# Better Auth vs Descope

**Leader by Vioscale score:** Descope

| Attribute | Better Auth | Descope |
|---|---|---|
| **Vioscale score** | 76 (26% (low)) | 79.3 (63% (medium)) |
| activity.commits_last_30d | 91 | - |
| adoption.github_stars | 29,411 | - |
| adoption.package_downloads_weekly | 6,546,561 | - |
| deployment.options | `{"cloud":true,"self_hosted":true}` | `{"cloud":true}` |
| description.long | Framework-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. | Customer and agentic IAM platform with no-code drag-and-drop workflows for authentication, SSO, multi-tenancy, and fine-grained access control. |
| features.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":true,"rbac":true,"hosting":"cloud","saml_sso":true,"hosted_ui":"both","passwordless":true,"social_login":true,"b2b_multi_tenant":true,"passkeys_webauthn":true,"scim_provisioning":true}` |
| integrations.count | 4 | 50 |
| integrations.list | `[{"name":"Google"},{"name":"GitHub"},{"name":"Apple"},{"name":"Discord"}]` | `[{"name":"Twilio"},{"name":"SendGrid"},{"name":"Google"},{"name":"AWS"},{"name":"Azure"},{"name":"Cloudflare"}]` |
| language.primary | TypeScript | - |
| license.spdx | MIT | - |
| market.availability | `{"hqCountry":"US","primaryMarkets":["US"],"availabilityScope":"global","availableCountries":[],"notAvailableCountries":[]}` | - |
| platform.support | `{"cli":true,"web":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":"hybrid","plans":[{"free":true,"name":"Free Forever","summary":"Free Forever, 99% SLA","features":["All auth methods","RBAC","MFA","Session management","Admin widgets","Third-party connectors","No watermark"],"components":[{"kind":"fixed","amount":0,"period":"month","currency":"USD"}],"description":"For hobbyists, tinkerers, and solo builders","contactSales":false,"includedLimits":{"test_users":"5","m2m_exchanges":"10,000","sso_connections":"3","federated_apps_oidc":"1","monthly_active_users":"7,500","monthly_active_tokens":"2,000","monthly_active_tenants":"10","monthly_active_consents":"2,000"}},{"free":false,"name":"Pro","summary":"Starts at $249/mo billed annually, 99.99% SLA","features":["Custom domain","Google One Tap","Custom OIDC","SSO for third-party apps","Self-service SSO","CI/CD integration","Localization","SOC 2 reports"],"commitment":"annual","components":[{"kind":"fixed","amount":249,"period":"month","currency":"USD"}],"description":"For early-stage startups","contactSales":false,"includedLimits":{"test_users":"100","m2m_exchanges":"50,000","federated_apps":"2 (SAML/OIDC)","sso_connections":"5","monthly_active_users":"10,000","monthly_active_tokens":"5,000","monthly_active_tenants":"35","monthly_active_consents":"5,000"}},{"free":false,"name":"Growth","summary":"Starts at $799/mo billed annually","features":["Bot protection","1M anonymous users","Zero-downtime SSO migration","SCIM provisioning","Admin portal","Fine-grained authorization","Multi-region residency","HIPAA BAA","FedRAMP High"],"commitment":"annual","components":[{"kind":"fixed","amount":799,"period":"month","currency":"USD"}],"description":"For growth-stage startups and scaleups","contactSales":false,"includedLimits":{"test_users":"500","m2m_exchanges":"100,000","federated_apps":"Unlimited (SAML/OIDC)","sso_connections":"10","monthly_active_users":"25,000","monthly_active_tokens":"10,000","monthly_active_tenants":"100","monthly_active_consents":"10,000"}},{"free":false,"name":"Enterprise","summary":"Custom pricing","features":["Tiered discounts","Premium support","Dedicated CS engineer","Custom deployments","Unlimited test/anonymous users"],"description":"For large enterprises","contactSales":true}],"summary":"Free tier included. Pro from $249/mo, Growth from $799/mo (both annual). Usage overages: $0.05/MAU, $1/tenant, $50/SSO connection, $2 per 1k M2M exchanges.","currency":"USD","freeTier":true,"sourceUrl":"https://www.descope.com","retrievedAt":"2026-08-03T22:29:59.217Z","startingPrice":{"amount":249,"period":"month","currency":"USD"},"billingPeriods":["month","year"]}` |
| pricing.free_tier | yes | yes |
| pricing.model | commercial | commercial |
| pricing.price_level | low | high |
| pricing.starting_gbp | 0 | 249 |
| pricing.transparent | yes | yes |
| reliability.sla_pct | - | 99.99 |
| reliability.status_page | - | yes |
| security.disclosure_policy | - | yes |
| security.fedramp | - | yes |
| security.hipaa | - | yes |
| security.iso27001 | - | yes |
| security.soc2 | - | yes |

## Capabilities (Auth & Identity Software)

| Capability | Better Auth | Descope |
|---|:--:|:--:|
| **Deployment** |  |  |
| Hosting | Cloud + self-hosted | 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 | Headless | Both |
| **Access** |  |  |
| RBAC | ✓ | ✓ |
| **Licensing** |  |  |
| Self-hostable OSS core | ✓ | - |

*Source: Vioscale. Generated 2026-08-07T00:01:56.380Z. "-" = undocumented, not absent.*