# Better Auth vs Zitadel

**Leader by Vioscale score:** Better Auth

| Attribute | Better Auth | Zitadel |
|---|---|---|
| **Vioscale score** | 71.9 (37% (low)) | 65.3 (46% (low)) |
| activity.commits_last_30d | 100 | 42 |
| adoption.dependent_repos | 210 | 0 |
| adoption.github_stars | 29,704 | 14,862 |
| adoption.package_downloads_weekly | 7,379,198 | - |
| deployment.options | `{"cloud":true,"self_hosted":true}` | `{"cloud":true,"hybrid":true,"self_hosted":true}` |
| description.long | Better Auth is an open-source framework for building authentication directly into TypeScript applications using code-based configuration. It provides 50+ authentication methods and integrates with 20+ JavaScript frameworks, supporting features like social login, passkeys, multi-factor authentication, and enterprise capabilities such as SAML and SCIM. Optional managed infrastructure adds audit logging, security monitoring, and user management dashboards. | A multi-tenant, API-first identity and access management platform offering single sign-on, multi-factor authentication, passkeys, and complete audit trails. Available as a managed cloud service or self-hosted deployment, designed for developers building secure SaaS and B2B applications. |
| 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":"both","saml_sso":true,"hosted_ui":"both","open_source":true,"passwordless":true,"social_login":true,"b2b_multi_tenant":true,"passkeys_webauthn":true,"scim_provisioning":true}` |
| integrations.count | 21 | 12 |
| integrations.list | `[{"name":"Next.js"},{"name":"Nuxt"},{"name":"SvelteKit"},{"name":"Astro"},{"name":"Hono"},{"name":"Google"},{"name":"GitHub"},{"name":"Apple"},{"name":"Discord"},{"name":"Passkey Authentication"},{"name":"Magic Link Authentication"},{"name":"Email OTP Authentication"},{"name":"Two Factor Authentication"},{"name":"Username Authentication"},{"name":"One Tap Authentication"},{"name":"Phone Number Authentication"},{"name":"Anonymous Authentication"},{"name":"Bearer Authentication"},{"name":"Generic OAuth"},{"name":"One Time Token Authentication"},{"name":"SIWE Authentication"}]` | `[{"name":"Google"},{"name":"Microsoft"},{"name":"GitHub"},{"name":"LDAP"},{"name":"SAML 2.0"},{"name":"SCIM 2.0"},{"name":"OpenID Connect"},{"name":"gRPC"},{"name":"connectRPC"},{"name":"REST API"},{"name":"Webhooks"},{"name":"Actions"}]` |
| language.primary | TypeScript | Go |
| license.spdx | MIT | AGPL-3.0 |
| market.availability | `{"primaryMarkets":["US"],"availabilityScope":"global","availableCountries":[],"notAvailableCountries":[]}` | `{"hqCountry":"CH","primaryMarkets":["US","EU"],"availabilityScope":"regional","availableCountries":["US","AU","CH"],"notAvailableCountries":[]}` |
| platform.support | `{"web":true}` | `{"web":true}` |
| pricing | `{"type":"hybrid","plans":[{"free":true,"name":"Starter","summary":"Free","features":["User management","Audit log","Security detection","Abuse protection","Email templates","Community support"],"minSeats":1,"commitment":"monthly","components":[{"kind":"fixed","amount":0,"period":"month","currency":"USD"}],"description":"For evaluation and side projects","contactSales":false,"includedLimits":{"dashboard_seats":"1","audit_logs_per_month":"10,000","audit_log_retention_days":"1","security_detections_per_month":"1,000"}},{"free":false,"name":"Pro","summary":"$20/month base, plus per-usage overages","features":["Unlimited seats","User management","Audit log with overage","Security detection with overage","Transactional Email & SMS","Self-service SSO","Directory Sync","Dashboard RBAC","Email support","Slack support"],"commitment":"monthly","components":[{"kind":"fixed","amount":20,"period":"month","currency":"USD"}],"description":"For production teams running auth in the critical path","contactSales":false,"includedLimits":{"dashboard_seats":"Unlimited","audit_logs_per_month":"20,000","audit_log_retention_days":"7","security_detections_per_month":"10,000"}},{"free":false,"name":"Enterprise","summary":"Custom pricing","features":["Custom usage and retention","Custom domain for Dashboard","Log drain","Dashboard RBAC","Custom MSA and DPA","Slack support","Implementation assistance"],"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"}]},{"name":"SSO connection (additional)","components":[{"kind":"fixed","amount":50,"period":"month","currency":"USD"}]},{"name":"Directory Sync connection (additional)","components":[{"kind":"fixed","amount":50,"period":"month","currency":"USD"}]}],"summary":"Free tier available. Pro from $20/month. Enterprise custom pricing.","currency":"USD","freeTier":true,"sourceUrl":"https://better-auth.com/pricing","retrievedAt":"2026-08-14T12:12:32.259Z","startingPrice":{"amount":20,"period":"month","currency":"USD"},"billingPeriods":["month"]}` | `{"type":"hybrid","plans":[{"free":true,"name":"Free","summary":"Free tier for development and testing","features":["100 daily active users","3 external identity providers","5,000 management API requests","Community support","1 management instance"],"contactSales":false,"includedLimits":{"instances":"1","daily_active_users":"100","management_api_requests":"5000","external_identity_providers":"3"}},{"free":false,"name":"Pro","summary":"$100/month including 25,000 DAU and 500,000 API requests; overage pricing available","features":["25,000 daily active users","500,000 management API requests","3 external identity providers","Multifactor authentication","Passkeys/WebAuthn","Customizable hosted login","Professional support","24/7 support hours","Audit trail with 2-week history","Role-based access control"],"commitment":"monthly","components":[{"kind":"fixed","amount":100,"period":"month","currency":"USD"}],"contactSales":false,"includedLimits":{"daily_active_users":"25000","management_api_requests":"500000","external_identity_providers":"3"}},{"free":false,"name":"Enterprise","summary":"Custom pricing and configuration","features":["Custom scaling","Custom compliance","Custom security questionnaires","Custom contract and MSA","Up to 99.99% availability SLA","Support with SLO as low as 30 minutes"],"contactSales":true}],"addOns":[{"name":"Custom Domain","components":[{"kind":"one_time","amount":50,"currency":"USD"}]},{"name":"Extended Support & SLA","components":[{"kind":"one_time","amount":999,"currency":"USD"}]}],"summary":"Free tier available. Pro plan from $100/month with 25,000 DAU included. Usage-based overage pricing for additional capacity.","currency":"USD","freeTier":true,"sourceUrl":"https://zitadel.com/pricing/detail","retrievedAt":"2026-08-14T09:22:35.614Z","startingPrice":{"amount":100,"period":"month","currency":"USD"},"billingPeriods":["month","year"]}` |
| pricing.free_tier | yes | yes |
| pricing.model | commercial | freemium |
| pricing.price_level | mid | high |
| pricing.transparent | yes | yes |
| release.cadence_days | - | 5 |
| release.history | `[{"url":"https://github.com/better-auth/better-auth/releases/tag/v1.7.1","date":"2026-08-18T18:51:23Z","type":"stable","version":"v1.7.1"},{"url":"https://github.com/better-auth/better-auth/releases/tag/v1.7.0","date":"2026-08-18T00:23:22Z","type":"stable","version":"v1.7.0"},{"url":"https://github.com/better-auth/better-auth/releases/tag/v1.6.30","date":"2026-08-17T19:09:38Z","type":"stable","version":"v1.6.30"},{"url":"https://github.com/better-auth/better-auth/releases/tag/v1.7.0-rc.6","date":"2026-08-14T18:19:37Z","type":"prerelease","version":"v1.7.0-rc.6"},{"url":"https://github.com/better-auth/better-auth/releases/tag/v1.6.29","date":"2026-08-14T18:18:49Z","type":"stable","version":"v1.6.29"},{"url":"https://github.com/better-auth/better-auth/releases/tag/v1.6.28","date":"2026-08-13T22:39:16Z","type":"stable","version":"v1.6.28"},{"url":"https://github.com/better-auth/better-auth/releases/tag/v1.7.0-rc.5","date":"2026-08-11T22:16:46Z","type":"prerelease","version":"v1.7.0-rc.5"},{"url":"https://github.com/better-auth/better-auth/releases/tag/v1.6.27","date":"2026-08-11T17:59:52Z","type":"stable","version":"v1.6.27"},{"url":"https://github.com/better-auth/better-auth/releases/tag/v1.7.0-rc.4","date":"2026-08-05T00:26:40Z","type":"prerelease","version":"v1.7.0-rc.4"},{"url":"https://github.com/better-auth/better-auth/releases/tag/v1.6.26","date":"2026-08-04T21:19:46Z","type":"stable","version":"v1.6.26"},{"url":"https://github.com/better-auth/better-auth/releases/tag/v1.7.0-rc.3","date":"2026-08-03T17:35:37Z","type":"prerelease","version":"v1.7.0-rc.3"},{"url":"https://github.com/better-auth/better-auth/releases/tag/v1.6.25","date":"2026-07-23T15:50:49Z","type":"stable","version":"v1.6.25"},{"url":"https://github.com/better-auth/better-auth/releases/tag/v1.7.0-rc.2","date":"2026-07-22T19:58:53Z","type":"prerelease","version":"v1.7.0-rc.2"},{"url":"https://github.com/better-auth/better-auth/releases/tag