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Nhost vs Clerk

SEPT 2026 audit

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

Updated 23 criteria comparedSources last checked

The short answer

Choose 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.

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…

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

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

Visit Nhost documentationVisit Clerk 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.

CriterionNhostClerk
Pricing
Free tierYesYes
What the free plan includesOne 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.
Auth
Users includedUnlimited 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
Support on entry paid planCommunity 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.
Compliance
SOC 2SOC 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.

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

Nhost
One project, 1 GB database, 1 GB storage and 5 GB egress, with functions, realtime APIs, infrastructure as code and automated deployments included.
Clerk
50,000 monthly retained users per application with one day of application-log retention, and no credit card to start.
Sources (2) →
  • Nhost Pricing ↗

    “limit of 1 project. project paused after 1 week of inactivity. 1 gb database 1 gb storage 5 gb egress functions realtime apis iac automated deployments unlimited users oauth providers community support”

    Read 2026-09-14 · official pricing

  • 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

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

    “pro well suited for production applications, scale as needed. from $25 / month $15 in compute credits included [...] team collaborate with added support, scale as needed. from $599 / month $15 in compute credits included”

    Read 2026-09-14 · official pricing

  • Pricing — Clerk ↗

    “Base price $0 $25/mo, $20/mo billed annually $300/mo, $250/mo billed annually”

    Read 2026-09-06 · official pricing

Users included

Nhost
Unlimited users on every plan, including the free Starter tier.
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.
Sources (2) →
  • Nhost Pricing ↗

    “iac automated deployments unlimited users oauth providers community support”

    Read 2026-09-14 · official pricing

  • 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

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).
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) →
  • Nhost Pricing ↗

    “unlimited users oauth providers community support [...] managed grafana (metrics & alerting) email support addons [...] soc 2 type ii email support sla dedicated discord channel connect to external databases”

    Read 2026-09-14 · official pricing

  • 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

SOC 2

Nhost
SOC 2 Type II, listed on Team ($599/month) and above.
Clerk
SOC 2 Type 2 certified since May 6, 2022. Report available on Business plan and above via support request.
Sources (2) →
  • Nhost Pricing ↗

    “team collaborate with added support, scale as needed. from $599 / month $15 in compute credits included everything in pro plus: soc 2 type ii email support sla dedicated discord channel”

    Read 2026-09-14 · official pricing

  • Clerk Security ↗

    “Clerk has been SOC 2 Type 2 certified since May 6, 2022.”

    Read 2026-09-11 · official site

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.

Kind of free offerClerk: Free tier
Credit card to startClerk: No
Pricing modelClerk: 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 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.
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 SLAClerk: 99.99% on Enterprise, which is custom-priced and annual only. Hobby, Pro and Business publish none.
When idleNhost: A free-plan project is paused after one week of inactivity.
Backup retentionNhost: Automated backups and point-in-time recovery from Pro ($25/month). The free Starter plan lists neither.
Price per SSO connectionClerk: One enterprise connection included on Pro, then $75/month each.
SAML single sign-onClerk: Supported
SCIM provisioningClerk: Supported
Multi-factor authenticationClerk: Supported
Audit logsClerk: 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 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.
GDPR / data residencyClerk: Self-certified under the EU-U.S. Data Privacy Framework, its UK Extension, and the Swiss-U.S. DPF, effective February 22, 2024.
PCI DSSClerk: Makes no PCI DSS claim — Clerk states it never stores cardholder data.
04.

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.

Provider pages

NhostBackend platform bundling a Postgres database, GraphQL APIs, authentication, file storage and serverless functions behind one project and one bill.ClerkHosted user management with prebuilt UI components, priced on monthly retained users with enterprise connections billed separately.

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Every page here is sourced and dated.