Head to head
Clerk vs Frontegg
As a authentication & identity API, Clerk rates higher on the APIbenchmarks Index, 85.2 to 76.6, a 8.6-point gap. Here is how they compare on each criterion.
Criterion by criterion
| Criterion | Clerk | Frontegg |
|---|---|---|
| Documentation & DX | ||
| Reliability | ||
| Ecosystem & SDKs | ||
| Accessibility | ||
| APIbenchmarks Index | 85.2 | 76.6 |
Specifications
| Clerk | Frontegg | |
|---|---|---|
| Best for | Embeddable auth UI for React/Next.js | Multi-tenant B2B user management |
| Free tier | 50k MAU (monthly retained users) | 7.5k MAU (free tier) |
| Pricing | MAU-based | MAU-based (+ feature add-ons) |
| Official SDKs | 12 languages | 10 languages |
Is Clerk better than Frontegg?
On the APIbenchmarks Index, Clerk rates higher (85.2 vs 76.6). 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
Clerk leads by 8.6 points (85.2 vs 76.6) and wins 4 of 4 criteria.
Winner by criterion
| Criterion | Winner | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Documentation & DX | 91 | 78 | |
| Reliability | 78 | 75 | |
| Ecosystem & SDKs | 80 | 72 | |
| Accessibility | 92 | 82 |
Choose Clerk if… / choose Frontegg if…
- →documentation & dx matters most to you (91 vs 78)
- →reliability matters most to you (78 vs 75)
- →ecosystem & sdks matters most to you (80 vs 72)
- →accessibility matters most to you (92 vs 82)
- →you need broad SDK coverage (12 official SDKs vs 10)
- →your use case matches its focus: embeddable auth ui for react/next.js
- →your use case matches its focus: multi-tenant b2b user management
Pricing side by side
- 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
- Model
- MAU-based (+ feature add-ons)
- Free tier
- 7.5k MAU (free tier)
- Pay as You Go (PAYG)$0/mo to start, usage-based
- EnterpriseCustom (contact sales)
Vendor-published pricing, verified 2026-06-27 (Clerk) and 2026-06-27 (Frontegg).
SDK and language coverage
Both · 5
Next.jsReactiOSAndroidPython
Only Clerk · 7
RemixAstroNuxtExpo / React NativeJavaScript (Backend/Node)GoRuby
Only Frontegg · 5
AngularVueNode.js / JavaScriptREST APIWebhooks
Strengths and weaknesses
- +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
- +Multi-tenancy is a first-class primitive: per-tenant users, roles, SSO, branding and policies out of the box
- +Fast time-to-value; reviewers call it plug-and-play with hosted login live in hours
- +Entitlements engine ties feature-gating to subscription plans, well-suited to SaaS monetization
- –Limited customization of the hosted/embedded login UI for teams with strict branding needs
- –Cannot bring your own user database (no self-hosted data store)
- –Webhooks are not very customizable
Clerk vs Frontegg: questions
- Which has better documentation, Clerk or Frontegg?
- Clerk scores higher on documentation and developer experience: 91 vs 78 out of 100.
- Which is more reliable, Clerk or Frontegg?
- Clerk scores higher on reliability: 78 vs 75 out of 100.
- Do Clerk and Frontegg have a free tier?
- Clerk: yes (50k MAU (monthly retained users)). Frontegg: yes (7.5k MAU (free tier)).
- How are Clerk and Frontegg priced?
- Clerk: MAU-based. Frontegg: MAU-based (+ feature add-ons).
- Which has more official SDKs?
- Clerk lists 12 official SDKs, Frontegg lists 10.