/v1.6.24","date":"2026-07-22T10:35:43Z","type":"stable","version":"v1.6.24"},{"url":"https://github.com/better-auth/better-auth/releases/tag/v1.7.0-rc.1","date":"2026-07-02T17:39:16Z","type":"prerelease","version":"v1.7.0-rc.1"},{"url":"https://github.com/better-auth/better-auth/releases/tag/v1.6.23","date":"2026-06-29T22:08:12Z","type":"stable","version":"v1.6.23"},{"url":"https://github.com/better-auth/better-auth/releases/tag/v1.7.0-rc.0","date":"2026-06-26T22:28:55Z","type":"prerelease","version":"v1.7.0-rc.0"},{"url":"https://github.com/better-auth/better-auth/releases/tag/v1.7.0-beta.10","date":"2026-06-26T17:04:44Z","type":"prerelease","version":"v1.7.0-beta.10"},{"url":"https://github.com/better-auth/better-auth/releases/tag/v1.6.22","date":"2026-06-26T12:47:02Z","type":"stable","version":"v1.6.22"},{"url":"https://github.com/better-auth/better-auth/releases/tag/v1.6.21","date":"2026-06-26T04:57:12Z","type":"stable","version":"v1.6.21"}]` | `[{"url":"https://github.com/zitadel/zitadel/releases/tag/v4.17.1","date":"2026-08-14T06:41:55Z","type":"stable","version":"v4.17.1"},{"url":"https://github.com/zitadel/zitadel/releases/tag/v3.4.15","date":"2026-08-14T07:59:53Z","type":"stable","version":"v3.4.15"},{"url":"https://github.com/zitadel/zitadel/releases/tag/v4.17.0","date":"2026-08-12T08:37:50Z","type":"stable","version":"v4.17.0"},{"url":"https://github.com/zitadel/zitadel/releases/tag/v4.16.3","date":"2026-08-07T17:10:12Z","type":"stable","version":"v4.16.3"},{"url":"https://github.com/zitadel/zitadel/releases/tag/v4.16.2","date":"2026-07-29T05:55:47Z","type":"stable","version":"v4.16.2"},{"url":"https://github.com/zitadel/zitadel/releases/tag/v3.4.14","date":"2026-07-29T07:30:54Z","type":"stable","version":"v3.4.14"},{"url":"https://github.com/zitadel/zitadel/releases/tag/v4.16.1","date":"2026-07-17T08:44:37Z","type":"stable","version":"v4.16.1"},{"url":"https://github.com/zitadel/zitadel/releases/tag/v3.4.13","date":"2026-07-17T09:07:58Z","type":"stable","version":"v3.4.13"},{"url":"https://github.com/zitadel/zitadel/releases/tag/v4.16.0","date":"2026-07-10T05:56:50Z","type":"stable","version":"v4.16.0"},{"url":"https://github.com/zitadel/zitadel/releases/tag/v4.15.3","date":"2026-06-22T11:46:24Z","type":"stable","version":"v4.15.3"},{"url":"https://github.com/zitadel/zitadel/releases/tag/v4.15.2","date":"2026-06-17T04:21:59Z","type":"stable","version":"v4.15.2"},{"url":"https://github.com/zitadel/zitadel/releases/tag/v3.4.12","date":"2026-06-17T07:09:32Z","type":"stable","version":"v3.4.12"},{"url":"https://github.com/zitadel/zitadel/releases/tag/v3.4.11","date":"2026-06-10T04:46:49Z","type":"stable","version":"v3.4.11"},{"url":"https://github.com/zitadel/zitadel/releases/tag/v4.15.1","date":"2026-06-08T18:30:50Z","type":"stable","version":"v4.15.1"},{"url":"https://github.com/zitadel/zitadel/releases/tag/v4.15.0","date":"2026-05-04T05:21:39Z","type":"stable","version":"v4.15.0"},{"url":"https://github.com/zitadel/zitadel/releases/tag/v3.4.10","date":"2026-05-04T07:16:10Z","type":"stable","version":"v3.4.10"},{"url":"https://github.com/zitadel/zitadel/releases/tag/v4.14.0","date":"2026-04-24T05:41:55Z","type":"stable","version":"v4.14.0"},{"url":"https://github.com/zitadel/zitadel/releases/tag/v4.13.1","date":"2026-04-01T07:41:31Z","type":"stable","version":"v4.13.1"},{"url":"https://github.com/zitadel/zitadel/releases/tag/v4.13.0","date":"2026-03-23T07:23:30Z","type":"stable","version":"v4.13.0"},{"url":"https://github.com/zitadel/zitadel/releases/tag/v5.0.0-base","date":"2026-03-23T06:56:07Z","type":"prerelease","version":"v5.0.0-base"}]` |
| reliability.sla_pct | - | 99.99 |
| reliability.status_page | - | yes |
| security.disclosure_policy | - | yes |
| security.gdpr | - | yes |
| security.vulnerabilities | `{"count":0,"source":"https://advisories.ecosyste.ms/api/v1/advisories?ecosystem=npm&package_name=auth&per_page=100","last_12m":0,"max_severity":null}` | `{"count":0,"source":"https://advisories.ecosyste.ms/api/v1/advisories?ecosystem=helm&package_name=zitadel%2Fzitadel&per_page=100","last_12m":0,"max_severity":null}` |

## Capabilities (Auth & Identity Software)

| Capability | Better Auth | Zitadel |
|---|:--:|:--:|
| **Deployment** |  |  |
| Hosting | Cloud + self-hosted | Cloud + self-hosted |
| **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 2026-09-01T17:35:10.685Z. "-" = undocumented, not absent.*