Better Auth vs Clerk
Two sides of the authentication decision: library in your app and hosted service. When each fits, what it costs, who moves from one to the other, and what makers who chose it say.
Ask your AI about this, with this page as the source:ChatGPT ↗Claude ↗Perplexity ↗
Which fits you
Choose Better Auth if- You want users in your own database and no per-user bill
Use it whenYou'd rather own the code than pay per user.
Trade-offYou host it and keep it patched; UI is yours to build.
Choose Clerk if- You're on Next.js or React and want sign-in, profiles and teams working today
Use it whenYou want prebuilt components, user profiles and organizations out of the box.
Trade-offPer-user pricing grows with you; users live in Clerk, not your database.
At a glance
| Better Auth | Clerk | |
|---|---|---|
| Used by | 6 makers' products · 94 open-source projects | 305 makers' products · 11 open-source projects |
| Cost at default usagemonthly active users 10k MAU | $0/mo Self-hosted (open source) | $0/mo Hobby |
| Moved to it on GitHubpull requests since Oct 2024 | 33 from Clerk | 4 from Better Auth |
| Downloads | 6.5M/wk8.4× vs npm | 2.1M/wk+50% vs npm |
| Pricing | Free (open source). | Free tier by monthly active users; paid plans add features and seats. · paid from $25/mo |
| Free tier | Yes | Yes |
| Open source | Yes · self-hostable | No |
| Incidents, 90 daysfrom its status page | no public status feed | 13 (1 major) |
Cost as you grow
Both cost $0 up to 50k MAU; from 100k MAU Better Auth costs less ($0 vs $1,025); and still does at 1M MAU ($0 vs $17,225). They're different kinds of tool — library in your app and hosted service — so the prices don't buy the same thing.
The numbers, plan by plan
| Monthly active users | Better Auth | Clerk |
|---|---|---|
| 100 | $0 Self-hosted (open source) | $0 Hobby |
| 1,000 | $0 Self-hosted (open source) | $0 Hobby |
| 5,000 | $0 Self-hosted (open source) | $0 Hobby |
| 10,000 | $0 Self-hosted (open source) | $0 Hobby |
| 25,000 | $0 Self-hosted (open source) | $0 Hobby |
| 50,000 | $0 Self-hosted (open source) | $0 Hobby |
| 100,000 | $0 Self-hosted (open source) | $1,025 Pro |
| 250,000 | $0 Self-hosted (open source) | $3,725 Pro |
| 1,000,000 | $0 Self-hosted (open source) | $17,225 Pro |
From each vendor's pricing page: Better Auth, Clerk.
Who moves from one to the other
Public pull requests on GitHub since Oct 2024 whose title says "Better Auth to Clerk" or the reverse — real code changes, by developers in general rather than makers only.
Clerk → Better Auth33 PRs- feat: migrate from Clerk to Better AuthGoogle-Developer-Group-on-Campus-CTU/gdg-ctu-website · 2026-09-23
- feat(auth): Clerk to self-managed Better Auth cutovercoderclub-team/pixaPOS · 2026-09-18
- refactor: migrate authentication from Clerk to Better Authnomtan/cat-sns-app · 2026-09-03
- Migrate authentication from Clerk to Better AuthRookledger/GroundworkOS · 2026-08-28
- Migrate authentication from Clerk to Better AuthRookledger/GroundworkOS · 2026-08-28
- feat(auth): migrate Tinlance from Clerk to Better Auth + NeonLloydCoder/Tinlance · 2026-08-17
- feat: migrate from Clerk to self-hosted Better Auth (ADR-031)woosung-dev/kairos · 2026-08-16
- Migrate authentication from Clerk to Better AuthDawnMD/tutor-os · 2026-08-09
- P0: migrate iOS auth from Clerk SDK to Jovie Better AuthJovieInc/LogYourBody · 2026-07-25
- Migrate auth from Clerk to Better Auth (passkeys + email OTP)g30r93g/ID-Game · 2026-07-10
Better Auth → Clerk4 PRs- fix: migrate auth from Better Auth to Clerkmarcojsmith/AgriBid · 2026-09-05
- Migrate authentication from Better Auth to Clerkrobertguss/web-app-starter-kit · 2026-08-05
- refactor: migrate authentication from Better Auth to Clerkbashirahmedchandio1/workos-ai · 2026-07-21
- Auth: remove Better Auth and cut over to Clerkprazgaitis/march-fit · 2026-02-25
What makers say
Makers on using it for authentication, from Product Hunt and Starter Story interviews, each linked to the source. Products with a page of their own and fuller notes first.
On Better AuthAuthentication is always a time sink, but not with better_auth. Simple, secure, and extendable. Got magic links and login flow done in under an hour.
Better-Auth gave us a clean, flexible auth layer with minimal code. Performance, adaptability, and dev-experience were all wins.
It came out of nowhere and became popular for a good reason - it's really good!
On ClerkThe team loves Clerk for its intuitive interface, seamless integration, and efficient management of administrative tasks, allowing them to focus on building groundbreaking solutions.
