Overview
FusionAuth is an identity server you download and run, or pay FusionAuth to host as a dedicated single-tenant deployment. It supports B2C, B2B, B2B2C and machine-to-machine identity, with every capability exposed by API, and it can be deployed in any region, on-prem, hybrid or air-gapped.
The Community edition costs nothing and has no user cap. It includes OAuth 2.0, OpenID Connect, SAML v2, social and federated login, passwordless magic links, TOTP MFA, tenants, groups, lambdas and unlimited identity providers. Passkeys need a free licence key. That makes it one of the stronger free self-hosted options for teams comfortable running a Java service and a database.
Paid plans add premium features. Starter, about $162 a month at 1,000 MAU on annual billing, adds breached-password detection, advanced theming and M2M entities. Essentials, around $2,970 a month on the calculator, adds advanced MFA (SMS, email, voice), SCIM, custom scopes and business-hours support, and Enterprise adds threat detection, 24/7 support and a 99.99% SLA. A HIPAA BAA is available.
Pricing and plans
Free tier · no card
Community edition: free to self-host with unlimited users, OAuth 2.0, OIDC, SAML v2, social login, TOTP MFA, tenants, lambdas and full API; community support only
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 |
|---|---|---|
| Community | Free | Self-hosted, unlimited users, core features, community support |
| Starter | $162/mo | At 1,000 MAU, billed annually; premium features, breached password detection, 100 M2M entities, basic hosting |
| Essentials | $2,970/mo | Price shown by the calculator at 1,000 MAU; advanced MFA and security, custom scopes, email support |
| Enterprise | Custom | Threat detection, SSO Tenant Manager, 24/7 phone support, 99.99% SLA available |
What it does
- Free self-hosted edition
- Community edition with unlimited users and the core standards, downloadable for Docker, packages or Kubernetes.
- Deploy anywhere
- Self-hosted, FusionAuth-hosted dedicated, on-prem, hybrid or air-gapped deployments, in any geography.
- Unlimited identity providers
- Add as many SAML, OIDC and social identity providers as you need on every plan.
- Lambdas
- JavaScript hooks to transform tokens and user data; paid plans allow API calls from lambdas.
- Password hash import
- Import existing password hashes, including custom hashing plugins, to migrate without resets.
- SCIM and threat detection
- SCIM server, impossible-travel signals, IP ACLs and CAPTCHA on higher tiers.
Strengths and limitations
Strengths
- Free self-hosted edition with no user limit
- Unlimited SSO identity providers without per-connection fees
- Single-tenant, region-of-choice deployments for data sovereignty
- HIPAA BAA available
Limitations
- Advanced MFA methods and SCIM require paid tiers that start high
- The pricing calculator makes exact costs hard to compare
- Not open source, although the Community edition is free
- Self-hosting means you run upgrades, backups and the database
Who it suits
Good for
- Teams that want free, unlimited self-hosted auth
- Regulated apps that need data in a specific country or air-gapped
- Games and apps with large consumer user bases
Look elsewhere if
- Small teams who want a hosted service with a cheap first paid tier
- Projects that require an OSI-licensed identity server
Alternatives to FusionAuth
| Tool | From | Free option | Stages |
|---|---|---|---|
| Stytch Hosted auth API (B2B and consumer) | $125/mo | Free tier | |
| WorkOS AuthKit Hosted auth with enterprise SSO | $125/mo | Free tier | |
| Authgear Open-source CIAM (cloud, VPC or one-time self-host licence) | $50/mo | Free tier | |
| Supabase Managed Postgres backend platform | $25/mo | Free tier | |
| Asgardeo Hosted CIAM (with open-source self-hosted option) | $20/mo | Free tier | |
| Amazon Cognito Cloud user directory and auth service | Usage-based | Free tier |
Questions
Is FusionAuth free?
The Community edition is free to self-host with unlimited users and the core authentication features.
Is FusionAuth open source?
No. It is free to download and run, but the source is not published under an open-source licence.
How much does FusionAuth cloud cost?
The calculator shows Starter at about $162 a month for 1,000 MAU on annual billing; higher tiers and hosting add to that.
Does FusionAuth charge per SSO connection?
No. Identity providers are unlimited on every plan.
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