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Frameworks, core principles and top case studies for SaaS pricing, learnt and refined over 28+ years of SaaS-monetization experience.
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Choosing between Clerk vs Supabase pricing for your authentication needs isn't just a technical decision—it's a budget commitment that compounds as you scale. Both platforms offer compelling authentication-as-a-service costs, but their pricing models diverge significantly once you move beyond free tiers.
Quick Answer: Clerk offers a more feature-rich developer experience starting at $25/month with 10k MAUs, while Supabase Auth provides a budget-friendly option starting free (50k MAUs) with $25/month paid tiers, making the choice dependent on your feature requirements, scale trajectory, and whether you need Supabase's bundled database services.
Clerk vs Supabase Auth: Pricing Overview at a Glance
Before diving deep, here's what you need to know about authentication service comparison at the baseline level (as of January 2025):
| Tier | Clerk | Supabase Auth |
|------|-------|---------------|
| Free | 10,000 MAUs | 50,000 MAUs (unlimited auth users) |
| Starter/Pro | $25/month (10k MAUs included) | $25/month (bundled with database) |
| Growth | $0.02/MAU overage | $0.00325/MAU after 100k |
| Enterprise | Custom pricing | Custom pricing |
The immediate takeaway: Supabase offers 5x more free MAUs, but Clerk's pricing is auth-focused while Supabase bundles authentication with database infrastructure.
Breaking Down Clerk's Pricing Model
Free tier limitations and paid tier structure
Clerk's free tier includes 10,000 monthly active users with core authentication features. Once you exceed this threshold or need advanced features, you'll move to paid plans starting at $25/month.
The Pro plan ($25/month) includes your first 10,000 MAUs, then charges $0.02 per additional MAU. This per-user pricing creates predictable—but potentially steep—scaling costs.
What you get at each price point
Clerk pricing is feature-gated, meaning certain capabilities only unlock at higher tiers:
- Free: Email/password auth, social logins (limited providers), basic session management
- Pro ($25/month): All social providers, custom domains, remove Clerk branding, enhanced security features
- Enterprise: SAML SSO, advanced compliance, dedicated support, custom contracts
Hidden costs and MAU calculation methodology
Clerk counts MAUs as any user who authenticates at least once during a billing period. Important considerations:
- Bot sign-ups count toward MAUs until you implement rate limiting
- Development/staging environments share the same MAU pool unless configured separately
- Social login users who abandon onboarding still count
Understanding Supabase Auth Pricing Structure
Free tier generosity and bundled services
Supabase Auth pricing stands out for its generous free tier: unlimited authentication users on the free plan. However, "free" comes with caveats—you're limited by Supabase's bundled service constraints (500MB database, 1GB file storage, 2GB bandwidth).
For teams only needing auth, this bundling can feel wasteful. For teams building on Supabase's full stack, it's exceptional value.
Paid tier breakdown and database coupling
The Pro tier at $25/month unlocks:
- 100,000 MAUs included
- 8GB database size
- Daily backups
- 7-day log retention
- Email support
Beyond 100k MAUs, you're charged $0.00325 per additional MAU—significantly cheaper than Clerk's per-user overage.
Cost predictability as you scale
Supabase's auth platform costs become increasingly attractive at scale due to:
- Lower per-MAU overage fees
- No feature-gating on core auth functionality
- Bundled infrastructure that many teams need anyway
Feature Parity Analysis: What You Pay For
When comparing SaaS authentication pricing, features matter as much as raw costs:
| Feature | Clerk | Supabase Auth |
|---------|-------|---------------|
| Social logins | 20+ providers | 15+ providers |
| MFA | Pro tier and above | All tiers (TOTP) |
| Pre-built UI components | Extensive, highly polished | Basic, functional |
| Session management | Advanced (multi-device) | Standard |
| SAML/Enterprise SSO | Enterprise only | Pro and above |
| Custom domains | Pro tier | Pro tier |
Clerk's developer experience justifies premium pricing for teams who value pre-built components and faster implementation. Supabase requires more custom development but offers core security features at lower price points.
Cost Scaling Scenarios: Startup to Enterprise
At 10k MAUs: side-by-side monthly cost
- Clerk: $25/month (Pro plan baseline)
- Supabase: $0-25/month (free tier covers it; Pro if you need database features)
Winner at 10k MAUs: Supabase, assuming you can work within free tier limitations.
At 100k MAUs: growth trajectory pricing
- Clerk: $25 + (90,000 × $0.02) = $1,825/month
- Supabase: $25 (Pro tier includes 100k) = $25/month
Winner at 100k MAUs: Supabase by a significant margin.
Enterprise volume pricing considerations
At 500k MAUs:
- Clerk: Approximately $8,025/month (before enterprise negotiations)
- Supabase: Approximately $1,325/month ($25 + 400k × $0.00325)
Both platforms offer enterprise contracts that can significantly reduce these figures, but Supabase's base pricing scales more favorably for high-volume consumer applications.
Hidden Costs and Budget Gotchas
Implementation time (developer hours)
Developer tool budget considerations extend beyond subscription fees:
- Clerk implementation: 4-8 hours for basic setup (excellent docs, pre-built components)
- Supabase implementation: 8-20 hours (more configuration required, less opinionated)
At $150/hour for developer time, Clerk's premium may offset implementation savings.
Migration complexity if switching later
Switching authentication providers mid-growth is painful. Factor in:
- User session invalidation and re-authentication requirements
- Password migration challenges (hashing compatibility)
- Social login reconfiguration
- Compliance audit implications
Budget 40-80 developer hours for a clean migration between platforms.
Support tier requirements
- Clerk: Email support at Pro; dedicated support requires Enterprise
- Supabase: Email support at Pro; priority support at Team ($599/month)
If your team lacks authentication expertise, factor support costs into your decision.
Decision Framework: Which Service Fits Your Budget?
When to choose Clerk
Select Clerk when:
- You're building B2B SaaS with complex user management needs
- Developer velocity is worth premium pricing
- Your MAU count will stay under 25,000
- Pre-built, polished UI components save significant design/dev time
- You need enterprise SSO features now
When to choose Supabase
Select Supabase when:
- You're building consumer applications with high MAU potential
- You already need Supabase's database or other bundled services
- Your budget prioritizes cost over implementation speed
- Core authentication features (email, social, MFA) meet your requirements
- Long-term scaling economics matter more than initial convenience
Budget threshold recommendations
- Under $500/month auth budget: Supabase offers more headroom
- Under 25k MAUs with premium feature needs: Clerk provides better ROI
- Over 50k MAUs: Supabase's economics become compelling regardless of features
Cost Optimization Tips for Either Platform
MAU management strategies
Reduce MAU counts without harming user experience:
- Implement aggressive bot protection before authentication
- Use anonymous sessions where possible (Supabase)
- Consolidate development/staging auth environments
- Purge inactive accounts systematically
Feature tier selection guidance
Avoid over-buying:
- Start with free tiers and upgrade only when you hit actual limits
- Audit which premium features you're actually using quarterly
- Consider annual billing (typically 15-20% savings) once you've validated requirements
Making the right authentication-as-a-service costs decision requires honest assessment of your scale trajectory and feature requirements. Both platforms offer legitimate value—the question is which value proposition aligns with your budget reality.
**Calculate your authentication costs with our SaaS Pricing ROI Calculator – model both Clerk and Supabase