Kinde vs Clerk
SEPT 2026 auditA comparison of Kinde and Clerk built from values read directly from each provider's own documentation, with the source recorded against every figure.
The short answer
Choose Kinde if…
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 · approved
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
Consider something else if…
- Kinde: Enterprise SSO only becomes free at the $75 tier, and if you use Kinde's billing there is a 0.5% cut of your own transactions on top of the plan fee.
- Clerk: Enterprise connections are $75/month each after the first, so a B2B product selling to several SSO-using customers pays per logo.
Neither quite fits? Every other option, ranked by iScore: Kinde alternatives · Clerk alternatives
12 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.
Kinde 0
Clerk 0
At a glance.
| Criterion | Kinde | Clerk |
|---|---|---|
| Pricing | ||
| Free tier | Yes | Yes |
| Kind of free offer | Always free | Free tier |
| What the free plan includes | 10,500 monthly active users on every plan, with paid features billed on top; no credit card required. | 50,000 monthly retained users per application with one day of application-log retention, and no credit card to start. |
| Credit card to start | No | No |
| Entry paid plan | $25/month for Pro. Plus is $75 and the top tier $250 — each including the same 10,500 MAU as the free plan. | $25/month for Pro, or $20/month billed annually. Business is $300/month. |
| Pricing model | A flat monthly fee with the same MAU allowance at every level, plus a transaction fee when you bill your own customers through Kinde — 0.5% per transaction, discounted 0.1% on Plus and 0.2% above. | 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. |
| Auth | ||
| Users included | 10,500 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%. | 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. |
| SAML single sign-on | Supported | Supported |
| Multi-factor authentication | Supported | Supported |
| Audit logs | Kinde includes enterprise SSO, RBAC, advanced security, custom domains, audit logs, and compliance features on higher plans. | Application logs with 1-day retention on the free Hobby plan; longer retention is a paid-plan feature Clerk lists without publishing the window. |
| Support | ||
| Support on entry paid plan | Email support plus Slack and Discord community access on every plan including Free. In-app chat support starts at Pro, which has a $25 base price. | 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. |
| Compliance | ||
| SOC 2 | SOC 2 Type 2 completed with report and attestation from AssuranceLab; full report is on paid plans (Pro, Plus, Scale) under NDA, not Free. | SOC 2 Type 2 certified since May 6, 2022. Report available on Business plan and above via support request. |
| ISO 27001 | ISO 27001:2022 certified by Compass Assurance Services, with an ISMS and a dedicated internal security team; certificate downloadable from the docs. | Not ISO 27001 certified. Underlying infrastructure providers (Google Cloud, Cloudflare) hold it. |
| HIPAA | HIPAA compliant and acts as a Business Associate; a BAA is put in place on request before work begins. Kinde's FusionAuth comparison table lists HIPAA/BAA as Enterprise only. | HIPAA certified since May 6, 2022; BAA available on the Enterprise plan. |
| GDPR / data residency | GDPR compliant; data stays in the region chosen at sign-up (Sydney, Dublin, Oregon, London or Quebec), with only backend business metadata replicated. Region is picked at sign-up and cannot be changed later (docs: Supported data regions). | Self-certified under the EU-U.S. Data Privacy Framework, its UK Extension, and the Swiss-U.S. DPF, effective February 22, 2024. |
| PCI DSS | No PCI-DSS Report on Compliance from a QSA; uses a third party provider's SAQ-A scope, with its own SAQ and AOC in preparation for the billing feature. | Makes no PCI DSS claim — Clerk states it never stores cardholder data. |
Where they differ.
Kind of free offer
- Kinde
- Always free
- Clerk
- Free tier
Sources (2) →Sources ↓
- Pricing — Kinde ↗
“$0 forever 10,500 monthly active users (MAU) No credit card required Start for free”
Read 2026-09-06 · official pricing · Report a correction
- Pricing — Clerk ↗
“Hobby Free No credit card required [...] 50,000 MRU limit per app [...] Application Logs 1 day retention”
Read 2026-09-06 · official pricing · Report a correction
What the free plan includes
10,500 monthly active users on every plan, with paid features billed on top; no credit card required.
