Auth · working at 10,000 users · rates as read 26 Sept 2026
On free tier, Clerk is $0: up to 50,000 monthly active users and Better Auth is $0: the framework is free and open source. On cheapest paid plan, Clerk is $25/mo (Pro) and Better Auth is $20 / month (Pro). On rate above what's included, Clerk is $0.02 per monthly active user, stepping to $0.015 and Better Auth is $0.0001 per audit-log event, $0.001 per security detection, $50/month per SSO connection. 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 | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| ClerkDrop-in auth with pre-built React components and organisations.verified 25 Sept 2026clerk.com/pricing | $ | $ | $ |
| Better AuthOpen-source TypeScript auth that runs inside your own app and database.verified 25 Sept 2026better-auth.com/docs/introduction | $ | $ | $ |
- Sorted by the total at
- Drop-in auth with pre-built React components and organisations.verified 25 Sept 2026clerk.com/pricing
- 1,000 users
- $
00 Free - 10,000 users
- $
00 Free - 100,000 users
- $
1,0251,025 Pro
- 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
| Criterion | Clerk | Better Auth |
|---|---|---|
| Free tier | $0: up to 50,000 monthly active usersA hard cap rather than an overage: the Free plan carries a "50,000 MRU limit per app", and Clerk's own branding sits on the components. | $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. |
| Cheapest paid plan | $25/mo (Pro)$25/mo billed monthly, $20/mo billed annually. Removes the Clerk branding. | $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. |
| Rate above what's included | $0.02 per monthly active user, stepping to $0.015The rate steps down with volume: $0.02, then $0.018, then $0.015 each. Enhanced B2B SaaS is a $100/mo add-on on top. | $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. |
- 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
Clerk: $0: up to 50,000 monthly active users. A hard cap rather than an overage: the Free plan carries a "50,000 MRU limit per app", and Clerk's own branding sits on the components. 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. Read from clerk.com and better-auth.com on 2026-09-18. Free tier here means what the vendor gives you at $0 a month, in its own words.
Clerk: $25/mo (Pro). $25/mo billed monthly, $20/mo billed annually. Removes the Clerk branding. 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. Read from clerk.com and better-auth.com on 2026-09-18.
Clerk: $0.02 per monthly active user, stepping to $0.015. The rate steps down with volume: $0.02, then $0.018, then $0.015 each. Enhanced B2B SaaS is a $100/mo add-on on top. 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. Read from clerk.com and better-auth.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.
Clerk: You want working sign-in this afternoon and you want to know what it will cost at 100,000 users. Clerk ships the components, and it is one of the few auth vendors here whose per-user rate above the included allowance is printed as a number you can multiply out rather than hidden behind a slider. 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.
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.
- Clerk: You want working sign-in this afternoon and you want to know what it will cost at 100,000 users. Clerk ships the components, and it is one of the few auth vendors here whose per-user rate above the included allowance is printed as a number you can multiply out rather than hidden behind a slider.
- 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.
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.
- Clerk: clerk.com/pricing: Free tier, Cheapest paid plan, Rate above what's included. Read 2026-09-18.
- Better Auth: www.better-auth.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/clerk-vs-better-auth