WorkOS vs Better Auth
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.
The short answer
- 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.
3 sourced criteria separate them:
- 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.
- 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 connection included on Pro, then $50/month per connection, covering self-service SSO and Directory Sync together.
- 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.
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.
WorkOS 0
Better Auth 0
At a glance.
| Criterion | WorkOS | Better Auth |
|---|---|---|
| Pricing | ||
| 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. |
| 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 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.
- 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) →Sources ↓
- 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
- 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
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 connection included on Pro, then $50/month per connection, covering self-service SSO and Directory Sync together.
Sources (2) →Sources ↓
- 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
- Pricing — Better Auth ↗
“Self-service SSO & Directory Sync 1 connection, then $50/month per connection”
Read 2026-09-06 · official 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.
- 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) →Sources ↓
- 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
- 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
Which should you choose?
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.
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.
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.