Facts read November 6, 2026
Better Auth vs Clerk
Clerk is Cuely's default auth pick when your description doesn't favor either one: fastest to a polished sign-in, with drop-in UI components. Pick Better Auth if you care most about open source or self-hosting.
Side by side
| Fact | Better Auth | Clerk |
|---|---|---|
| What it is | Open-source TypeScript auth library that stores users in your own database. | Hosted auth with prebuilt UI components and organizations. |
| Free plan | The library is free and MIT-licensed with no per-user costs. Optional managed infrastructure has a $0 Starter plan. | Hobby: 50,000 monthly retained users per app, 100 monthly retained organizations (up to 20 members each); no MFA, passkeys or SSO. |
| Paid from | Optional infrastructure Pro: $20/month (dashboard, audit logs, security detections). | Pro: $20/month billed annually ($25 monthly), 50,000 MRU included, then $0.02 per MRU. |
| At 1,000 users | $0/month | $0/month |
| Open source | Yes | No |
| Self-hostable | Yes | No |
| Best for | Owning user data with no per-user fees; Self-hosted or open-source projects; TypeScript backends | Fast setup with prebuilt sign-in UI; Next.js and React apps; Consumer and prosumer apps |
| Watch out | You run it: security updates, email delivery and session storage are your job. | The free plan excludes MFA, passkeys and SSO. B2B features beyond the basics (custom roles, domain restrictions) are a $100/month add-on. |
Where they differ
The published scores, from −3 to +3, that decide which one Cuely picks for each need.
| Need | Better Auth | Clerk |
|---|---|---|
| prefers open source or self-hosting | +3 MIT-licensed library; users live in your own database. | 0 No particular strength here. |
| keep costs as low as possible | +3 No per-user fees at any scale. | 0 50k free users, but MFA and SSO need a paid plan. |
| native iOS or Android app | −2 Runs inside your own server, which a phone app on a hosted backend doesn't have. | +1 Has an Expo SDK for React Native apps. |
| Next.js or React | 0 No particular strength here. | +3 First-class Next.js SDK with prebuilt components. |
| EU data residency or GDPR | +2 User data stays in whatever region your database runs in. | 0 No particular strength here. |
Sources: Better Auth pricing (read November 6, 2026), Clerk pricing (read November 6, 2026). No vendor pays for placement.