Better Auth vs WorkOS
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 WorkOS if- You sell to companies whose IT team will ask for SAML SSO or SCIM
Use it whenYour first big customer asks for SAML or SCIM.
Trade-offIts free tier covers basic sign-in, but enterprise SSO and directory sync are priced per connection — worth it once a customer pays for them.
At a glance
| Better Auth | WorkOS | |
|---|---|---|
| Used by | 6 makers' products · 94 open-source projects | 19 makers' products · 11 open-source projects |
| Cost at default usagemonthly active users 10k MAU | $0/mo Self-hosted (open source) | $0/mo AuthKit |
| Moved to it on GitHubpull requests since Oct 2024 | fewer than 3 | 3 from Better Auth |
| Downloads | 6.5M/wk8.4× vs npm | 2.9M/wk+109% vs npm |
| Pricing | Free (open source). | Free user-management tier; enterprise SSO and directory sync priced per connection. · paid from $125 per connection/mo |
| Free tier | Yes | Yes |
| Open source | Yes · self-hostable | No |
| Incidents, 90 daysfrom its status page | no public status feed | 24 (11 major) |
Cost as you grow
Both are $0 at every scale we price, up to 1M MAU — what you pay for is the servers you run them on. 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 | WorkOS |
|---|---|---|
| 100 | $0 Self-hosted (open source) | $0 AuthKit |
| 1,000 | $0 Self-hosted (open source) | $0 AuthKit |
| 5,000 | $0 Self-hosted (open source) | $0 AuthKit |
| 10,000 | $0 Self-hosted (open source) | $0 AuthKit |
| 25,000 | $0 Self-hosted (open source) | $0 AuthKit |
| 50,000 | $0 Self-hosted (open source) | $0 AuthKit |
| 100,000 | $0 Self-hosted (open source) | $0 AuthKit |
| 250,000 | $0 Self-hosted (open source) | $0 AuthKit |
| 1,000,000 | $0 Self-hosted (open source) | $0 AuthKit |
From each vendor's pricing page: Better Auth, WorkOS.
Who moves from one to the other
Public pull requests on GitHub since Oct 2024 whose title says "Better Auth to WorkOS" or the reverse — real code changes, by developers in general rather than makers only.
Fewer than 3 pull requests move from WorkOS to Better Auth.
Better Auth → WorkOS3 PRs- feat(auth)!: migrate from Better Auth to WorkOS AuthKit (hybrid) [DEC-038]drshailesh88/caseflow · 2026-07-06
- [codex] migrate auth from better auth to workos authkitludicroushq/vertex · 2026-04-03
- Migrate from better auth to workos for SSO integrationAFAskar/Governance-Agent · 2026-02-04
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 WorkOSWe use WorkOS for the enterprise identity pieces of Harden, so customers can get the access controls they need without us building that layer from scratch.
We chose WorkOS because it's straightforward to integrate and easy to work with. It let us add the features we needed without unnecessary complexity.
WorkOS made it extremely easy for us to add auth to our ActionKit playground - we also use them for SSO for our core product as well.
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
WorkOSMost loved
- Enterprise SSO, SAML and SCIM directory sync arrive ready-made, integrated in weeks instead of months, so teams can close enterprise deals. PHHN
- Organization separation and B2B features come built in alongside standard social login. PH
- The free tier is permissive, and it works well even for B2C apps that skip enterprise features. HNHN 2HN 3
Watch-outs
On Product Hunt: 5.0★, 21 reviews · mentioned most: easy authentication integration, quick onboarding, enterprise-level securityWho uses each
Clarm
PicMotionAI
Prism AI
Flipt Cloud
Harden
oqoqo
Trag
UnitPayWhat 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 WorkOS
Lunen.ai
TellaTransactional Email
WorkOS + Resend:
Almanac
GAIA
Velo
Liveblocks
AlmanacGAIAVeloLiveblocksWorkOS + SendGrid:
Paragon
QuerriLiveblocks
ParagonQuerriLiveblocksHosting
WorkOS + Cloudflare:
KnockLiveblocks
Replit
KnockLiveblocksReplitWorkOS + Amazon Web Services:
FluencyKnock
FluencyKnockWorkOS + Google Cloud Platform:GAIALiveblocks
GAIALiveblocksNeither quite right?
See the whole authentication decision →
ClerkHosted serviceDropping prebuilt sign-in, profile and organization UI into a React or Next.js app.vs Better Auth →vs WorkOS →
SupabaseBundled with your backendApps already on Supabase — auth is part of the same project as the database.vs Better Auth →vs WorkOS →
FirebaseBundled with your backendMobile and client-heavy apps already using Firebase.
Auth0