whichdevtool?
Menu
StacksDirectory Pricing changes Glossary
VPS and cloud servers App hosting and PaaS Managed databases Transactional email APIs Email marketing and newsletters Domain registrars CDN, DNS and edge security Monitoring, uptime and error tracking Auth and identity Frontend and full-stack frameworks Backend frameworks UI component libraries AI model APIs File and object storage Payments and billing Background jobs, queues and workflows ORMs and database toolkits

Open-source TypeScript auth library · by Better Auth Inc.

Better Auth

A free, open-source TypeScript auth framework that runs inside your own app and database, with a plugin for almost every feature and an optional paid dashboard and security service.

Visit better-auth.com ↗ Alternatives Open source Open source Self-hostable EU region
Better Auth homepage
§1

Overview

Better Auth is an authentication framework for TypeScript that lives inside your application instead of in a vendor's cloud. You declare auth in code (email and password, social providers such as Google, GitHub, Apple and Discord) and add plugins for two-factor, passkeys, magic links, email OTP, phone numbers, anonymous users, organizations with roles and invitations, API keys, JWTs, SSO with SAML 2.0, SCIM, MCP auth and more. Users and sessions are stored in your own database.

The framework is free and open source with no user limits, has more than 930 contributors, and works with Next.js, Nuxt, SvelteKit, Astro, Hono and over 20 other frameworks. Because configuration is code, changes are versioned and reviewed like any other code.

Better Auth Inc. sells optional infrastructure that connects to your self-hosted setup: a user and organization dashboard, audit logs, Sentinel threat detection (bot detection, brute force, breached passwords, impossible travel), transactional email and SMS, and hosted self-service SSO and directory sync. Starter is free and Pro is $20 a month plus usage. The company has announced it is joining Vercel.

§2

Pricing and plans

Free tier · no card

The framework is free and open source with no user limit. Infrastructure Starter is free: 1 dashboard seat, 10,000 audit logs and 1,000 security detections a month, 1-day retention

At the limit Not stated The vendor does not say what happens at the limit, or we have not found it yet.

Plan Price What you get
Framework Free Open source, your database, unlimited users
Infrastructure Starter Free 1 seat, 10,000 audit logs, 1,000 security detections per month
Infrastructure Pro $20/mo Unlimited seats, 20,000 audit logs, 10,000 detections, 1 SSO and 1 directory sync connection, email $0.001, SMS $0.09
Infrastructure Enterprise Custom Custom retention, custom domain and log drain, dashboard RBAC, Slack support

No per-user pricing: the library runs in your own app and database, so hosting costs are yours. Paid infrastructure overages: audit logs $0.0001 per event, security detections $0.001 per event, extra self-service SSO or directory sync connections $50/mo each; dashboard custom domain and log drain are $25/mo add-ons on Pro. The homepage announces that Better Auth is joining Vercel. euRegion is true because data stays in your own database wherever you host it.

Source: www.better-auth.com/pricing · prices as published, excluding tax.

§3

What it does

Plugin ecosystem
50+ plugins covering 2FA, passkeys, magic links, organizations, API keys, SSO, SCIM, Stripe and Polar integrations and more.
Your own database
Users, sessions and organizations live in your database through adapters, so there is no vendor lock-in.
Multi-tenancy
Organization plugin with teams, roles, invitations and access control.
Auth for AI agents
MCP auth, token exchange and agent delegation plugins.
Sentinel
Hosted threat detection including bot detection, rate limiting, geo blocking and disposable email checks.
Dashboard and audit logs
Hosted user, session and organization management with searchable audit logs and SIEM log drain.
§4

Strengths and limitations

Strengths

  • Free with no per-user fees
  • Data stays in your own database
  • Very broad plugin set including SSO and SCIM
  • Type-safe configuration in code

Limitations

  • TypeScript/JavaScript back ends only
  • You run and secure the auth code and database yourself
  • Dashboard, audit logs and threat detection need the paid infrastructure service
  • Audit log retention is 1 day on Starter and 7 days on Pro
§5

Who it suits

Good for

  • TypeScript apps that want auth without a hosted vendor
  • Side projects avoiding per-MAU pricing
  • Teams wanting SSO and organizations without enterprise fees

Look elsewhere if

  • Non-JavaScript back ends such as Go, Python or Java
  • Teams wanting a fully managed identity service with SLAs
§6

Alternatives to Better Auth

Tool From Free option Stages
Asgardeo Hosted CIAM (with open-source self-hosted option)
$20/mo Free tier
Logto Open-source OIDC auth (cloud or self-hosted)
$24/mo Free tier
Kinde Hosted auth with billing and feature flags
$25/mo Free tier
Supabase Managed Postgres backend platform
$25/mo Free tier
Nhost Postgres + GraphQL backend platform
$25/mo Free tier
Clerk Hosted auth and user management
$25/mo Free tier

All auth and identity →

§7

Questions

Is Better Auth free?

Yes. The framework is free and open source with no user limit; only the optional infrastructure service has paid plans.

Does Better Auth support SAML SSO?

Yes, through its SSO plugin, and the paid infrastructure adds hosted self-service SSO setup.

Where does Better Auth store users?

In your own database, through its database adapters.

Is Better Auth part of Vercel?

Its homepage announces that Better Auth is joining Vercel.

Sources read for this page