# WorkOS vs Better Auth

Canonical: https://inetgeek.com/compare/workos-vs-better-auth/

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

## At a glance

| Criterion | WorkOS | Better Auth |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Free tier | Yes | Yes |
| Pricing model | 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. | The framework is free and open source and holds your user data in your own database. The paid plans price the surrounding infrastructure by event: audit logs at $0.0001 each beyond the allowance, security detections at $0.001, email at $0.001 and SMS at $0.09. |
| Price per SSO connection | $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. | One connection included on Pro, then $50/month per connection, covering self-service SSO and Directory Sync together. |
| SAML single sign-on | Supported | Supported |
| SCIM provisioning | Supported | Supported |
| Multi-factor authentication | Supported | Supported |
| Audit logs | Billed rather than bundled: $125 per month per SIEM connection for log streaming, plus $99 per month per million events stored. | 10,000 audit log events a month with 1-day retention on the free Starter plan; 20,000 on Pro, then $0.0001 per event. |

## Where they differ

### Pricing model

- 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. ([source](https://workos.com/pricing))
- Better Auth: The framework is free and open source and holds your user data in your own database. The paid plans price the surrounding infrastructure by event: audit logs at $0.0001 each beyond the allowance, security detections at $0.001, email at $0.001 and SMS at $0.09. ([source](https://www.better-auth.com/pricing))

### Price per SSO connection

- 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. ([source](https://workos.com/pricing))
- Better Auth: One connection included on Pro, then $50/month per connection, covering self-service SSO and Directory Sync together. ([source](https://www.better-auth.com/pricing))

### Audit logs

- WorkOS: Billed rather than bundled: $125 per month per SIEM connection for log streaming, plus $99 per month per million events stored. ([source](https://workos.com/pricing))
- Better Auth: 10,000 audit log events a month with 1-day retention on the free Starter plan; 20,000 on Pro, then $0.0001 per event. ([source](https://www.better-auth.com/pricing))

## Which should you choose?

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.

Pick Better Auth if Teams that want the user table in their own database and no per-user bill at all — the framework is free, and the $20 plan buys tooling rather than access.

Consider something else: 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.

Consider something else: Better Auth — You want a hosted service with an SLA rather than a library you run, since everything below the dashboard is your operational problem.

## Documented by only one

- Entry paid plan: Better Auth: $20/month for Pro on the managed infrastructure. The framework itself costs nothing — the plan buys a dashboard, audit logs and security detections around it.
- Self-hostable: Better Auth: Supported
- Users included: 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.

## Questions this comparison answers

**Should I choose WorkOS or Better Auth?**

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.
Pick Better Auth if Teams that want the user table in their own database and no per-user bill at all — the framework is free, and the $20 plan buys tooling rather than access.