Auth · working at 10,000 users · rates as read 25 Sept 2026
On free tier, Better Auth is $0: the framework is free and open source and Stytch is $0 / Month: 10,000 monthly active users. On cheapest paid plan, Better Auth is $20 / month (Pro) and Stytch is $0 / Month (Pay as you go). On rate above what's included, Better Auth is $0.0001 per audit-log event, $0.001 per security detection, $50/month per SSO connection and Stytch is $125/connection above the 5 included, $.005/fingerprint. StackTab sells neither of these and takes no referral fee on either: it scores them. Every figure was read off the named company's own page on or since 2026-09-18; the URLs and the dates are at the foot of this page, and a job re-fetches each one on a schedule and fails when a figure is no longer on the page it came from.
2 compared · 3 criteria, identical for every column · every competitor figure read off that company's own page · last verified 2026-09-18
| Service | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Better AuthOpen-source TypeScript auth that runs inside your own app and database.verified 25 Sept 2026better-auth.com/docs/introduction | $ | $ | $ |
| StytchAuth plus device fingerprinting and fraud tooling in the same SDK.verified 25 Sept 2026stytch.com/pricing | $ | $ | price not publishedPay as you go |
- Sorted by the total at
- Open-source TypeScript auth that runs inside your own app and database.verified 25 Sept 2026better-auth.com/docs/introduction
- 1,000 users
- $
00 Self-hosted - 10,000 users
- $
00 Self-hosted - 100,000 users
- $
00 Self-hosted
- Auth plus device fingerprinting and fraud tooling in the same SDK.verified 25 Sept 2026stytch.com/pricing
- 1,000 users
- $
00 Pay as you go - 10,000 users
- $
00 Pay as you go - 100,000 users
- price not publishedPay as you go
| Criterion | Better Auth | Stytch |
|---|---|---|
| Free tier | $0: the framework is free and open sourceThe library carries no bill at all; the managed Starter tier for the dashboard and audit logs is also $0/month. | $0 / Month: 10,000 monthly active usersAlso "Always free": unlimited organizations, 5 SSO or SCIM connections and 1,000 M2M tokens. |
| Cheapest paid plan | $20 / month (Pro)That buys the managed infrastructure: dashboard, audit logs, security detections, self-service SSO. The framework stays free whether or not you take it. | $0 / Month (Pay as you go)Stytch publishes one plan and meters it, rather than a ladder of tiers. "No feature gating." |
| Rate above what's included | $0.0001 per audit-log event, $0.001 per security detection, $50/month per SSO connectionOnly on the managed infrastructure. Run the library yourself and there is no meter: the users sit in the database you are already paying for. | $125/connection above the 5 included, $.005/fingerprintDevice fingerprinting is metered separately at $.005/fingerprint above the 10,000 included: the fraud-and-risk product rather than the auth product. |
- Free tier: what the vendor gives you at $0 a month, in its own words
- Rate above what's included: the per-unit or per-transaction rate the vendor publishes for usage beyond the plan: the figure you need to work out a bill before you commit to one
Better Auth: $0: the framework is free and open source. The library carries no bill at all; the managed Starter tier for the dashboard and audit logs is also $0/month. Stytch: $0 / Month: 10,000 monthly active users. Also "Always free": unlimited organizations, 5 SSO or SCIM connections and 1,000 M2M tokens. Read from better-auth.com and stytch.com on 2026-09-18. Free tier here means what the vendor gives you at $0 a month, in its own words.
Better Auth: $20 / month (Pro). That buys the managed infrastructure: dashboard, audit logs, security detections, self-service SSO. The framework stays free whether or not you take it. Stytch: $0 / Month (Pay as you go). Stytch publishes one plan and meters it, rather than a ladder of tiers. "No feature gating.". Read from better-auth.com and stytch.com on 2026-09-18.
Better Auth: $0.0001 per audit-log event, $0.001 per security detection, $50/month per SSO connection. Only on the managed infrastructure. Run the library yourself and there is no meter: the users sit in the database you are already paying for. Stytch: $125/connection above the 5 included, $.005/fingerprint. Device fingerprinting is metered separately at $.005/fingerprint above the 10,000 included: the fraud-and-risk product rather than the auth product. Read from better-auth.com and stytch.com on 2026-09-18. Rate above what's included here means the per-unit or per-transaction rate the vendor publishes for usage beyond the plan: the figure you need to work out a bill before you commit to one.
Better Auth: You want the user table in your own database and no auth line on the bill. Better Auth is a TypeScript library rather than a service, so the cost of authentication becomes a few more rows in the Postgres you already run, and you carry the maintenance that a hosted provider would have carried. Stytch: Fraud and bot traffic are the actual problem, not sign-in. Stytch is the only provider here that ships device fingerprinting as a first-class metered product alongside authentication, with 10,000 fingerprints included, and it gates no features behind a tier.
StackTab does not sell any of these and has nothing to gain from which one you choose: it scores them. Each case below is the one that option genuinely wins.
- Better Auth: You want the user table in your own database and no auth line on the bill. Better Auth is a TypeScript library rather than a service, so the cost of authentication becomes a few more rows in the Postgres you already run, and you carry the maintenance that a hosted provider would have carried.
- Stytch: Fraud and bot traffic are the actual problem, not sign-in. Stytch is the only provider here that ships device fingerprinting as a first-class metered product alongside authentication, with 10,000 fingerprints included, and it gates no features behind a tier.
Prices and limits move, and a page quoting a stale one is worth less than a page quoting none. Every source is printed here so a reader can check it against the day they are reading this, and a job re-fetches each of these URLs on a schedule and fails when a figure above no longer appears on the page it came from.
- Better Auth: www.better-auth.com/pricing: Free tier, Cheapest paid plan, Rate above what's included. Read 2026-09-18.
- Stytch: stytch.com/pricing: Free tier, Cheapest paid plan, Rate above what's included. Read 2026-09-18.
Last verified 2026-09-18. https://stacktab.thecompound.tech/compare/better-auth-vs-stytch