Head to head
Auth0 vs Clerk
As a authentication & identity API, Auth0 rates higher on the APIbenchmarks Index, 91.7 to 85.2, a 6.5-point gap. Here is how they compare on each criterion.
Criterion by criterion
| Criterion | Auth0 | Clerk |
|---|---|---|
| Documentation & DX | ||
| Reliability | ||
| Ecosystem & SDKs | ||
| Accessibility | ||
| APIbenchmarks Index | 91.7 | 85.2 |
Specifications
| Auth0 | Clerk | |
|---|---|---|
| Best for | Full-featured CIAM for B2C and B2B | Embeddable auth UI for React/Next.js |
| Free tier | 25k MAU (free plan) | 50k MAU (monthly retained users) |
| Pricing | MAU-based | MAU-based |
| Official SDKs | 12 languages | 12 languages |
Is Auth0 better than Clerk?
On the APIbenchmarks Index, Auth0 rates higher (91.7 vs 85.2). It leads on the four weighted criteria, but price is reported separately, so the best choice still depends on your budget.
Verdict in one line
Auth0 leads by 6.5 points (91.7 vs 85.2) and wins 3 of 4 criteria; Clerk wins 1.
Winner by criterion
| Criterion | Winner | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Documentation & DX | 93 | 91 | |
| Reliability | 92 | 78 | |
| Ecosystem & SDKs | 95 | 80 | |
| Accessibility | 85 | 92 |
Choose Auth0 if… / choose Clerk if…
- →documentation & dx matters most to you (93 vs 91)
- →reliability matters most to you (92 vs 78)
- →ecosystem & sdks matters most to you (95 vs 80)
- →your use case matches its focus: full-featured ciam for b2c and b2b
- →accessibility matters most to you (92 vs 85)
- →your use case matches its focus: embeddable auth ui for react/next.js
Pricing side by side
- Model
- MAU-based
- Free tier
- 25k MAU (free plan)
- Free$0
- B2C Essentialsfrom $35-$70/mo (500 MAU)
- B2B Essentialsfrom $150/mo (500 MAU)
- B2C Professionalfrom $240/mo (1,000 MAU)
- B2B Professionalfrom $800/mo (1,000 MAU)
- EnterpriseCustom
- Model
- MAU-based
- Free tier
- 50k MAU (monthly retained users)
- Hobby (Free)$0/mo
- Pro$25/mo ($20/mo annual)
- Business$300/mo ($250/mo annual)
- EnterpriseCustom (annual only)
- B2B Authentication add-on$100/mo ($85/mo annual)
- Administration / Billing add-ons$100/mo admin · 0.7% of billing volume
Vendor-published pricing, verified 2026-06-27 (Auth0) and 2026-06-27 (Clerk).
SDK and language coverage
Both · 3
React (auth0-react)Next.js (nextjs-auth0)Python (FastAPI/Django/Flask)
Only Auth0 · 9
JavaScript / SPA (auth0-spa-js)AngularVueNode.js (node-auth0)Java / Spring BootSwift / iOSKotlin / AndroidReact NativePHP / Ruby / .NET / Go
Only Clerk · 9
RemixAstroNuxtExpo / React NativeiOSAndroidJavaScript (Backend/Node)GoRuby
Strengths and weaknesses
- +Best-in-class developer experience with 30+ SDKs/Quickstarts covering nearly every major framework
- +Universal Login plus Actions allow MFA, social login, and custom pipeline logic without app code changes
- +Strong standards support (OAuth 2.0, OIDC, SAML) and deep enterprise SSO/identity connections
- –MAU-based pricing with hard caps gets expensive fast at scale; widely called a startup 'growth penalty'
- –Post-Okta pricing changes seen as steep and unpredictable (reports of large bill jumps and a B2C Essentials hike)
- –B2B-critical features (enterprise SSO connections, higher rate limits, custom SLA, private cloud) gated behind custom Enterprise pricing
- +Drop-in prebuilt, fully styled UI components (SignIn, UserProfile, OrganizationSwitcher) drastically cut auth build time
- +Very generous free tier, first 50,000 monthly retained users free in every paid app
- +Excellent, framework-specific documentation and quickstarts praised by developers
- –Reliability track record is a real concern, notable Sept 2025 outage and a March 2026 postmortem, plus many logged status events
- –Security-adjacent and B2B features (org management, unlimited impersonation, admin) gated behind $100/mo add-ons
- –Deep component/hosted-session coupling creates meaningful vendor lock-in and migration friction
Auth0 vs Clerk: questions
- Which has better documentation, Auth0 or Clerk?
- Auth0 scores higher on documentation and developer experience: 93 vs 91 out of 100.
- Which is more reliable, Auth0 or Clerk?
- Auth0 scores higher on reliability: 92 vs 78 out of 100.
- Do Auth0 and Clerk have a free tier?
- Auth0: yes (25k MAU (free plan)). Clerk: yes (50k MAU (monthly retained users)).
- How are Auth0 and Clerk priced?
- Auth0: MAU-based. Clerk: MAU-based.
- Which has more official SDKs?
- Both list 12 official SDKs.