Better Auth vs SuperTokens
SEPT 2026 auditA comparison of Better Auth and SuperTokens built from values read directly from each provider's own documentation, with the source recorded against every figure.
The short answer
Choose Better Auth if…
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 · approved
Choose SuperTokens if…
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 · approved
Consider something else if…
- Better Auth: You want a hosted service with an SLA rather than a library you run, since everything below the dashboard is your operational problem.
- SuperTokens: The $100 monthly minimum makes it expensive below about 5,000 users, and MFA is a separate per-user charge rather than an included feature.
2 sourced criteria separate them — see where, with sources, below.
Pick the criteria you care about. The chart counts how many of them lean toward each provider — the same read as scanning the bars below, just totalled for the ones you chose.
Better Auth 0
SuperTokens 0
At a glance.
| Criterion | Better Auth | SuperTokens |
|---|---|---|
| Pricing | ||
| Entry paid plan | $20/month for Pro on the managed infrastructure. The framework itself costs nothing — the plan buys a dashboard, audit logs and security detections around it. | $100/month minimum billing on the managed cloud, which covers the first 4,999 MAU at $0.02 each. |
| Pricing model | The framework is free and open source and holds your user data in your own database. The paid plans price the surrounding infrastructure by event: audit logs at $0.0001 each beyond the allowance, security detections at $0.001, email at $0.001 and SMS at $0.09. | Per monthly active user, with features metered on top of the base rate rather than bundled: $0.02 per MAU for auth, $0.01 more for multi-factor, $0.005 more for account linking, and $20 per dashboard user per month beyond the free ones. The published example works out at $125 for 5,000 MAU with account linking. |
| Observability | ||
| Self-hostable | Supported | Supported |
| Auth | ||
| Multi-factor authentication | Supported | Supported |
Where they differ.
Entry paid plan
- Better Auth
- $20/month for Pro on the managed infrastructure. The framework itself costs nothing — the plan buys a dashboard, audit logs and security detections around it.
- SuperTokens
- $100/month minimum billing on the managed cloud, which covers the first 4,999 MAU at $0.02 each.
Sources (2) →Sources ↓
- Pricing — Better Auth ↗
“The Better Auth framework is free and open source. Pricing below is for our managed infrastructure. [...] Pro [...] $20 / month Unlimited seats”
Read 2026-09-06 · official pricing
- Pricing — SuperTokens ↗
“Minimum Billing of $100 / month [...] Pricing Example if you have 1 - 4,999 MAUs, that will be $100 / month.”
Read 2026-09-06 · official pricing
Pricing model
- Better Auth
- The framework is free and open source and holds your user data in your own database. The paid plans price the surrounding infrastructure by event: audit logs at $0.0001 each beyond the allowance, security detections at $0.001, email at $0.001 and SMS at $0.09.
- SuperTokens
- Per monthly active user, with features metered on top of the base rate rather than bundled: $0.02 per MAU for auth, $0.01 more for multi-factor, $0.005 more for account linking, and $20 per dashboard user per month beyond the free ones. The published example works out at $125 for 5,000 MAU with account linking.
Sources (2) →Sources ↓
- Pricing — Better Auth ↗
“$20 / month [...] 20,000 audit logs / month then $0.0001 per event 10,000 security detections / month then $0.001 per event [...] Transactional email & SMS $0.001 per email, $0.09 per SMS”
Read 2026-09-06 · official pricing
- Pricing — SuperTokens ↗
“$0.02 per MAU [...] Multi-factor Authentication $0.01 / MAU [...] Account Linking $0.005 / MAU [...] $20 / user / month [...] ( $0.02 + $0.005 ) * 5000 = $125”
Read 2026-09-06 · official pricing
When these numbers change, hear about it. Sources are re-checked monthly; a repricing goes out as a short note.
Documented by only one.
These criteria are published by one provider and not the other. An absence here means we have not found a source, not that the feature is missing.
Questions this comparison answers.
Entry paid plan: Better Auth or SuperTokens?
Better Auth: $20/month for Pro on the managed infrastructure. The framework itself costs nothing — the plan buys a dashboard, audit logs and security detections around it.
SuperTokens: $100/month minimum billing on the managed cloud, which covers the first 4,999 MAU at $0.02 each.
Should I choose Better Auth or SuperTokens?
Pick Better Auth if 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.
Pick SuperTokens if 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.