":"2026-10-05T12:35:42.526Z","startingPrice":{"amount":20,"period":"month","currency":"USD"},"billingPeriods":["month","year"]}` | `{"type":"subscription","plans":[{"free":true,"name":"Free","summary":"Free up to 1,000,000 MAUs/month","features":["Single Sign-On (SAML & OIDC)","SCIM provisioning","Role-based access control","Bot detection","Identity linking","Multi-factor authentication","Social authentication (Microsoft, Google, Apple, GitHub, LinkedIn, Slack, GitLab, Bitbucket, Xero, Rippling, ADP, Intuit)","Magic Auth (passwordless email codes)","Audit logs","Agent authentication"],"components":[{"kind":"fixed","amount":0,"period":"month","currency":"USD"}],"description":"Up to 1 million monthly active users with core features included","contactSales":false,"includedLimits":{"maus":"1,000,000/month","admins":"unlimited","organizations":"unlimited"}}],"addOns":[{"name":"Overage Monthly Active Users","components":[{"kind":"fixed","amount":2500,"period":"month","currency":"USD"}]},{"name":"SSO Connections per Organization","components":[{"kind":"fixed","amount":125,"period":"month","currency":"USD"}]},{"name":"Custom Domain","components":[{"kind":"fixed","amount":99,"period":"month","currency":"USD"}]}],"summary":"Free up to 1,000,000 MAUs. $2,500/month per additional million MAUs. $125/month per SSO-enabled organization.","currency":"USD","freeTier":true,"sourceUrl":"https://workos.com/blog/auth0-pricing-how-it-works-and-compares-to-workos","retrievedAt":"2026-08-14T08:35:19.116Z","billingPeriods":["month"]}` |
| pricing.free_tier | yes | yes |
| pricing.model | freemium | freemium |
| pricing.price_level | mid | low |
| pricing.starting_price | `{"amount":20,"currency":"USD"}` | - |
| pricing.transparent | yes | yes |
| reliability.sla_pct | 99.99 | 99.99 |
| reliability.status_page | yes | yes |
| security.certifications | `[{"name":"SOC 2 Type II","level":"Type II","status":"active"}]` | - |
| security.disclosure_policy | yes | yes |
| security.gdpr | yes | yes |
| security.hipaa | yes | yes |
| security.soc2 | yes | yes |

## Capabilities (Auth & Identity Software)

| Capability | Clerk | WorkOS |
|---|:--:|:--:|
| **Deployment** |  |  |
| Hosting | Cloud only | Cloud only |
| **Methods** |  |  |
| Social login | ✓ | ✓ |
| Passwordless | ✓ | ✓ |
| Passkeys / WebAuthn | ✓ | - |
| Multi-factor auth | ✓ | ✓ |
| **Enterprise** |  |  |
| SAML SSO | ✓ | ✓ |
| SCIM provisioning | ✓ | ✓ |
| B2B / multi-tenancy | ✓ | ✓ |
| **Standards** |  |  |
| OpenID Connect provider | ✓ | ✓ |
| **Delivery** |  |  |
| Hosted UI | Both | Both |
| **Access** |  |  |
| RBAC | ✓ | ✓ |
| **Licensing** |  |  |
| Self-hostable OSS core | ✓ | ✗ |

*Source: vioscaleAI. Generated 2026-10-16T17:33:00.626Z. "-" = undocumented, not absent.*