The best Auth0 alternatives, compared honestly
Auth0 is one of the most capable identity platforms there is — and teams rarely leave over what it can do. They leave over the bill: per-MAU pricing that climbs fast past the free tier, and enterprise SSO gated behind custom Enterprise quotes. Here are the alternatives that actually hold up, by need.
The best Auth0 alternative depends on what's pushing you off it:
- Best React / Next.js DX → Clerk — drop-in UI components and B2B orgs, free to 50k users.
- Selling to enterprise (SSO/SCIM) → WorkOS — transparent per-connection SSO, free to 1M MAU.
- Already on Postgres → Supabase Auth — users live in your database, free to 50k MAU.
- Zero per-user cost → Keycloak — self-hosted open-source IAM with SAML, OIDC and LDAP.
Why teams look elsewhere
What pushes teams off Auth0
Auth0's platform is genuinely excellent — the friction is almost entirely commercial: how price scales, and what's locked behind Enterprise.
The growth penalty
Per-MAU pricing scales aggressively past the free tier. One widely-shared example: a bill jumping from $240 to $3,729/month (~15.5×) on modest user growth.
SAML behind Enterprise
Enterprise SSO, SLAs and advanced security sit behind custom-quoted Enterprise plans. Teams needing only SAML have reported quotes near $34,000/year for 2,500 users.
The Okta acquisition
Okta bought Auth0 for ~$6.5B in 2021. Developers report pricing became less predictable and support slower — some waiting weeks for a reply.
Overage hikes
In the Nov 2023 repricing, B2C Essentials went from $23/1,000 MAU to $35/500 MAU, and the MAU overage rate rose from ~$0.023 to $0.07 (~300%).
Cheaper commodities exist
AWS Cognito is roughly $0.0055/MAU — about 12.5× cheaper per MAU. For basic login at scale, paying Auth0's premium can be hard to justify.
A steep free-to-paid cliff
The free tier is generous (25,000 MAU), but the very first paid step is small-MAU and pricey, so the jump off free feels like a cliff rather than a ramp.
The shortlist
8 Auth0 alternatives worth trying
Ranked by how well they solve the most common reasons to switch — per-MAU cost and enterprise SSO gated behind quotes. There's no single winner: the best pick depends on your stack and who you sell to.
Drop-in UI components (<SignIn/>, <UserButton/>, <OrganizationSwitcher/>) and prebuilt B2B orgs — a polished flow in minutes. Free to 50,000 users; Pro $25/mo + $0.02/MRU over 50k; B2B org SSO add-on +$100/mo. Trade-off: React-first, cost climbs at high MRU. Auth0 vs Clerk →
AuthKit is free to 1,000,000 MAU. Enterprise SSO and SCIM are priced transparently per connection ($125 for the first 15, sliding down), with a hosted Admin Portal for customer IT. Trade-off: SSO + SCIM billed separately; leaner consumer-CIAM flows. Auth0 vs WorkOS →
User records live in a Postgres schema you can query, join and secure with row-level security — one fewer network hop. Free to 50,000 MAU, bundled with Supabase; ~$162/mo at 100k. Trade-off: tied to Supabase; fewer turnkey enterprise CIAM features.
Red Hat (IBM)-backed, the most feature-complete OSS IAM: OIDC, SAML 2.0, LDAP/AD federation, fine-grained authz. No per-user cost, self-host (Apache-2.0); managed via Cloud-IAM or Phase Two. Trade-off: you run, patch and secure it. Auth0 vs Keycloak →
Cheapest managed per-MAU: Lite from $0.0055/MAU (10k free), Essentials $0.015, Plus $0.020. AWS-native. Note: a 2026 repricing raised cost for 60k+ MAU and cut the new-pool free tier 50k→10k. Trade-off: rough DX, AWS lock-in, thin support.
Free to 50,000 MAU with excellent SDKs — fast to ship for mobile and web on the Google stack. Advanced features (SAML, OIDC, MFA, SLA) require the paid Identity Platform tier. Trade-off: Google/GCP-centric; enterprise SSO behind Identity Platform.
Passwordless-first (magic links, OTP, WebAuthn/passkeys) with built-in device fingerprinting, bot detection and account-takeover protection. API-first. Trade-off: more building blocks than turnkey UI; younger vendor.
Full CIAM (SSO, MFA, SAML/OIDC, RBAC) with a free Community self-host and flat-ish hosted plans that don't meter per MAU. Trade-off: the UI is less modern and the ecosystem smaller than Clerk or Auth0.
Side by side
Auth0 alternatives compared
Auth0 is included as the baseline. Everything below is compiled from each vendor's official pages — verify current terms before you commit.
