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Authentication providers, compared

Each provider is profiled from its own documentation, with the source recorded against every figure. Every provider here gives the login box away and charges for the enterprise connection behind it, so the free user allowance and the per-connection price have to be read together. SSO, SCIM, MFA and audit logs are compared across every category that documents them on the security page.

Updated Sources last checked

Adoption share

Live-site counts from BuiltWith's Trends API, among the providers below that BuiltWith tracks — not a share of the whole category, and not every provider here is covered. Measured . Source: BuiltWith.

Auth074.2% · 9,589 sites
Clerk25.8% · 3,326 sites

Authentication

Auth0Okta's developer identity platform, priced by monthly active users with sharply lower allowances on paid tiers than on free.Better AuthOpen-source TypeScript authentication framework that runs in your own codebase, with optional managed infrastructure for dashboards and audit logs.ClerkHosted user management with prebuilt UI components, priced on monthly retained users with enterprise connections billed separately.KindeAuth and billing platform where every plan, paid or free, includes the same 10,500 monthly active users — the fee buys features rather than headroom.StytchPay-as-you-go auth for B2B and consumer apps, with five SSO or SCIM connections included free — the most generous enterprise allowance in this set.SuperTokensOpen-source auth billed per monthly active user, with MFA and account linking metered separately and a self-hosted option.WorkOSEnterprise-readiness platform selling SSO, directory sync and audit logs per connection, with user management free to a million users.

Application platforms

NhostBackend platform bundling a Postgres database, GraphQL APIs, authentication, file storage and serverless functions behind one project and one bill.
ProviderUsers includedPrice per SSO connection
Auth025,000 monthly active users on the free plan — the largest free allowance here apart from WorkOS. Essentials and Professional start at 500 and are priced upward from there.Not documented
Better AuthAcquired by VercelNot documentedOne SSO connection is included on the $20/month Pro plan, then $50 per month per additional connection; Directory Sync is metered the same way.
Clerk50,000 monthly retained users per app, on the free Hobby plan and on Pro alike. Beyond that, $0.02 each falling to $0.012 above 10 million.One enterprise connection included on Pro, then $75/month each.
Kinde10,500 monthly active users on every tier including free. Paying more does not buy more users — Pro adds uncapped MAU billing, and the higher tiers add MAU discounts of 6% and 13%.Not documented
NhostUnlimited users on every plan, including the free Starter tier.Not documented
StytchAcquired by Twilio10,000 monthly active users free, permanently, alongside unlimited organizations and 1,000 M2M tokens.Five SSO or SCIM connections included free. Clerk includes one and charges $75 for each additional; WorkOS charges $125 each from the first.
SuperTokensNo fixed allowance — billing is $0.02 per monthly active user against a $100 monthly minimum, so the first 4,999 users are covered by the floor.Not documented
WorkOS1,000,000 active users free on AuthKit, then $2,500 per additional million. Two orders of magnitude above the other free allowances here.$125 per SSO connection per month for the first 15, falling to $100 at 16–30, $80 at 31–50 and $65 at 51–100. Directory Sync is priced on the same ladder, separately.

Which to consider

Auth0

Projects that fit inside the free 25,000 monthly active users, which includes an enterprise connection, self-service SSO and SCIM at no cost.

Editorial · Palash Bagchi

Better Auth

Teams that want the user table in their own database and no per-user bill at all — the framework is free, and the $20 plan buys tooling rather than access.

Editorial · Palash Bagchi

Clerk

Getting a complete, styled sign-in flow running quickly, with 50,000 users free before any bill starts.

Editorial · Palash Bagchi

Kinde

Products that want a predictable flat fee and a large free user allowance that does not change when you start paying — 10,500 MAU on every tier is the opposite of Auth0's paid-plan cliff.

Editorial · Palash Bagchi

Nhost

Projects that want Postgres, GraphQL APIs, authentication, file storage and serverless functions as one provisioned project rather than five separate services, with unlimited users on every plan including the free one.

Editorial · Palash Bagchi

Stytch

B2B products selling to several SSO-using customers early — five connections free is the difference between paying per logo and not paying at all.

Editorial · Palash Bagchi

SuperTokens

Teams that want to run auth themselves and keep the user table in their own database, with a managed option priced per user rather than per plan.

Editorial · Palash Bagchi

WorkOS

B2B products where the enterprise features are the product requirement — a million users cost nothing and you pay only for the connections your customers actually use.

Editorial · Palash Bagchi

Authentication in the news

Headlines from other publications, not checked by us · collected

Selected by a search on this sector, refreshed weekly. Nobody here has verified these claims — where something material is confirmed, it is written into the page above with its source, the way every other fact on this site is.

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