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Clerk vs WorkOS

SEPT 2026 audit

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

Reviewed by Palash BagchiUpdated 26 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 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.

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

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

Visit Clerk documentationVisit WorkOS 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.

CriterionClerkWorkOS
Pricing
Free tierYesYes
Kind of free offerFree tierFree tier
What the free plan includes
50,000 monthly retained users per application with one day of application-log retention, and no credit card to start.
The first 1 million monthly active users of AuthKit are free; Single Sign-On and Directory Sync are billed per connection from the first one.
Credit card to startNoNo
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.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.
Infrastructure
Uptime SLA99.99% on Enterprise, which is custom-priced and annual only. Hobby, Pro and Business publish none.99.99% on the annual-credits plan. Pay-as-you-go, the entry, publishes no uptime commitment.
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-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.Billed rather than bundled: $125 per month per SIEM connection for log streaming, plus $99 per month per million events stored.
Support
Support on entry paid planNo 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.A dedicated Slack channel on pay-as-you-go; the annual-credits plan adds a guaranteed support SLA.
Compliance
SOC 2SOC 2 Type 2 certified since May 6, 2022. Report available on Business plan and above via support request.SOC 2 Type 2 certified.
HIPAAHIPAA certified since May 6, 2022; BAA available on the Enterprise plan.WorkOS can sign a Business Associate Agreement (BAA) for customers on enterprise plans.
GDPR / data residency
Self-certified under the EU-U.S. Data Privacy Framework, its UK Extension, and the Swiss-U.S. DPF, effective February 22, 2024.
WorkOS states it is GDPR compliant. Data residency options are not detailed on this page.
PCI DSS
Makes no PCI DSS claim — Clerk states it never stores cardholder data.
PCI DSS self-attested via SAQ-D as a service provider since December 2025; the attestation of compliance is available in the Trust Center.

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.

WorkOS

The first 1 million monthly active users of AuthKit are free; Single Sign-On and Directory Sync are billed per connection from the first one.

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.
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) →
  • 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 — 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 · Report a correction

Uptime SLA

Clerk
99.99% on Enterprise, which is custom-priced and annual only. Hobby, Pro and Business publish none.
WorkOS
99.99% on the annual-credits plan. Pay-as-you-go, the entry, publishes no uptime commitment.
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

  • WorkOS Pricing ↗

    “pre-pay credit discounts 99.99% uptime SLA guided migration and onboarding guaranteed support SLA”

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

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.

Sources (2) →
  • 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 · Report a correction

  • Pricing — WorkOS ↗

    “Up to 1 million users Free [...] Per additional 1M users $2,500 / mo”

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

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) →

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) →
  • Pricing — Clerk ↗

    “Application Logs 1 day retention [...] Custom session lifetime Application Logs”

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

  • 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 · Report a correction

Support on entry paid plan

Clerk
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.
WorkOS
A dedicated Slack channel on pay-as-you-go; the annual-credits plan adds a guaranteed support SLA.
Sources (2) →
  • Clerk Pricing ↗

    “SOC2 report enhanced dashboard roles priority support application and admin logs 30 day retention [...] premium support SLA + dedicated Slack channel”

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

  • WorkOS Pricing ↗

    “first 1 million active users free deploy in minutes dedicated Slack channel [...] pre-pay credit discounts 99.99% uptime SLA guided migration and onboarding guaranteed support SLA”

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

SOC 2

Clerk
SOC 2 Type 2 certified since May 6, 2022. Report available on Business plan and above via support request.
WorkOS
SOC 2 Type 2 certified.
Sources (2) →

HIPAA

Clerk
HIPAA certified since May 6, 2022; BAA available on the Enterprise plan.
WorkOS
WorkOS can sign a Business Associate Agreement (BAA) for customers on enterprise plans.
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.
WorkOS
WorkOS states it is GDPR compliant. Data residency options are not detailed on this page.
Sources (2) →

PCI DSS

Clerk
Makes no PCI DSS claim — Clerk states it never stores cardholder data.
WorkOS
PCI DSS self-attested via SAQ-D as a service provider since December 2025; the attestation of compliance is available in the Trust Center.
Sources (2) →
  • Clerk Security ↗

    “Clerk never stores cardholder data, so it makes no PCI DSS claim.”

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

  • PCI DSS Certification | WorkOS ↗

    “WorkOS is now PCI DSS (self-attested via SAQ-D). [...] This self-attestation demonstrates that WorkOS meets the PCI DSS requirements applicable to our services, supporting customers who operate in payment-regulated environments. Our attestation of compliance is available at our Trust Center, under Resources”

    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.

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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.

Entry paid planClerk: $25/month for Pro, or $20/month billed annually. Business is $300/month.
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.
RegionsWorkOS: United States: the DPA's transfer impact assessment names the USA as the only country where subscriber personal data is stored or accessed from. From Exhibit B of the Data Processing Addendum, updated June 27, 2023.
Self-hostableWorkOS: Not supported — WorkOS on-prem guide covers your app running on-prem and still calling the WorkOS cloud API
ISO 27001Clerk: Not ISO 27001 certified. Underlying infrastructure providers (Google Cloud, Cloudflare) hold it.
Encryption at restWorkOS: Trust Center control states datastores housing sensitive customer data are encrypted at rest.
Customer-managed keysWorkOS: Vault BYOK lets a customer supply their own CMK as the key-encrypting key, from AWS KMS, Azure Key Vault or Google Cloud KMS. Applies to data handled by WorkOS Vault; other WorkOS datastores use WorkOS-managed keys.
Role-based access controlWorkOS: Fully managed RBAC service: custom roles and permissions defined per organization, enforced through session JWTs, with role assignment from IdP groups.
Private networking / VPCWorkOS: All API traffic is HTTPS on port 443 from Cloudflare's published IP ranges; air-gapped environments with no external network connectivity cannot use WorkOS. On-prem deployment guide; firewall rules or ACLs are the documented network control.
04.

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.

Provider pages

ClerkHosted user management with prebuilt UI components, priced on monthly retained users with enterprise connections billed separately.WorkOSEnterprise-readiness platform selling SSO, directory sync and audit logs per connection, with user management free to a million users.

Related comparisons

Auth0 vs WorkOSClerk vs Auth0Clerk vs Better AuthKinde vs ClerkKinde vs WorkOSNhost vs ClerkStytch vs ClerkStytch vs WorkOS

Comments

Every page here is sourced and dated.