Authorizer vs Clerk: Features, Pricing and User Reviews 2026
Compare features, pricing, reviews, and more to make an informed decision
Authorizer
Authorizer is a free, open-source authentication and authorization solution that lets you control your user data with your own database.
Clerk
Clerk is a developer-friendly authentication platform with pre-built components, flexible APIs, and admin dashboards for complete user management.
Authorizer
Authorizer is a free, open-source authentication and authorization solution that lets you control your user data with your own database.
Clerk
Clerk is a developer-friendly authentication platform with pre-built components, flexible APIs, and admin dashboards for complete user management.
Authorizer
Self-hosted open-source solution with full data control
11+ database support including SQL and NoSQL
Email, social media, and magic link login options
Multi-factor authentication for extra security
Pre-built login pages and admin dashboard
Role-based access management
Secure session handling with HTTP cookies
Webhooks for custom workflows
GraphQL and REST APIs available
Multiple SDKs for React, Vue, Angular, mobile apps
Clerk
Pre-built authentication components and user interfaces
20+ social login providers including Google and GitHub
Multi-factor authentication with SMS and authenticator apps
Password authentication with automatic breach detection
Organizations with roles and permissions for teams
Enterprise SSO with SAML and OAuth support
Session management and device tracking
Webhooks and API access for custom integrations
SOC 2 and HIPAA compliance
Free tier with 10,000 monthly active users
Authorizer
Authorizer is completely free and open-source. There are no subscription fees, no per-user charges, and no hidden costs. You can download the software, deploy it on your own infrastructure, and use it for unlimited users without paying anything.
Free (Self-Hosted): Since Authorizer is open-source under the MIT license, you get all features included. You only pay for your own hosting costs (server, database, email service for verification emails). This could be as low as a few dollars per month on cloud providers like Railway, Heroku, Render, or DigitalOcean.
The project is maintained by an active community and accepts sponsorships on GitHub if you want to support development. You can also get community support through their Discord server and GitHub issues for free. This makes it perfect for startups and businesses that want to avoid the high costs of services like Auth0 that charge per user.
Clerk
Clerk offers flexible pricing to support projects of all sizes. The free plan includes 10,000 monthly active users with all core features, pre-built components, and custom domain support. Users who sign up but never return are completely free.
The Pro plan charges just $0.02 per monthly active user after your first 10,000 free users. Pro includes removing Clerk branding, allowlist and blocklist features, and customizable session duration.
For advanced needs, add-ons cost $100 per month each. The Enhanced Authentication add-on provides multi-factor auth, device tracking, and enterprise SSO. The Enhanced Administration add-on includes user impersonation and audit logs.
Organizations start at $1 per monthly active organization after your first 100 free, with unlimited members per organization in Pro.
Enterprise plans offer custom pricing with 99.99% uptime guarantees, support SLAs, HIPAA compliance, dedicated Slack support, and onboarding assistance. Startup discounts are available through partners like Y Combinator and Stripe Atlas.
