Auth0 alternatives (2026): 7 options compared

The best Auth0 alternative depends on where your users and your data already live. If you want prebuilt sign-in screens with little setup, look at Clerk. If your app runs on Postgres, Supabase Auth keeps users next to your data. If you want auth as code you own, Better Auth or Keycloak. If you sell to companies that need SSO, WorkOS. Free tiers and prices below come from each vendor's pricing page, checked on 29 October 2026, and they are prices at the time of writing.

The short list

For reference, Auth0's own free plan covers up to 25,000 MAU, and its Essentials plan starts from $35 a month for 500 MAU on the B2C side, or from $150 a month for B2B.

Why teams look for an Auth0 alternative

The reasons we hear most often:

1. The jump from free to paid. The free plan is generous, but the first paid plan is priced by MAU from a low base, so growth can move the bill quickly.
2. B2B features cost more. Auth0 prices its B2B plans separately and higher than B2C, and enterprise SSO is often the reason a team needed auth in the first place.
3. Wanting the users in your own database. Some teams prefer user records next to the rest of their data, where a join or a backup covers them.
4. Wanting to own the code. A library or a self-hosted server removes a vendor from the login path.

Each of these points at a different option below.

Clerk: prebuilt components and fast setup

Clerk is authentication and user management with ready-made components: drop in a sign-in or user profile component and it works. It suits React and Next.js apps where you want auth finished in an afternoon.

Clerk bills on monthly retained users (MRU), not MAU, so its numbers are not a direct match for Auth0's. The free plan includes 50,000 MRU per app. Pro is $25 a month, or $20 a month billed yearly, with the same 50,000 included, then $0.02 for each user from 50,001 to 100,000.

Supabase Auth: users next to your Postgres

Supabase includes auth with every project, and the users live in the same Postgres database as your data. That means row level security can use the signed-in user directly, and your users come along with a database backup.

The free plan includes 50,000 MAU. Pro starts from $25 a month with 100,000 MAU included, then $0.00325 per MAU. If you are weighing Supabase as a whole, read Supabase alternatives and Neon vs Supabase.

Firebase Authentication: mobile first

Firebase Authentication is Google's auth service, used by many mobile apps alongside Firestore. Both the free Spark plan and the pay as you go Blaze plan list it as free up to 50K MAU, with Google Cloud pricing after that. SAML and OIDC sign-in are free only up to 50 MAU, and phone sign-in is billed per SMS. Pick it if your app already runs on Firebase or Google Cloud.

Better Auth: auth as a library

Better Auth is a TypeScript auth framework that runs inside your app. You install it with npm, and its docs say it works with any backend framework that uses standard Request and Response objects; the site lists Next.js, Nuxt, SvelteKit, Astro and Hono among others. The framework is free and open source. There is an optional hosted dashboard with a free Starter plan and Pro at $20 a month.

Two recent changes are worth knowing. The Auth.js project (formerly NextAuth) is now part of Better Auth, as the Auth.js site says, and Better Auth's homepage says it is joining Vercel. Pick Better Auth if you want your users in your own database and no auth vendor in the request path.

WorkOS AuthKit: built for B2B

WorkOS is built for apps that sell to companies. Its AuthKit covers the first 1 million MAU for free, which is the largest free allowance on this list. The cost is in the enterprise features: SSO and directory sync are $125 per connection a month for the first 15 connections. If your customers ask for SAML before anything else, start here.

Keycloak: open source and self-hosted

Keycloak is an open source identity server and a Cloud Native Computing Foundation incubation project. You run it yourself, so there is no per-user price. The cost is the operations work: keeping the server updated, backed up and secure is your job.

Stytch and Descope: generous free tiers

Two more worth a look if the free tier matters most. Stytch lists 10,000 monthly active users free, with 5 SSO or SCIM connections. Descope's free plan covers 7,500 MAU with 3 SSO connections, and its Pro plan starts at $249 a month, billed yearly.

How to choose

• You want auth working today with good UI: Clerk.
• Your data is in Postgres already: Supabase Auth.
• You build mobile apps on Firebase: Firebase Authentication.
• You want no auth vendor at all: Better Auth in your app, or Keycloak as a server.
• Your buyers are companies that need SSO: WorkOS.

Before you migrate

Auth is the part of the stack you least want to move twice. Before you switch, check how password hashes come out of Auth0 and go into the new tool, since users who must reset their password on day one will notice. List every social login and SSO connection you have set up. Then move a staging environment first and sign in with real test accounts of each type.

The security category lists newer auth and security tools as they launch on TeaserTrack, and the free tools page has small utilities for launching what you build on top.