Skip to content
inetGeek

Clerk vs Better Auth

SEPT 2026 audit

A comparison of Clerk and Better Auth built from values read directly from each provider's own documentation, with the source recorded against every figure.

Reviewed by Palash BagchiUpdated 23 criteria comparedSources last checked

The short answer

Choose Clerk if…

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

Editorial · Palash Bagchi · approved

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

Consider something else if…

  • Clerk: Enterprise connections are $75/month each after the first, so a B2B product selling to several SSO-using customers pays per logo.
  • 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.

Neither quite fits? Every other option, ranked by iScore: Clerk alternatives · Better Auth alternatives

7 sourced criteria separate them — see where, with sources, below.

Visit Clerk documentationVisit Better Auth documentation

No affiliate links, sponsored placements or paid rankings appear on this site. Ordering follows the sourced data and the stated criteria.

01.

At a glance.

CriterionClerkBetter Auth
Pricing
Free tierYesYes
Kind of free offerFree tierFree tier
What the free plan includes50,000 monthly retained users per application with one day of application-log retention, and no credit card to start.One dashboard seat, 10,000 audit log events a month at one-day retention, 1,000 security detections a month and community support.
Entry paid plan
$25/month for Pro, or $20/month billed annually. Business is $300/month.
$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.
Pricing modelA monthly base price plus per-user billing above the included 50,000, with enterprise connections, extra dashboard seats and satellite domains each priced as separate add-ons at $75, $20 and $10 a month.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.
Infrastructure
Uptime SLA
99.99% on Enterprise, which is custom-priced and annual only. Hobby, Pro and Business publish none.
None by default. The terms say service level commitments live in a separate SLA or order form, and that absent one the service is provided on a commercially reasonable efforts basis.
Auth
Price per SSO connection
One enterprise connection included on Pro, then $75/month each.
One SSO connection is included on the $20/month Pro plan, then $50 per month per additional connection; Directory Sync is metered the same way.
SAML single sign-onSupportedSupported
SCIM provisioningSupportedSupported
Multi-factor authenticationSupportedSupported
Audit logsApplication logs with 1-day retention on the free Hobby plan; longer retention is a paid-plan feature Clerk lists without publishing the window.10,000 audit log events a month with 1-day retention on the free Starter plan; 20,000 on Pro, then $0.0001 per event.
Compliance
GDPR / data residencySelf-certified under the EU-U.S. Data Privacy Framework, its UK Extension, and the Swiss-U.S. DPF, effective February 22, 2024.Better Auth signs a DPA as processor; transfers outside the EEA, UK or Switzerland rely on the EU Standard Contractual Clauses (Decision 2021/914).

Only criteria both providers publish appear here; a tinted cell marks a real difference. Criteria only one of them documents are listed below, and an absence there means we found no source — not that the feature is missing. How we source this.

The small bar above a value is inetGeek's own lean toward that side — computed from the same facts shown, never a number the provider published. See the picker below "The short answer" to weigh only the criteria you care about.

02.

Where they differ.

What the free plan includes

Clerk
50,000 monthly retained users per application with one day of application-log retention, and no credit card to start.
Better Auth
One dashboard seat, 10,000 audit log events a month at one-day retention, 1,000 security detections a month and community support.
Sources (2) →

Entry paid plan

Clerk
$25/month for Pro, or $20/month billed annually. Business is $300/month.
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.
Sources (2) →

Pricing model

Clerk
A monthly base price plus per-user billing above the included 50,000, with enterprise connections, extra dashboard seats and satellite domains each priced as separate add-ons at $75, $20 and $10 a month.
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.
Sources (2) →
  • Pricing — Clerk ↗

    “Base price $0 $25/mo [...] Additional $0.02/mo each [...] Additional $75/mo each [...] Additional $20/mo each [...] Additional $10/mo each”

    Read 2026-09-06 · official pricing · Report a correction

  • 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 · Report a correction

Uptime SLA

Clerk
99.99% on Enterprise, which is custom-priced and annual only. Hobby, Pro and Business publish none.
Better Auth
None by default. The terms say service level commitments live in a separate SLA or order form, and that absent one the service is provided on a commercially reasonable efforts basis.
Sources (2) →
  • Clerk Pricing ↗

    “annual committed use discounts 99.99% uptime SLA enterprise SSO for workspace premium support SLA + dedicated Slack channel”

    Read 2026-09-14 · official pricing · Report a correction

  • Better Auth Terms of Service ↗

    “any service level commitments or support obligations will be set forth in a separate service level agreement [...] absent an sla, the services are provided on a commercially reasonable efforts basis.”

