Clerk review: Authentication, user management, organizations and subscription billing for web apps
Authentication, user management, organizations and subscription billing for web apps
Starts at $25/mo, free plan: yes, free trial: 365-day trial, prices checked on October 29, 2026.
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What Clerk does
Provides hosted sign-up, sign-in, user profiles, organizations and subscription billing that developers add to apps through SDKs and components.
Clerk is a hosted service that handles sign-up, sign-in and user management for applications, with SDKs for frameworks such as Next.js, React and Expo. It supplies prebuilt screens such as a sign-in form, a user button and a profile page, and also offers APIs for teams that want more control.
On the authentication side it covers passwords, email and SMS one-time codes, magic links, passkeys, multifactor authentication and social sign-on with more than 20 providers. Security tooling includes session management with device monitoring, bot detection, and blocking of disposable email domains. The vendor states that it is SOC 2 type 2 and CCPA compliant.
For B2B products, Clerk adds organizations, invitations, custom roles and permissions, and enterprise SSO using SAML, OIDC or EASIE. It also offers subscription billing components and API keys for end users.
Pricing is based on monthly retained users, meaning users who come back at least 24 hours after signing up. The Hobby plan is free and covers 50,000 of them per app. Pro costs $25 per month billed monthly or $20 per month billed yearly, and Business costs $300 per month billed monthly or $250 per month billed yearly. Enterprise pricing is custom and billed annually. Extras such as SMS codes, satellite domains and added seats are charged separately.
- Passwords, email codes, magic links and passkeys
- Social sign-on with 20+ providers
- Multifactor authentication
- Organizations, roles and invitations
- Enterprise SSO with SAML, OIDC or EASIE
- Subscription billing components
- User API keys and machine tokens
- Session and device management
- CLI for setting up Clerk
Official video
Introducing API Keys: Machine-to-Machine Auth with Clerk · by Clerk ·
The player loads only when you press play.
Good for / Not for
Good for
- Developers on Next.js, React or Expo wanting ready-made sign-in components
- B2B SaaS teams needing organizations, roles and invitations
- Small projects that fit within the free 50,000 retained-user allowance
Not for
- Teams that need passkeys, MFA or no Clerk branding while staying on the free plan
- Teams needing a published Enterprise price, which is listed only as Custom
How to start
Create a Clerk account; the pricing page says no credit card is required for the free plan. source
Try Pro features in the development instance of your application before deciding on a paid plan. source
Supabase usage requires turning on the Clerk integration within the Clerk Dashboard, then registering Clerk in Supabase as a third-party auth provider. source
Limits and gotchas
- After passing 50,000 monthly retained users, an upgrade to Pro is required, though a grace period of one month is given. source
- Hobby allows up to 3 dashboard seats and 1 day of application log retention. source
- SMS codes are not included on Hobby and carry per-SMS fees on paid plans. source
- Charges for Directory Sync connections begin on January 1, 2027. source
From the official site and docs of Clerk, checked on October 29, 2026.
Pros and cons
Pros
- Free Hobby plan covers 50,000 monthly retained users per app
- Billing counts only users who return after 24+ hours, not every sign-up
- Prebuilt sign-in, user button and profile components plus APIs
- Organizations, roles, invitations and enterprise SSO for B2B apps
- States SOC 2 type 2 and CCPA compliance
Cons
- Passkeys, MFA and removing Clerk branding are not included on Hobby
- SMS codes add per-message fees ($0.01 per SMS for US and Canada)
- Hobby keeps application logs for only 1 day and allows up to 3 dashboard seats
- Satellite domains cost $10/mo each on paid plans
- Enterprise pricing is not published, only listed as custom
Our take
Clerk suits developers building web or mobile apps who want ready-made authentication screens and organization features without writing them from scratch, especially B2B SaaS products. The free Hobby plan covers a large retained-user allowance, so small projects can start without paying. The trade-offs are in the details: several features, including passkeys, MFA, custom session length and removal of Clerk branding, require a paid plan. SMS codes carry per-message fees, and costs rise with retained users beyond the included amount. Teams wanting a pure self-hosted option will not find one on these pages.
Comparisons and lists with Clerk
Coming soon
Coming soon — we are writing comparisons that include Clerk.
Clerk pricing
| Plan | Monthly billing | Annual billing (per month) | Limits / what’s included |
|---|---|---|---|
| Hobby | Free | — | 50,000 MRU limit per app; up to 3 dashboard seats |
| Pro per month | $25 | $20 | 50,000 MRUs included per app, then $0.02/mo each for 50,001 - 100,000; 1 SSO connection included |
| Business per month | $300 | $250 | 10 dashboard seats included; SOC2 report; 30 day application log retention |
Free trial: 365-day trial. Free plan: yes.
Prices checked on on the official Clerk pricing page. “—” = not published.
All Clerk plans, limits and annual prices →
Frequently asked questions
Does Clerk have a free plan?
Yes. The Hobby plan is free, requires no credit card, and covers the first 50,000 monthly retained users per app.
How much does the Pro plan cost?
Pro is $25 per month billed monthly, or $20 per month billed yearly. It includes 50,000 MRUs per app.
What counts as a monthly retained user?
A user who returns at least 24 hours after signing up. Users who sign up and never come back are not counted.
Is there a free trial?
Not a traditional one. The pricing page says Pro features can be tried in the development instance of your application, and the Dashboard tags features that need an upgrade for production.
What happens if I exceed the free allowance?
You must upgrade to the Pro plan once you pass 50,000 monthly retained users, and a one-month grace period keeps your app running.
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