50,000 monthly retained users per application with one day of application-log retention, and no credit card to start.
Sources (2) →Sources ↓
- Kinde Pricing ↗
“Every plan includes a free tier of 10,500 monthly active users (MAU), with paid features and usage billed as you scale. [...] Yes, our free plan gives you 10,500 monthly active users at no cost, and does not require a credit card to get started.”
Read 2026-09-13 · official pricing · Report a correction
- Pricing — Clerk ↗
“Hobby Free No credit card required [...] 50,000 MRU limit per app [...] Application Logs 1 day retention”
Read 2026-09-13 · official pricing · Report a correction
Entry paid plan
- Kinde
- $25/month for Pro. Plus is $75 and the top tier $250 — each including the same 10,500 MAU as the free plan.
- Clerk
- $25/month for Pro, or $20/month billed annually. Business is $300/month.
Sources (2) →Sources ↓
- Pricing — Kinde ↗
“$25 USD per month 10,500 MAU free [...] $75 USD per month 10,500 MAU free [...] $250 USD per month 10,500 MAU free”
Read 2026-09-06 · official pricing · Report a correction
- Pricing — Clerk ↗
“Base price $0 $25/mo, $20/mo billed annually $300/mo, $250/mo billed annually”
Read 2026-09-06 · official pricing · Report a correction
Pricing model
- Kinde
- A flat monthly fee with the same MAU allowance at every level, plus a transaction fee when you bill your own customers through Kinde — 0.5% per transaction, discounted 0.1% on Plus and 0.2% above.
- 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.
Sources (2) →Sources ↓
- Pricing — Kinde ↗
“When you bill your customers with Kinde: 0.5% per transaction MAU is free [...] 0.1% transaction fee discount [...] 0.2% transaction fee discount”
Read 2026-09-06 · official pricing · Report a correction
- 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
Users included
10,500 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%.
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.
Sources (2) →Sources ↓
- Pricing — Kinde ↗
“$0 forever 10,500 monthly active users (MAU) [...] $25 USD per month 10,500 MAU free [...] Uncapped MAU [...] 6% MAU discount [...] 13% MAU discount”
Read 2026-09-06 · official pricing · Report a correction
- 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
Audit logs
- Kinde
- Kinde includes enterprise SSO, RBAC, advanced security, custom domains, audit logs, and compliance features on higher plans.
- 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.
Sources (2) →Sources ↓
- Kinde Auth, billing and access management for modern SaaS products. ↗
“Kinde includes enterprise SSO, RBAC, advanced security, custom domains, audit logs, and compliance features on higher plans.”
Read 2026-09-21 · official site · Report a correction
- Pricing — Clerk ↗
“Application Logs 1 day retention [...] Custom session lifetime Application Logs”
Read 2026-09-06 · official pricing · Report a correction
Support on entry paid plan
- Kinde
- Email support plus Slack and Discord community access on every plan including Free. In-app chat support starts at Pro, which has a $25 base price.
- 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.
Sources (2) →Sources ↓
- Kinde Pricing ↗
“support feature free plan pro plan plus plan scale plan in-app support via chat not included included included included email support included included included included slack community access included included included included”
Read 2026-09-14 · official pricing · Report a correction
- 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
SOC 2
- Kinde
- SOC 2 Type 2 completed with report and attestation from AssuranceLab; full report is on paid plans (Pro, Plus, Scale) under NDA, not Free.
- Clerk
- SOC 2 Type 2 certified since May 6, 2022. Report available on Business plan and above via support request.
Sources (2) →Sources ↓
- Compliance - Kinde docs ↗
“Kinde has completed a SOC 2 Type 2 with report and attestation from AssuranceLab [...] Access to the full SOC 2 report is included in our paid plans (Pro, Plus, and Scale) but is not currently available on the Free plan.”
Read 2026-09-13 · official docs · Report a correction
- Clerk Security ↗
“Clerk has been SOC 2 Type 2 certified since May 6, 2022.”
