Clerk vs WorkOS
A comparison of Clerk and WorkOS built from values read directly from each provider's own documentation, with the source recorded against every figure.
The short answer
- Pick Clerk if
- Getting a complete, styled sign-in flow running quickly, with 50,000 users free before any bill starts.
- Pick WorkOS if
- 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.
4 sourced criteria separate them:
- 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.
- WorkOS: No monthly platform fee and no per-user charge below a million: WorkOS gives user management away and bills per enterprise connection instead — SSO and Directory Sync at $125 each per month, audit log streaming at $125 per SIEM connection, event retention at $99 per million events.
- Users included
- Clerk: 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.
- WorkOS: 1,000,000 active users free on AuthKit, then $2,500 per additional million. Two orders of magnitude above the other free allowances here.
- Price per SSO connection
- Clerk: One enterprise connection included on Pro, then $75/month each.
- WorkOS: $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.
- 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.
- WorkOS: Billed rather than bundled: $125 per month per SIEM connection for log streaming, plus $99 per month per million events stored.
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.
Clerk 0
WorkOS 0
At a glance.
| Criterion | Clerk | WorkOS |
|---|---|---|
| Pricing | ||
| Free tier | Yes | Yes |
| Pricing model | 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. | No monthly platform fee and no per-user charge below a million: WorkOS gives user management away and bills per enterprise connection instead — SSO and Directory Sync at $125 each per month, audit log streaming at $125 per SIEM connection, event retention at $99 per million events. |
| Auth | ||
| Users included | 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. | 1,000,000 active users free on AuthKit, then $2,500 per additional million. Two orders of magnitude above the other free allowances here. |
| Price per SSO connection | One enterprise connection included on Pro, then $75/month each. | $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. |
| SAML single sign-on | Supported | Supported |
| Multi-factor authentication | Supported | Supported |
| Audit logs | Application logs with 1-day retention on the free Hobby plan; longer retention is a paid-plan feature Clerk lists without publishing the window. | Billed rather than bundled: $125 per month per SIEM connection for log streaming, plus $99 per month per million events stored. |
Where they differ.
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.
- WorkOS
- No monthly platform fee and no per-user charge below a million: WorkOS gives user management away and bills per enterprise connection instead — SSO and Directory Sync at $125 each per month, audit log streaming at $125 per SIEM connection, event retention at $99 per million events.
Sources (2) →Sources ↓
- 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
- Pricing — WorkOS ↗
“First 1 million active users free [...] $125 / ea [...] Log streaming Per SIEM connection $125 / mo Event Retention Per million events stored $99 / mo”
Read 2026-09-06 · official pricing
Users included
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.
1,000,000 active users free on AuthKit, then $2,500 per additional million. Two orders of magnitude above the other free allowances here.
Sources (2) →Sources ↓
- Pricing — Clerk ↗
“50,000 MRU limit per app [...] 50,000 MRUs included per app 50,001 - 100,000 $0.02/mo each 100,001 - 1,000,000 $0.018/mo each 1,000,001 - 10,000,000 $0.015/mo each 10,000,001+ $0.012/mo each”
Read 2026-09-06 · official pricing
- Pricing — WorkOS ↗
“Up to 1 million users Free [...] Per additional 1M users $2,500 / mo”
Read 2026-09-06 · official pricing
Price per SSO connection
- Clerk
- One enterprise connection included on Pro, then $75/month each.
- WorkOS
- $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.
Sources (2) →Sources ↓
- Pricing — Clerk ↗
“1 Enterprise connection included Additional $75/mo each”
Read 2026-09-06 · official pricing
- Pricing — WorkOS ↗
“Single Sign-On [...] Number of connections 1-15 $125 / ea 16-30 20% off $100 / ea 31-50 36% off $80 / ea 51-100 48% off $65 / ea”
Read 2026-09-06 · official pricing
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.
- WorkOS
- Billed rather than bundled: $125 per month per SIEM connection for log streaming, plus $99 per month per million events stored.
Sources (2) →Sources ↓
- Pricing — Clerk ↗
“Application Logs 1 day retention [...] Custom session lifetime Application Logs”
Read 2026-09-06 · official pricing
- Pricing — WorkOS ↗
“Audit Logs Capture and export compliance events from your app [...] Log streaming Per SIEM connection $125 / mo Event Retention Per million events stored $99 / mo”
Read 2026-09-06 · official pricing
Which should you choose?
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 WorkOS if…
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 · 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.
- WorkOS: Those connections are the most expensive here at $125 a month each, so a long tail of small SSO customers costs more than it does at Clerk or Better Auth.
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.
Should I choose Clerk or WorkOS?
Pick Clerk if Getting a complete, styled sign-in flow running quickly, with 50,000 users free before any bill starts.
Pick WorkOS if 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.