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WorkOS vs Better Auth

SEPT 2026 audit

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

Reviewed by Palash BagchiUpdated 24 criteria comparedSources last checked

The short answer

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

Choose 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.

Editorial · Palash Bagchi · approved

Consider something else if…

  • 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.
  • 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.

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

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

Visit WorkOS documentationVisit Better Auth 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.

CriterionWorkOSBetter Auth
Pricing
Free tierYesYes
Kind of free offerFree tierFree tier
What the free plan includesThe first 1 million monthly active users of AuthKit are free; Single Sign-On and Directory Sync are billed per connection from the first one.One dashboard seat, 10,000 audit log events a month at one-day retention, 1,000 security detections a month and community support.
Pricing modelNo 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.
Infrastructure
Uptime SLA
99.99% on the annual-credits plan. Pay-as-you-go, the entry, publishes no uptime commitment.
None by default. The terms say service level commitments live in a separate SLA or order form, and that absent one the service is provided on a commercially reasonable efforts basis.
Observability
Self-hostable
Not supported — WorkOS on-prem guide covers your app running on-prem and still calling the WorkOS cloud API
Supported
Auth
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 SSO connection is included on the $20/month Pro plan, then $50 per month per additional connection; Directory Sync is metered the same way.
SAML single sign-onSupportedSupported
SCIM provisioningSupportedSupported
Multi-factor authenticationSupportedSupported
Audit logsBilled 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.
Compliance
GDPR / data residency
WorkOS states it is GDPR compliant. Data residency options are not detailed on this page.
Better Auth signs a DPA as processor; transfers outside the EEA, UK or Switzerland rely on the EU Standard Contractual Clauses (Decision 2021/914).
Encryption at rest
Trust Center control states datastores housing sensitive customer data are encrypted at rest.
Framework option account.encryptOAuthTokens encrypts OAuth tokens before they are stored in your own database; it is off by default. Framework-level, in the customer's own database; managed infrastructure at-rest encryption is not documented.
Role-based access controlFully managed RBAC service: custom roles and permissions defined per organization, enforced through session JWTs, with role assignment from IdP groups.Organization plugin provides role-based access control: permissions follow the user's role in the organization, and roles can also be created at runtime. Framework capability, not a managed-service feature.

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

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.
Better Auth
One dashboard seat, 10,000 audit log events a month at one-day retention, 1,000 security detections a month and community support.
Sources (2) →

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.
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.
Sources (2) →
  • 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

  • Pricing — Better Auth ↗

    “$20 / month [...] 20,000 audit logs / month then $0.0001 per event 10,000 security detections / month then $0.001 per event [...] Transactional email & SMS $0.001 per email, $0.09 per SMS”

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

Uptime SLA

WorkOS
99.99% on the annual-credits plan. Pay-as-you-go, the entry, publishes no uptime commitment.
Better Auth
None by default. The terms say service level commitments live in a separate SLA or order form, and that absent one the service is provided on a commercially reasonable efforts basis.
Sources (2) →
  • 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

  • Better Auth Terms of Service ↗

    “any service level commitments or support obligations will be set forth in a separate service level agreement [...] absent an sla, the services are provided on a commercially reasonable efforts basis.”

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

Self-hostable

WorkOS
Not supported — WorkOS on-prem guide covers your app running on-prem and still calling the WorkOS cloud API
Better Auth
Supported
Sources (2) →
  • Using WorkOS with On-prem Customers – WorkOS Docs ↗

    “For customers operating in air-gapped environments with no external network connectivity, cloud-based authentication services like WorkOS cannot be utilized as they require API connectivity.”

    Read 2026-09-13 · official docs · Report a correction

  • Pricing — Better Auth ↗

    “The Better Auth framework is free and open source. Pricing below is for our managed infrastructure. [...] Connect to our infrastructure and power your self-hosted Better Auth with a dashboard, audit logs, security, and more.”

