Auth and identity

Clerk vs Auth0

Clerk bills monthly retained users, with 50,000 free per app and $0.02 each after that on Pro; Auth0 gives 25,000 free MAU, then sells fixed MAU tiers from $35 a month that climb steeply.

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The short answer

The free plans pull in different directions. Clerk’s Hobby plan allows 50,000 monthly retained users per app with unlimited apps, and a user who never returns after the first day is not counted; MFA, passkeys and branding removal need Pro. Auth0’s free plan covers 25,000 MAU and includes one enterprise SSO connection, SCIM and five organizations.

Paid pricing is where they part. Clerk Pro lists $25 a month ($20 billed annually) with 50,000 retained users included, then $0.02 each, falling with volume. Auth0 sells fixed tiers: B2C Essentials is $35 for 500 MAU and $700 at 10,000; B2B Essentials is $150 for 500 MAU with three SSO connections. Extra enterprise connections cost $75 a month on Clerk and $100 on Auth0 B2B plans.

Clerk is built around drop-in components for Next.js, React, Expo and Astro, plus billing components. Auth0 offers 30+ SDKs for any language, Actions for custom flows and tenant regions including the EU and UK. Neither can be self-hosted.

Choose Clerk if

You build with Next.js or React and want prebuilt sign-in and profile components
Your app gets many one-time sign-ups that never return
You expect more than 25,000 active users and want per-user pricing rather than fixed tiers

Choose Auth0 if

Your backend is not JavaScript and you need SDKs for other languages
You need identity data hosted in an EU or UK tenant region
You want an enterprise SSO connection and SCIM on the free plan

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Side by side

	Clerk	Auth0
Stages	HobbyIndieStartupScale-upEnterprise	HobbyIndieStartupScale-upEnterprise
What it is	Hosted auth and user management	Hosted customer identity (CIAM)
From	From $25/mo (Pro, $20/mo billed annually)	From $35/mo (B2C Essentials, 500 MAU)
Free tier	Hobby plan: 50,000 monthly retained users per app, unlimited apps, up to 3 social connections, 3 dashboard seats; no MFA, passkeys or branding removal	Up to 25,000 MAU, unlimited social connections, passwordless, 5 organizations, 1 custom domain, 1 enterprise connection, self-service SSO and SCIM; community support only
Free MAU	50,000 MRU per app	25,000 MAU
After free	$0.02 per MRU beyond 50,000 (Pro)	B2C from $35/mo for 500 MAU; B2B from $150/mo
Enterprise SSO	1 SAML/OIDC connection on Pro, then $75/mo each	1 connection free; 3 on B2B Essentials; extra $100/mo each
Self-host	No	No (private cloud on Enterprise)
Open source	No	No
Self-hostable	No	No
EU data residency	Not stated	Available
Compliance	SOC 2, HIPAA	ISO 27001, ISO 27017, ISO 27018, CSA STAR Level 2
Checked	28 Sept 2026	28 Sept 2026
Strengths	50,000 retained users per app free, with unlimited apps First-day-free counting avoids paying for sign-ups that never return Polished UI components for Next.js and React save weeks of front-end work Organizations, billing and API keys in the same product	Free plan covers 25,000 MAU and includes an enterprise SSO connection and SCIM Very broad protocol, SDK and enterprise feature coverage Tenant regions include the EU and UK ISO 27001/27017/27018 and CSA STAR reports available through the Okta trust center
Limitations	MFA, passkeys and branding removal are not available on the free plan Closed source with no self-hosting option Each extra enterprise SSO connection costs $75/mo on Pro and Business SOC 2 report needs Business ($300/mo) and HIPAA needs Enterprise	Paid pricing climbs steeply: B2C Essentials is $700/mo at 10,000 MAU B2B plans start at $150/mo for 500 MAU Prices only at fixed MAU tiers; between tiers you pay the next tier Custom database connections and enhanced attack protection require Professional

Sources: Clerk pricing, Auth0 pricing. Full plans on each tool's page.

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Plans

Clerk

Hobby 50,000 MRU per app, 3 dashboard seats, Clerk branding, 7-day fixed sessions	Free
Pro $20/mo annually; 50,000 MRU included then $0.02 each; MFA, passkeys, 1 enterprise connection	$25/mo
Business $250/mo annually; 10 seats, SOC 2 report, priority support, 30-day logs	$300/mo
Enterprise Annual only; 99.99% SLA, HIPAA BAA, log sinks, migration support	Custom

Auth0

Free 25,000 MAU, 5 organizations, 1 enterprise connection, SCIM	Free
B2C Essentials 500 MAU; $70 at 1,000, $700 at 10,000, $3,500 at 50,000 MAU	$35/mo
B2C Professional Up to 1,000 MAU; $1,600 at 10,000 MAU; enhanced attack protection, custom DB	$240/mo
B2B Essentials 500 MAU; unlimited organizations, 3 enterprise SSO connections, RBAC	$150/mo
B2B Professional Up to 1,000 MAU; enterprise MFA, custom token exchange, more connections	$800/mo
Enterprise 99.99% SLA, enterprise rate limits, private deployment add-on	Custom

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