The best auth for Next.js, priced
Clerk, WorkOS, Better Auth, Kinde, Auth0, Stytch and PropelAuth compared for a Next.js app, with the real monthly cost at 1,000, 10,000 and 100,000 users.
| Service | Plan at 10,000 users | 1,000 users | 10,000 users | 100,000 users |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| ClerkDrop-in auth with pre-built React components and organisations. | Free3 Aug 2026 | $0 | $0 | $1,025 |
| Better AuthOpen-source TypeScript auth that runs inside your own app and database. | Self-hosted3 Aug 2026 | $0 | $0 | $0 |
| WorkOSAuthKit free to a million users; the money is in SSO and Directory Sync. | AuthKit3 Aug 2026 | $0 | $0 | $0 |
| KindeAuth with billing and feature flags bundled in. | Free3 Aug 2026 | $0 | $0 | $1,591 |
| Auth0The incumbent identity platform, now inside Okta. | Free3 Aug 2026 | $0 | $0 | not published |
| StytchAuth plus device fingerprinting and fraud tooling in the same SDK. | Pay as you go3 Aug 2026 | $0 | $0 | not published |
| PropelAuthB2B auth priced per user with org management built in. | Free3 Aug 2026 | $0 | $0 | $4,650 |
Change any of those assumptions in the calculator.
Where this actually starts
Every option here has a Next.js SDK that handles the App Router, middleware and server components. None of them will be the reason your app fails. So the choice comes down to three questions that have nothing to do with the framework.
Who holds the user table. What enterprise single sign-on costs. And whether the provider will quote you a price at the scale you are aiming for.
What actually separates them
Who owns the user table
Clerk, WorkOS, Auth0, Kinde and Stytch keep your users on their systems and hand you a token. Better Auth is a library — the users are rows in your own database, which means you can join them to your own data and there is no auth bill at any scale. The cost is real, it is just paid in maintenance rather than dollars.
SSO is where the money is
The per-user rates above are close enough not to decide anything. Enterprise SSO is not: Clerk charges $75/mo per connection on Pro, WorkOS charges $125 each but includes AuthKit free to a million users, and PropelAuth charges $100. If three customers ask for SAML, that line is bigger than everything else combined. Set the SSO field in the auth calculator and the ordering changes.
Two of these will not quote you
Auth0 publishes a base at 500 monthly active users and moves the rest behind a slider. Stytch is free to 10,000 and produces its overage rate only inside a calculator widget. Both show as "price not published" above their free tier, because that is the honest state of their public pricing.
Free tiers worth knowing
WorkOS AuthKit is free to one million users. Clerk includes 50,000 monthly active users on both Free and Pro. Auth0 raised its free tier to 25,000. At small scale nearly everything here costs nothing, so pick on the shape of the bill at the size you are aiming for, not on today.
Which to pick
| If | Then |
|---|---|
| Consumer app, ship this week | Clerk — the components are the fastest path from nothing to working auth. |
| B2B, enterprise buyers will ask for SAML | WorkOS — free to a million users, priced per connection rather than per tier. |
| You want the users in your own database | Better Auth — no auth line on the bill, ever; you carry the maintenance. |
Questions
Is NextAuth / Auth.js in this comparison?
No, and for the same reason Better Auth appears at $0: it is a library rather than a priced service, so there is no pricing page to verify nightly. This catalogue only carries things with a public rate card, plus Better Auth as the reference point for the self-hosted option.
What is a monthly active user, exactly?
It varies by provider, which is a real problem when comparing them. Most count a user who authenticated at least once in the billing month. Read the definition before trusting any of these numbers at the margin — a provider that counts token refreshes will bill differently than one counting logins.
