Authentication & User Management
Clerk Pricing Explained: Tiers, Limits & Hidden Costs
Proprietary
- Starting price
- $25/mo
- Pricing model
- MAU-based Freemium
- Free tier
- Free up to 10,000 monthly active users
Clerk plans and limits
| Tier | What you get |
|---|---|
| Free | Free up to 10,000 monthly active users |
| Paid entry point | $25/mo |
| How the bill grows | MAU-based Freemium |
| Self-hosted | Not available |
Hidden costs to budget for
- Pricing is tied to MAU, so products with many dormant sign-ins keep paying for users who never return
What Clerk costs as you grow
For indie hackers and Next.js applications under 10k users, Clerk is 100% free with superior UI, while Auth0 charges heavily for custom domains and organization tiers.
Auth0 vs ClerkBoth start at $25/mo and both allow over 10,000 free MAU, so the decision is about scope: Kinde replaces a billing stack as well, while Clerk needs Stripe wired in separately.
Clerk vs KindeCheaper alternatives to Clerk
KeycloakAUTHOpen SourceSelf-HostableFrom $0 (Free Self-Hosted)SuperTokensAUTHOpen SourceSelf-HostableFrom $0 (self-hosted) or free Cloud up to 5,000 MAUOkta Auth0AUTHProprietaryFrom $35/mo (B2C) / Custom (B2B)KindeAUTHProprietaryFrom $25/mo (Pro)
Compare all Clerk alternatives Clerk pricing: FAQ
How much does Clerk cost?
Clerk uses mAU-based Freemium pricing. Paid usage starts at $25/mo.
Does Clerk have a free tier?
Free up to 10,000 monthly active users.
What are the hidden costs of Clerk?
Pricing is tied to MAU, so products with many dormant sign-ins keep paying for users who never return.
What are cheaper alternatives to Clerk?
Keycloak ($0 (Free Self-Hosted)), SuperTokens ($0 (self-hosted) or free Cloud up to 5,000 MAU), Okta Auth0 ($35/mo (B2C) / Custom (B2B)), Kinde ($25/mo (Pro)).