Facts read November 6, 2026
Neon Auth vs WorkOS AuthKit
Neon Auth is Cuely's default auth pick when your description doesn't favor either one: auth in the same Neon database, with no separate bill. Pick WorkOS AuthKit if you care most about selling to businesses.
Side by side
| Fact | Neon Auth | WorkOS AuthKit |
|---|---|---|
| What it is | Managed Better Auth that stores users and sessions in your Neon database. | Hosted auth built around organizations, with enterprise SSO and directory sync as add-ons. |
| Free plan | Included in every Neon plan at no separate charge; up to 60,000 MAU per project on Free. | First 1 million monthly active users free, including email and password, social login, passkeys, MFA and magic auth. |
| Paid from | Neon Launch (pay as you go) raises the limit to 1M MAU per project. | $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 | No | No |
| Best for | Apps already on Neon; Fewer vendors; Users and sessions queryable in SQL | B2B SaaS selling to companies; Enterprise SSO (SAML/OIDC) and SCIM later; Large free user allowance |
| Watch out | Neon lists the Organization plugin as partial and MFA as coming soon. Available in AWS regions only; above 1M MAU per project you contact Neon. | 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 | Neon Auth | WorkOS AuthKit |
|---|---|---|
| sells to businesses (organizations, roles, SSO) | −1 Organizations are only partly supported today. | +3 Organizations are the core model, and enterprise SSO is one switch away. |
| fewer vendors | +2 Users live in the same Neon database, under the neon_auth schema. | 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. |
Sources: Neon Auth pricing (read November 6, 2026), WorkOS AuthKit pricing (read November 6, 2026). No vendor pays for placement.