Auth0 vs Clerk vs WorkOS

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Why these three price so differently

Auth0, Clerk and WorkOS all sell authentication, but they meter completely different things. Auth0 charges a flat rate per MAU past a 7,500 free allowance (about $0.023/MAU), then stacks extra per-MAU fees on top for organizations (+$0.016/MAU) and a flat monthly add-on for SSO/SAML (+$150/mo) -- so its bill grows with both your total user count and which features you turn on. Clerk undercuts that on price (free to 10,000 MAU, then ~$0.02/MAU) and includes organizations in every plan, with SSO priced as a simple $50/mo add-on -- reflecting its focus on consumer/B2C apps and React developer experience rather than deep enterprise connectors. WorkOS takes the most different approach: basic auth is free up to 1,000,000 MAU because the product is built for B2B SaaS, where most users never trigger a paid feature -- the real cost is per SSO/SAML connection (~$125/mo each), so a WorkOS bill tracks how many enterprise customers need single sign-on, not how many total users the app has.

That means the "cheapest" provider depends entirely on your user mix. A consumer app with tens of thousands of MAU and no enterprise buyers will almost always find Clerk cheapest. A B2B SaaS with a large free/trial user base but only a handful of enterprise accounts needing SAML will usually find WorkOS cheapest, since it isn't paying per-MAU at all. Auth0 tends to win only when you specifically need its breadth of pre-built integrations and are willing to pay a premium for them. Enter your own MAU and SSO/org requirements into the calculator above instead of assuming a vendor's headline free tier tells the whole story.

Frequently asked questions

Is Clerk cheaper than Auth0?

For most apps below enterprise scale, yes. Clerk's free tier covers up to 10,000 MAU versus Auth0's 7,500, and past the free tier Clerk charges roughly $0.02/MAU versus Auth0's $0.023/MAU. The gap widens if you need organizations/multi-tenant support: Clerk includes it in every plan, while Auth0 adds about $0.016/MAU on top. Auth0 can still win on total cost of ownership if you rely on integrations Clerk doesn't cover.

Why does WorkOS offer a 1,000,000 MAU free tier when Auth0 and Clerk cap free usage at a few thousand?

WorkOS built its pricing around B2B SaaS, where a product usually has far more end users than paying enterprise customers. Basic authentication is free up to 1M MAU because WorkOS makes its money on enterprise features instead -- specifically SSO/SAML connections, billed per connection (~$125/mo each) rather than per user. Auth0 and Clerk, by contrast, meter almost everything by MAU regardless of whether those users are consumer or enterprise.

How much does SSO/SAML cost on each platform?

Auth0 is the most expensive, adding roughly $150/month on top of its MAU-based plan. Clerk is cheaper at around $50/month flat. WorkOS prices SSO per connection at approximately $125/month per enterprise customer needing SAML -- cheap with one or two enterprise clients, but it scales linearly with how many separate organizations need their own connection.

Which provider is best for a B2B SaaS selling to enterprise customers?

WorkOS is purpose-built for this case: free consumer-grade auth up to 1M MAU, organizations included, and audit logs included rather than gated -- you only pay once a customer specifically needs SSO/SAML. Auth0 and Clerk both work for B2B too, but Auth0's per-MAU-plus-per-connection stacking gets expensive at scale, and Clerk has a thinner enterprise feature set like audit logs. Run your own numbers through the calculator above rather than assuming one vendor's marketing angle fits your case.