Read 2026-09-11 · official site · Report a correction
ISO 27001
- Kinde
- ISO 27001:2022 certified by Compass Assurance Services, with an ISMS and a dedicated internal security team; certificate downloadable from the docs.
- Clerk
- Not ISO 27001 certified. Underlying infrastructure providers (Google Cloud, Cloudflare) hold it.
Sources (2) →Sources ↓
- Compliance - Kinde docs ↗
“Kinde is ISO 27001:2022 certified by Compass Assurance Services and maintains an information security management system (ISMS) with a dedicated internal security team. [...] download a copy of our ISO 27001:2022 certificate”
Read 2026-09-13 · official docs · Report a correction
- Clerk Security ↗
“Clerk is not ISO 27001 certified, though infrastructure providers Google Cloud and Cloudflare hold it.”
Read 2026-09-11 · official site · Report a correction
HIPAA
- Kinde
- HIPAA compliant and acts as a Business Associate; a BAA is put in place on request before work begins. Kinde's FusionAuth comparison table lists HIPAA/BAA as Enterprise only.
- Clerk
- HIPAA certified since May 6, 2022; BAA available on the Enterprise plan.
Sources (2) →Sources ↓
- Compliance - Kinde docs ↗
“Kinde is HIPAA compliant and supports our customers as a Business Associate. Reach out to our team if you need a Business Associate Agreement in place before working with us.”
Read 2026-09-13 · official docs · Report a correction
- Clerk Security ↗
“Clerk has been HIPAA certified since May 6, 2022, and the BAA is available on the Enterprise plan.”
Read 2026-09-11 · official site · Report a correction
GDPR / data residency
- Kinde
- GDPR compliant; data stays in the region chosen at sign-up (Sydney, Dublin, Oregon, London or Quebec), with only backend business metadata replicated. Region is picked at sign-up and cannot be changed later (docs: Supported data regions).
- Clerk
- Self-certified under the EU-U.S. Data Privacy Framework, its UK Extension, and the Swiss-U.S. DPF, effective February 22, 2024.
Sources (2) →Sources ↓
- Security at Kinde - Kinde docs ↗
“has an attestation for SOC 2 Type 2 and HIPAA, and are GDPR compliant [...] Data is stored in the region you selected during sign up of our product. Currently the available regions are Sydney, Australia; Dublin, Ireland; Oregon, USA; London, UK; and Quebec, Canada. [...] The only data replicated between regions is backend business metadata”
Read 2026-09-13 · official docs · Report a correction
- 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
PCI DSS
- Kinde
- No PCI-DSS Report on Compliance from a QSA; uses a third party provider's SAQ-A scope, with its own SAQ and AOC in preparation for the billing feature.
- Clerk
- Makes no PCI DSS claim — Clerk states it never stores cardholder data.
Sources (2) →Sources ↓
- Compliance - Kinde docs ↗
“Please note that Kinde does not hold a PCI-DSS Report on Compliance (ROC) from a Qualified Security Assessor (QSA). [...] Currently we use a third party service provider and their SAQ-A scoped method, which greatly reduces the scope that Kinde has to meet as a PCI-DSS Service Provider. [...] Our SAQ and Attestation of Compliance (AOC) will be available when scoping work is completed”
Read 2026-09-13 · official docs · Report a correction
- Clerk Security ↗
“Clerk never stores cardholder data, so it makes no PCI DSS claim.”
Read 2026-09-11 · 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.
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.
Questions this comparison answers.
Entry paid plan: Kinde or Clerk?
Kinde: $25/month for Pro. Plus is $75 and the top tier $250 — each including the same 10,500 MAU as the free plan.
Clerk: $25/month for Pro, or $20/month billed annually. Business is $300/month.
Should I choose Kinde or Clerk?
Pick Kinde if 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.
Pick Clerk if Getting a complete, styled sign-in flow running quickly, with 50,000 users free before any bill starts.
Comments are hosted by EchoThread, which sets cookies and offers social sign-in. Like the analytics on this site, it does not load until you accept — see the privacy page.