Facts read November 6, 2026
Better Auth vs WorkOS AuthKit
Better Auth is Cuely's default auth pick when your description doesn't favor either one: free, open source, and your users stay in your own database. Pick WorkOS AuthKit if you care most about selling to businesses.
Side by side
| Fact | Better Auth | WorkOS AuthKit |
|---|---|---|
| What it is | Open-source TypeScript auth library that stores users in your own database. | Hosted auth built around organizations, with enterprise SSO and directory sync as add-ons. |
| Free plan | The library is free and MIT-licensed with no per-user costs. Optional managed infrastructure has a $0 Starter plan. | First 1 million monthly active users free, including email and password, social login, passkeys, MFA and magic auth. |
| Paid from | Optional infrastructure Pro: $20/month (dashboard, audit logs, security detections). | $2,500/month per additional 1M MAU; SSO and Directory Sync from $125 per connection. |
| 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 | B2B SaaS selling to companies; Enterprise SSO (SAML/OIDC) and SCIM later; Large free user allowance |
| Watch out | You run it: security updates, email delivery and session storage are your job. | SSO and Directory Sync are priced per connection ($125 each at 1-15); the page doesn't state the billing period. A custom auth domain is $99/month. |
Where they differ
The published scores, from −3 to +3, that decide which one Cuely picks for each need.
| Need | Better Auth | WorkOS AuthKit |
|---|---|---|
| prefers open source or self-hosting | +3 MIT-licensed library; users live in your own database. | 0 No particular strength here. |
| sells to businesses (organizations, roles, SSO) | +1 Organization and SSO plugins exist, but you operate them yourself. | +3 Organizations are the core model, and enterprise SSO is one switch away. |
| EU data residency or GDPR | +2 User data stays in whatever region your database runs in. | 0 No particular strength here. |
| native iOS or Android app | −2 Runs inside your own server, which a phone app on a hosted backend doesn't have. | 0 No particular strength here. |
| regulated or compliance-sensitive | 0 No particular strength here. | +2 Audit Logs and enterprise SSO are available as add-ons. |
| keep costs as low as possible | +3 No per-user fees at any scale. | +2 1M free monthly active users covers most products for a long time. |
Sources: Better Auth pricing (read November 6, 2026), WorkOS AuthKit pricing (read November 6, 2026). No vendor pays for placement.