We used Clerk for account management. Building an authentication infrastructure from scratch is challenging, but by using Clerk’s abstracted API, we were able to simplify this process.
Nobody wants to worry about authentication or build their own system. Clerk allowed me to simply integrate them into my project and immediately feel confident in the security of my site.
Loved and watch-outs
Themes that recur in makers' words and Hacker News comments, each linked to what it summarises.
Better AuthMost loved
- A library that keeps users and sessions in your own database, with no vendor dependency and no per-user fees. HNHN 2HN 3HN 4
- Plugins cover OAuth providers, magic links, RBAC, SSO and SAML, going well beyond Auth.js. HNHN 2HN 3PH
- Hackable and transparent, so custom flows such as iframe login work without fighting hidden internals. HNHN 2PH
Watch-outs
On Product Hunt: 5.0★, 5 reviews- Built-in assumptions force hacks, such as OIDC providers without email or request-header-based admin scripts. HNHN 2
- Code quality felt rushed, with few tests and little logging, and audit logs need the managed service. HNHN 2
- Breaking changes appear in patch releases, and the OpenAPI spec gets little care for non-JS clients. HN
ClerkMost loved
- Sign-up, sign-in, sessions and social login get wired in an afternoon instead of a sprint. PHPH 2
- Organizations, roles and billing come built in, covering multi-tenant B2B apps without custom identity work. PHPH 2
- Prebuilt UI components, including profile and settings pages, look polished out of the box. PH
Watch-outs
On Product Hunt: 5.0★, 112 reviews · mentioned most: easy integration, comprehensive solution, free tierWho uses each
Clarm
PicMotionAI
Prism AI
AgentQL
CheapFeedbackWhat makers pair each with
With Better AuthFrontend Framework
Better Auth + React:agentsetarchestraarkAutoGPTCallcustomermatesDatabuddydeepcrawldoryelmoever-works
inbox-zeroand 77 more
inbox-zeroand 77 moreDatabase
Better Auth + PostgreSQL:agentsetarchestraarkAutoGPTCallcustomermatesDatabuddydoryelmoever-worksinbox-zero
Latitudeand 59 more
inbox-zeroLatitudeand 59 more
superset
BlockNote
Helicone
MastraDatabase Access & ORMs
Better Auth + Drizzle ORM:
RybbitarchestraCallDatabuddydeepcrawldoryelmoLatitudenelsonlai.devpaperclipscirasuperlogand 46 more
RybbitarchestraCallDatabuddydeepcrawldoryelmoLatitudenelsonlai.devpaperclipscirasuperlogand 46 more
Dokploy
NovuWith ClerkFrontend Framework
Clerk + Next.js:
AISpacebottest.ai
BrewBrutal Verdict
Buddy AI Note
Bugster
Builder's Bid Book
CCgather
ClientJam
Copperlane
Cravit
Deckand 153 more
AISpacebottest.aiBrewBrutal VerdictBuddy AI NoteBugsterBuilder's Bid BookCCgatherClientJamCopperlaneCravitDeckand 153 more
Depth
Layouts.dev
Sukha
EmailTemple
Coval
Sailhouse
OramaTransactional Email
Clerk + Resend:BackdropBrewBrutal VerdictBuddy AI NoteBuilder's Bid Book
ClicoClientJamCopperlane
DataGems
DrDroid
Eververse
FAQPopupand 107 more
BrewBrutal VerdictBuddy AI NoteBuilder's Bid BookClicoClientJamCopperlaneDataGemsDrDroidEververseFAQPopupand 107 more
Ragie
Rally
Acedit
Entelligence.ai
Huntr
Indigo
Kuration AI
Magic Hour
Journey Now
Skyvern
Conduit
ForecastioDatabase
Clerk + Supabase:Buddy AI NoteCCgatherClicoCravit
Crosspost
Crow
cto.new
FlareGetusefeed
Katalyst
Moodloom
Ordoand 27 more
Buddy AI NoteCCgatherClicoCravitCrosspostCrowcto.newFlareGetusefeedKatalystMoodloomOrdoand 27 more
Garple
MascotAI
Your Love Style
BloxGPT
Fastlane
Fixa.dev
Comigo
BaseHub
BrandingStudio.ai®
debate AI
Git Pitcher
Jina
LaunchSafe
Macaly
Makers Page
Gro
Hanabi.rest
Landing
Polishory
PulpMiner
UGCReal
WaseiGo
ZenVeil
BetterClaw
Documentation.AI
Firecoach AI
GraphBit
AgentR
Flowglad
Humalike
Mascotly
OpenStatus
tldraw
@ONeither quite right?
See the whole authentication decision →
SupabaseBundled with your backendApps already on Supabase — auth is part of the same project as the database.vs Better Auth →vs Clerk →
FirebaseBundled with your backendMobile and client-heavy apps already using Firebase.
WorkOSHosted serviceB2B SaaS that will need enterprise SSO and directory sync.vs Better Auth →vs Clerk →
Auth0