AUTHENTICATION

Clerk

Provides hosted user authentication, session management, account interfaces, and identity integrations for applications.

Last verified September 10, 2026

Best for / Not for

BEST FOR

  • Teams that want prebuilt sign-in and account flows
  • Multi-application products with shared identity requirements
  • Projects that prefer a dedicated authentication provider

NOT FOR

  • Hobby projects that require MFA or passkeys
  • Hobby projects that need configurable session duration
  • Teams that want authentication fully controlled inside their own database

Where it fits in your stack

Connects sign-in and account interfaces to protected backend routes through managed users and sessions. It replaces custom authentication screens and session infrastructure, but not application-specific authorization rules.

Pricing

Pricing model: Pro is $20/month when billed annually.

Free allowance: Hobby is $0 — 50,000 MRU per application, unlimited applications, and 3 dashboard seats. MRU = Monthly Retained User: a user is counted only if they return 24+ hours after signing up ("First Day Free").

Overage rule: Above 50K, $0.02/month per MRU. Pro includes 1 Enterprise connection; each additional connection is $75/month.

Trade-offs

  • The Hobby plan has no MFA and no passkeys, and session lifetime is fixed at 7 days.
  • User identity and sessions depend on a dedicated vendor
  • Enterprise connections can become a separate cost driver

Sources

Last verified: 2026-09-10