    Read 2026-09-14 · official site · Report a correction

Price per SSO connection

Clerk
One enterprise connection included on Pro, then $75/month each.
Better Auth
One SSO connection is included on the $20/month Pro plan, then $50 per month per additional connection; Directory Sync is metered the same way.
Sources (2) →

Audit logs

Clerk
Application logs with 1-day retention on the free Hobby plan; longer retention is a paid-plan feature Clerk lists without publishing the window.
Better Auth
10,000 audit log events a month with 1-day retention on the free Starter plan; 20,000 on Pro, then $0.0001 per event.
Sources (2) →

GDPR / data residency

Clerk
Self-certified under the EU-U.S. Data Privacy Framework, its UK Extension, and the Swiss-U.S. DPF, effective February 22, 2024.
Better Auth
Better Auth signs a DPA as processor; transfers outside the EEA, UK or Switzerland rely on the EU Standard Contractual Clauses (Decision 2021/914).
Sources (2) →
  • Clerk Security ↗

    “Self-certified under the EU-U.S. DPF, its UK Extension, and the Swiss-U.S. DPF, effective Feb 22, 2024.”

    Read 2026-09-11 · official site · Report a correction

  • Data Processing Addendum — Better Auth ↗

    “Where Personal Data is transferred outside the EEA, UK, or Switzerland, Processor shall ensure appropriate safeguards are in place, including the Standard Contractual Clauses set forth in Exhibit A. [...] The Standard Contractual Clauses approved by European Commission Implementing Decision (EU) 2021/914 of 4 June 2021”

    Read 2026-09-13 · official site · Report a correction

When these numbers change, hear about it. Sources are re-checked monthly; a repricing goes out as a short note.

Confirm by email; unsubscribe from any issue. Your address goes to Kit and nowhere else — what we do with it.

03.

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 — except where we say we read the other provider's own page on a given date and it does not state it. Those rows lean, and the provider can correct them with a link.

Credit card to startClerk: No
Startup credit programClerk: Clerk for Startups: 50,000 monthly retained users and 100 monthly retained organizations free, plus a discretionary discount on Pro features (amount disclosed only on approval). Requires within 1 year of launch and up to $5M in venture funding.
Self-hostableBetter Auth: Supported
Users includedClerk: 50,000 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.
Support on entry paid planClerk: No support tier is named until Business: Hobby and Pro, the entry paid plan at $20/month, list none. Business adds priority support and Enterprise a premium support SLA with a dedicated Slack channel.
SOC 2Clerk: SOC 2 Type 2 certified since May 6, 2022. Report available on Business plan and above via support request.
ISO 27001Clerk: Not ISO 27001 certified. Underlying infrastructure providers (Google Cloud, Cloudflare) hold it.
HIPAAClerk: HIPAA certified since May 6, 2022; BAA available on the Enterprise plan.
PCI DSSClerk: Makes no PCI DSS claim — Clerk states it never stores cardholder data.
Encryption at restBetter Auth: Framework option account.encryptOAuthTokens encrypts OAuth tokens before they are stored in your own database; it is off by default. Framework-level, in the customer's own database; managed infrastructure at-rest encryption is not documented.
Role-based access controlBetter Auth: Organization plugin provides role-based access control: permissions follow the user's role in the organization, and roles can also be created at runtime. Framework capability, not a managed-service feature.
04.

Questions this comparison answers.

Entry paid plan: Clerk or Better Auth?

Clerk: $25/month for Pro, or $20/month billed annually. Business is $300/month.

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.

Should I choose Clerk or Better Auth?

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

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.

Provider pages

ClerkHosted user management with prebuilt UI components, priced on monthly retained users with enterprise connections billed separately.Better AuthOpen-source TypeScript authentication framework that runs in your own codebase, with optional managed infrastructure for dashboards and audit logs.

Related comparisons

Auth0 vs Better AuthBetter Auth vs KindeBetter Auth vs StytchBetter Auth vs SuperTokensClerk vs Auth0Clerk vs WorkOSKinde vs ClerkNhost vs Clerk

Comments

Every page here is sourced and dated.