# Nhost vs Clerk

Canonical: https://inetgeek.com/compare/nhost-vs-clerk/

Every value below is read from Nhost's and Clerk's own documentation. See https://inetgeek.com/methodology/ for how.

## At a glance

| Criterion | Nhost | Clerk |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Free tier | Yes | Yes |
| What the free plan includes | One project, 1 GB database, 1 GB storage and 5 GB egress, with functions, realtime APIs, infrastructure as code and automated deployments included. | 50,000 monthly retained users per application with one day of application-log retention, and no credit card to start. |
| Entry paid plan | $25/month for Pro is a plan fee that includes $15 of compute credits, not the cost of a running project — compute is metered on top. Team is $599/month on the same basis. | $25/month for Pro, or $20/month billed annually. Business is $300/month. |
| Users included | Unlimited users on every plan, including the free Starter tier. | 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 plan | Community support on Starter; email support on Pro ($25/month); an email support SLA and a dedicated Discord channel on Team ($599/month). | 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 2 | SOC 2 Type II, listed on Team ($599/month) and above. | SOC 2 Type 2 certified since May 6, 2022. Report available on Business plan and above via support request. |

## Where they differ

### What the free plan includes

- Nhost: One project, 1 GB database, 1 GB storage and 5 GB egress, with functions, realtime APIs, infrastructure as code and automated deployments included. ([source](https://nhost.io/pricing))
- Clerk: 50,000 monthly retained users per application with one day of application-log retention, and no credit card to start. ([source](https://clerk.com/pricing))

### Entry paid plan

- Nhost: $25/month for Pro is a plan fee that includes $15 of compute credits, not the cost of a running project — compute is metered on top. Team is $599/month on the same basis. ([source](https://nhost.io/pricing))
- Clerk: $25/month for Pro, or $20/month billed annually. Business is $300/month. ([source](https://clerk.com/pricing))

### Users included

- Nhost: Unlimited users on every plan, including the free Starter tier. ([source](https://nhost.io/pricing))
- 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. ([source](https://clerk.com/pricing))

### Support on entry paid plan

- Nhost: Community support on Starter; email support on Pro ($25/month); an email support SLA and a dedicated Discord channel on Team ($599/month). ([source](https://nhost.io/pricing))
- 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. ([source](https://clerk.com/pricing))

### SOC 2

- Nhost: SOC 2 Type II, listed on Team ($599/month) and above. ([source](https://nhost.io/pricing))
- Clerk: SOC 2 Type 2 certified since May 6, 2022. Report available on Business plan and above via support request. ([source](https://clerk.com/security))

## Which should you choose?

Pick Nhost if Projects that want Postgres, GraphQL APIs, authentication, file storage and serverless functions as one provisioned project rather than five separate services, with unlimited users on every plan including the free one.

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

Consider something else: Nhost — A free project pauses after a week of inactivity, the backups and point-in-time recovery that make it production-shaped start at Pro, and SOC 2 Type II is a Team line item at $599 a month.

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

## Documented by only one

- Kind of free offer: Clerk: Free tier
- Credit card to start: Clerk: No
- 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.
- Startup credit program: Clerk: 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.
- Storage (entry plan): Nhost: 10 GB database and 50 GB file storage on Pro, the entry paid plan; 1 GB of each on the free Starter plan.
- Uptime SLA: Clerk: 99.99% on Enterprise, which is custom-priced and annual only. Hobby, Pro and Business publish none.
- When idle: Nhost: A free-plan project is paused after one week of inactivity.
- Backup retention: Nhost: Automated backups and point-in-time recovery from Pro ($25/month). The free Starter plan lists neither.
- Price per SSO connection: Clerk: One enterprise connection included on Pro, then $75/month each.
- SAML single sign-on: Clerk: Supported
- SCIM provisioning: Clerk: Supported
- Multi-factor authentication: Clerk: Supported
- 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.
- ISO 27001: Clerk: Not ISO 27001 certified. Underlying infrastructure providers (Google Cloud, Cloudflare) hold it.
- HIPAA: Clerk: HIPAA certified since May 6, 2022; BAA available on the Enterprise plan.
- 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.
- PCI DSS: Clerk: Makes no PCI DSS claim — Clerk states it never stores cardholder data.

## Questions this comparison answers

**Entry paid plan: Nhost or Clerk?**

Nhost: $25/month for Pro is a plan fee that includes $15 of compute credits, not the cost of a running project — compute is metered on top. Team is $599/month on the same basis.
Clerk: $25/month for Pro, or $20/month billed annually. Business is $300/month.

**Should I choose Nhost or Clerk?**

Pick Nhost if Projects that want Postgres, GraphQL APIs, authentication, file storage and serverless functions as one provisioned project rather than five separate services, with unlimited users on every plan including the free one.
Pick Clerk if Getting a complete, styled sign-in flow running quickly, with 50,000 users free before any bill starts.