Authentication and user management · Comparison
Clerk vs Firebase Authentication vs WorkOS
3 products compared side by side: what you pay for with each one first, then the five access facts, entry prices, recorded plan limits and the bottom line of each review. The evidence note under the table says how each product was checked.
Side by side
| Metric | Clerk | Firebase Authentication | WorkOS |
|---|---|---|---|
| What you're paying for | Saves engineering timeReady-made sign-in and user management, free for 50,000 retained users, with SSO and MFA from $25 a month at published prices. | Worth the priceSign-in that plugs into Firebase and Google Cloud, free to 50,000 monthly users, with SAML at $0.015 per user and a self-serve Google Cloud BAA. | Saves engineering timeEnterprise SSO and directory sync at a published $125 per connection, on top of user management that is free for up to 1 million monthly users. |
| Overall score | 8.2 | 8.4Best | 7.9 |
| Free option | Free plan | Free plan | Free plan |
| Card to start | No card needed | No card needed | No card needed |
| Getting access | Self-serve | Self-serve | Self-serve |
| Starter priceCheapest paid plan | $25/mo | $0.0055/MAU above 50,000 | $125/SSO connection/mo |
| Pricing model | Usage-based | Usage-based | Usage-based |
| Pricing page | Public prices | Public prices | Public prices |
| Free plan | 50,000 MRU per app, no card | 50,000 MAU; Spark capped at 3,000 a day | 1,000,000 MAU, no card until production |
| Entry paid plan at 10,000 users | $25/mo (Pro), $20 billed annually | $0 (Blaze), 50,000 MAU at no cost | $0 (users free up to 1M) |
| Enterprise SSO | 1 connection on Pro, then $75/mo each | 50 SAML/OIDC users free on Blaze, then $0.015 each | $125/mo per connection (1–15), down to $65 at 51–100 |
| SOC 2 report | Type 2, on Business ($300/mo) | SOC 2 (Google), via Compliance Reports Manager | Type II, from the Trust Center on request |
| HIPAA BAA | Enterprise plan | Google Cloud BAA, accepted in the console | Enterprise plans |
| Data region | US only | US only | US (per the DPA) |
| Log retention on the entry paid plan | 7 days of application logs (Pro) | 30 days in Cloud Logging (activity logs, opt-in) | 90 days of events via the Events API |
| Bottom line | From its public pages, Clerk offers the largest free allowance here and clear prices from the first user to SSO. Check US-only hosting and the plan that unlocks the SOC 2 report against your customers’ requirements. | From its public pages, Firebase Authentication is the least expensive route here to SAML SSO and a self-serve BAA, inside the Firebase platform. Check US-only processing and the protections it does not list. | From its public pages, WorkOS offers the largest free user allowance here and clear per-connection prices for enterprise SSO. Budget $125 a month per SSO customer and check US-only hosting. |
Evidence: Clerk: facts checked 2026-10-15 from its public sign-up and pricing pages, no completed hands-on run; Firebase Authentication: facts checked 2026-10-15 from its public sign-up and pricing pages, no completed hands-on run; WorkOS: facts checked 2026-10-15 from its public sign-up and pricing pages, no completed hands-on run. Prices in USD as listed, excluding tax. "–" means not recorded.
When to pick each
In the words of each review, with the date its facts were checked.
From our Firebase Authentication review
Checked Oct 15, 2026- Pick Firebase Authentication when
- You need SAML for a few users at $0.015 each rather than $125 per connection, ISO 27001, or a self-serve BAA.
- Pick WorkOS when
- You want passkeys, breached-password rejection and bot detection built in, and 1 million free users.
From our Firebase Authentication review
Checked Oct 15, 2026- Pick Firebase Authentication when
- You want ISO 27001, a self-serve BAA and SSO priced per user rather than $75 per extra connection.
- Pick Clerk when
- You want prebuilt sign-in UI with bot protection and breached-password checks on the free plan.
From our WorkOS review
Checked Oct 15, 2026- Pick WorkOS when
- You expect more than 50,000 monthly users on a free plan, or want MFA and passkeys without a paid plan.
- Pick Clerk when
- You need several SSO connections at the lower price ($75 a month each against $125) and bot protection with no metered checks.
From our WorkOS review
Checked Oct 15, 2026- Pick WorkOS when
- You want passkeys, breached-password rejection and bot detection built in, and 1 million free users.
- Pick Firebase Authentication when
- You need SAML for a few users at $0.015 each rather than $125 per connection, ISO 27001, or a self-serve BAA.
Entry price
Baseline: each product's cheapest paid plan, per month. Included usage differs, so read the line under each price.
- ClerkPro$25/mo50,000 MRU per app, then $0.02 each (50,001–100,000); $20/mo billed annually
- MFA and passkeys
- 1 SSO connection, then $75/mo each
- 7-day application logs
- Email support
- Firebase AuthenticationBlaze$0.0055/MAUAfter 50,000 free MAU; $0.0046 from 100,000, $0.0032 from 1M, $0.0025 from 10M
- SAML/OIDC: 50 MAU free, then $0.015 each
- Phone sign-in and SMS MFA billed per SMS ($0.01 in the US)
- First 10 SMS a day not billed
- Identity Platform SLA
- WorkOSEnterprise SSO$125/connection/mo1–15 connections; $100 for 16–30, $80 for 31–50, $65 for 51–100
- SAML and OIDC
- Same price regardless of end users
- Admin Portal included
Prices as listed on each pricing page, in USD per month, excluding tax. Observed: Clerk 2026-10-15, Firebase Authentication 2026-10-15, WorkOS 2026-10-15.
Which one fits
- If you need to start today without a sales call
- Firebase AuthenticationSelf-serve sign-up, no card needed; the highest score of the 3 self-serve products here (8.4/10).
- If you want to try it without entering a card
- Firebase AuthenticationFree plan, no card needed, and the highest score of the 3 that skip the card (8.4/10).
- Lowest starter price
- Clerk$25/mo for the Pro plan. Firebase Authentication lists no comparable paid price.
- Highest overall score
- Firebase Authentication8.4/10 (Excellent). The review shows the score breakdown and the run behind it.
Picked by fixed rules from the table above, not by hand. How we score
Full reviews
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