Authentication and user management · Comparison
Clerk vs Supabase Auth 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 | Supabase Auth | 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 price100,000 monthly active users on the $25 Pro plan, SSO priced per user, and SOC 2, ISO 27001 and a HIPAA BAA on the self-serve Team plan. | 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 | 9.3Best | 7.9 |
| Free option | Free plan | Free plan | Free plan |
| Card to start | No card needed | –Not measured | No card needed |
| Getting access | Self-serve | Self-serve | Self-serve |
| Starter priceCheapest paid plan | $25/mo | $25/mo | $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; paused after 1 week inactive | 1,000,000 MAU, no card until production |
| Entry paid plan at 10,000 users | $25/mo (Pro), $20 billed annually | $25/mo (Pro), 100,000 MAU included | $0 (users free up to 1M) |
| Enterprise SSO | 1 connection on Pro, then $75/mo each | 50 SSO users on Pro, 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) | Type 2, on Team ($599/mo) | Type II, from the Trust Center on request |
| HIPAA BAA | Enterprise plan | Team plan, paid add-on | Enterprise plans |
| Data region | US only | 17 AWS regions, EU included | US (per the DPA) |
| Log retention on the entry paid plan | 7 days of application logs (Pro) | 7 days of auth audit logs (Pro) | 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, Supabase Auth is the least expensive per user of the three and the only one with a BAA on a self-serve plan. It fits best when the rest of your app runs on Supabase. | 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; Supabase Auth: 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 Clerk review
Checked Oct 15, 2026- Pick Clerk when
- You want prebuilt sign-in UI and billing that skips users who never return.
- Pick Supabase Auth when
- You need an EU hosting region, ISO 27001, or a HIPAA BAA without an enterprise contract.
From our Supabase Auth review
Checked Oct 15, 2026- Pick Supabase Auth when
- You need an EU hosting region, ISO 27001, or users stored in your own Postgres database.
- Pick Clerk when
- You want prebuilt sign-in UI, a free plan that never pauses, and billing that skips users who do not return.
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.
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
- Supabase AuthPro$25/moFrom $25; 100,000 MAU, then $0.00325 per MAU
- SAML SSO: 50 SSO users, then $0.015 each
- Leaked password protection
- 7-day auth audit logs
- Email support
- 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, Supabase Auth 2026-10-15, WorkOS 2026-10-15.
Which one fits
- If you need to start today without a sales call
- Supabase AuthSelf-serve sign-up; the highest score of the 3 self-serve products here (9.3/10).
- If you want to try it without entering a card
- ClerkFree plan, no card needed, and the highest score of the 2 that skip the card (8.2/10).
- Lowest starter price
- Clerk and Supabase Auth$25/mo for the Pro plan each.
- Highest overall score
- Supabase Auth9.3/10 (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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