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

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.
Better Auth
One SSO connection is included on the $20/month Pro plan, then $50 per month per additional connection; Directory Sync is metered the same way.
Sources (2) →
  • Pricing — WorkOS ↗

    “Single Sign-On [...] Number of connections 1-15 $125 / ea 16-30 20% off $100 / ea 31-50 36% off $80 / ea 51-100 48% off $65 / ea”

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

  • Pricing — Better Auth ↗

    “For production teams running auth in the critical path. $20 / month [...] Self-service SSO & Directory Sync 1 connection, then $50/month per connection”

    Read 2026-09-13 · official pricing · Report a correction

Audit logs

WorkOS
Billed rather than bundled: $125 per month per SIEM connection for log streaming, plus $99 per month per million events stored.
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.
Sources (2) →
  • 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

  • Pricing — Better Auth ↗

    “Starter [...] 10,000 audit logs / month 1 day retention [...] Pro [...] 20,000 audit logs / month then $0.0001 per event”

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

GDPR / data residency

WorkOS
WorkOS states it is GDPR compliant. Data residency options are not detailed on this page.
Better Auth
Better Auth signs a DPA as processor; transfers outside the EEA, UK or Switzerland rely on the EU Standard Contractual Clauses (Decision 2021/914).
Sources (2) →
  • WorkOS Security ↗

    “Yes, WorkOS is GDPR compliant.”

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

  • Data Processing Addendum — Better Auth ↗

    “Where Personal Data is transferred outside the EEA, UK, or Switzerland, Processor shall ensure appropriate safeguards are in place, including the Standard Contractual Clauses set forth in Exhibit A. [...] The Standard Contractual Clauses approved by European Commission Implementing Decision (EU) 2021/914 of 4 June 2021”

    Read 2026-09-13 · official site · Report a correction

Encryption at rest

WorkOS
Trust Center control states datastores housing sensitive customer data are encrypted at rest.
Better Auth
Framework option account.encryptOAuthTokens encrypts OAuth tokens before they are stored in your own database; it is off by default. Framework-level, in the customer's own database; managed infrastructure at-rest encryption is not documented.
Sources (2) →

Role-based access control

WorkOS
Fully managed RBAC service: custom roles and permissions defined per organization, enforced through session JWTs, with role assignment from IdP groups.
Better Auth
Organization plugin provides role-based access control: permissions follow the user's role in the organization, and roles can also be created at runtime. Framework capability, not a managed-service feature.
Sources (2) →
  • Role-Based Access Control – WorkOS Docs ↗

    “WorkOS Role-Based Access Control (RBAC) is an authorization system designed for managing access to applications using a flexible roles and permissions model. [...] Fully managed authorization service for defining and enforcing access controls across your application [...] Support for enterprise features like organization-scoped roles and IdP role assignment via SSO and Directory Sync”

    Read 2026-09-13 · official docs · Report a correction

  • Organization — Better Auth docs ↗

    “The organization plugin provides a very flexible access control system. You can control the access of the user based on the role they have in the organization. [...] Dynamic access control allows you to create roles at runtime for organizations.”

    Read 2026-09-13 · official docs · 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.

Credit card to startWorkOS: No
Entry paid planBetter 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.
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.
Users includedWorkOS: 1,000,000 active users free on AuthKit, then $2,500 per additional million. Two orders of magnitude above the other free allowances here.
Support on entry paid planWorkOS: A dedicated Slack channel on pay-as-you-go; the annual-credits plan adds a guaranteed support SLA.
SOC 2WorkOS: SOC 2 Type 2 certified.
HIPAAWorkOS: WorkOS can sign a Business Associate Agreement (BAA) for customers on enterprise plans.
PCI DSSWorkOS: PCI DSS self-attested via SAQ-D as a service provider since December 2025; the attestation of compliance is available in the Trust Center.
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.
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 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.

Provider pages

WorkOSEnterprise-readiness platform selling SSO, directory sync and audit logs per connection, with user management free to a million users.Better AuthOpen-source TypeScript authentication framework that runs in your own codebase, with optional managed infrastructure for dashboards and audit logs.

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Comments

Every page here is sourced and dated.