| Platform | Model / license | Free tier | Self-host | Enterprise SSO (SAML/SCIM) | Pricing model | Best for |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Auth0 (baseline) | Proprietary SaaS (Okta) | 25,000 MAU | ✗ | Enterprise quote only | Per-MAU + add-ons | Broadest turnkey CIAM |
| Clerk | Proprietary SaaS | 50,000 MRU | ✗ | Org SSO add-on (+$100/mo) | Per-MRU ($25/mo + $0.02) | React / Next.js DX |
| WorkOS | Proprietary SaaS | 1,000,000 MAU | ✗ | ✓ per-connection ($125) | Free auth + per-connection | Selling to enterprise |
| Supabase Auth | Open source (MIT/Apache) + SaaS | 50,000 MAU | ✓ | SAML (paid/self-host) | Bundled with Supabase | Postgres-native apps |
| Keycloak | Open source (Apache-2.0) | Self-host (free) | ✓ | ✓ built-in | Free (infra cost only) | Zero per-user cost |
| Amazon Cognito | Proprietary SaaS (AWS) | 10,000 MAU (Lite) | ✗ | ✓ (Plus tier) | Per-MAU (from $0.0055) | Cheapest at scale (AWS) |
| Firebase Auth | Proprietary SaaS (Google) | 50,000 MAU | ✗ | Identity Platform (paid) | Free + Identity Platform | Mobile / Google stack |
| Stytch | Proprietary SaaS | Free tier | ✗ | ✓ | Per-MAU / per-factor | Passwordless + fraud |
| FusionAuth | Community free + SaaS | Self-host (free) | ✓ | ✓ | Flat-ish (not per-MAU) | Self-host or hosted |
Pricing models and free tiers change often — check each vendor for current terms. Figures reflect entry plans and are indicative. Compiled July 2026 from each vendor's official pricing pages.
Official pages: Auth0 · Clerk · WorkOS · Supabase · Keycloak · Cognito · Firebase · Stytch · FusionAuth
A fair call
When Auth0 is still the right choice
Switching isn't always worth it. Auth0 earned its reputation for a reason.
Auth0 is fine if…
- You want the broadest turnkey CIAM — social + enterprise login, passwordless, MFA, RBAC, Actions and B2B Organizations in one mature platform.
- You're inside the 25,000-MAU free tier, or your MAU count is stable and predictable enough to budget the per-MAU bill.
- You value deep documentation, a large integration marketplace and Okta's enterprise compliance posture.
- You're already an Okta customer and want identity consolidated under one vendor.
Consider an alternative if…
- The per-MAU bill is unpredictable — WorkOS (free to 1M) or self-hosted Keycloak remove the meter.
- You need SAML SSO without an Enterprise quote — WorkOS prices it transparently per connection.
- You want a best-in-class React/Next.js developer experience — Clerk's drop-in components win.
- You're already on Postgres or the Google/AWS stack — Supabase Auth, Firebase Auth or Cognito fit natively.
Common questions
Auth0 alternatives — common questions
What is the best open-source Auth0 alternative?
Keycloak is the most complete open-source Auth0 alternative — Red Hat (now IBM)-backed, it supports OIDC, SAML 2.0, LDAP/Active Directory federation and fine-grained authorization with no per-user cost, self-hosted under Apache-2.0. If you want the same freedom with a more modern, API-first design, Zitadel (Apache-2.0, native multi-tenancy) and the Ory stack (Kratos, Hydra, Keto) are strong. FusionAuth and SuperTokens also offer free self-hosted tiers. The trade-off in every case is that you run, patch and secure the service yourself. Full Auth0 vs Keycloak →
Why is Auth0 so expensive?
Auth0 is priced per monthly active user (MAU), and the price climbs steeply once you pass the free tier. Paid B2C plans start at $35/month for just 500 MAU and B2B plans at $150/month for 500 MAU, and MAU overages are billed on top. In late 2023 the B2C Essentials overage rate rose from about $0.023 to $0.07 per MAU (~300%). Critically, enterprise SSO (SAML), advanced security and SLAs are gated behind custom-quoted Enterprise plans, so teams that only need SAML have reported quotes as high as $34,000/year for 2,500 users.
Did Okta buy Auth0?
Yes. Okta acquired Auth0 for approximately $6.5 billion in 2021, and the product is now branded "Auth0 by Okta." Since the acquisition, developers have reported that pricing became less predictable with frequent changes, and that support response times declined — some users waiting weeks for replies. The product itself remains one of the most capable identity platforms; the friction is commercial, not technical.
What is the cheapest Auth0 alternative at scale?
For managed services, Amazon Cognito is the cheapest per MAU — its Lite tier starts around $0.0055/MAU, roughly 12.5× cheaper than Auth0, though a 2026 repricing raised costs for large pools and cut the new-pool free tier to 10k MAU. WorkOS AuthKit is free up to 1,000,000 MAU for core auth. To eliminate per-MAU cost entirely, self-host Keycloak, FusionAuth or Zitadel — you pay only for infrastructure at any scale.
What is the best Auth0 alternative for React or Next.js?
Clerk has the best developer experience for React and Next.js. It ships drop-in UI components — <SignIn/>, <UserButton/>, <OrganizationSwitcher/> — plus prebuilt B2B organizations, so you get a polished auth flow in minutes. Its free tier covers 50,000 monthly retained users (raised in 2026), then Pro is $25/month plus $0.02 per MRU above 50k, with a B2B organization SSO add-on at $100/month. Full Auth0 vs Clerk →
Which Auth0 alternative is best for selling to enterprise?
WorkOS is built for exactly this. Its AuthKit is free up to 1,000,000 MAU, and enterprise SSO (SAML/OIDC) and SCIM directory sync are priced transparently per connection — $125/connection for the first 15, sliding down with volume — instead of hidden behind a custom Enterprise quote as with Auth0. A hosted Admin Portal lets your customers' IT teams self-configure their identity provider, which removes most of the SSO onboarding support burden. Full Auth0 vs WorkOS →
How hard is it to migrate off Auth0?
Migrating an identity provider is a real project but a well-trodden one. You can export users from Auth0 (profiles, and hashed passwords via a support request for bulk password export), then bulk-import into the new provider, which lets most platforms rehash on first login so users never reset. Social and enterprise connections must be re-created, and you re-point your app's OIDC/OAuth configuration. Plan to run both in parallel briefly and migrate active users gradually rather than in one big-bang cutover.