Auth0 is a powerful identity platform, but its pricing is one of the steepest cliffs in developer tools. The free tier gives you 25K MAU — generous for prototyping. But the moment you outgrow it, you're looking at the Essential plan starting at $240/month for just 500 external MAU. That's a jump from $0 to nearly $3,000/year with no middle ground.
The pricing pain is compounded by complexity. Auth0's tenant model, rule/action system, and connection limits create billing surprises. Teams regularly discover they need features (SSO, MFA customization, branding removal) that are locked behind higher tiers. "Auth0 alternatives" remains one of the most consistently searched developer queries.
The authentication landscape in 2026 offers real competition. Managed platforms (Clerk, WorkOS, Stytch) provide modern DX with generous free tiers. Open-source solutions (Keycloak, FusionAuth, Ory, Logto) give you unlimited users when self-hosted. And BaaS platforms (Supabase, Firebase) include auth as part of a broader free tier. The right choice depends on whether you prioritize DX, cost, or control.
Limits Increased
Auth0 increased free tier from 7,500 to 25,000 monthly active users. Largest free tier expansion since Okta acquisition. Makes Auth0 competitive with Clerk and Firebase Auth on free tier Source ↗
Before: Free tier: 7,500 MAU, unlimited social connections, 2 organizations After: Free tier: 25,000 MAU (+233%), unlimited social connections, 5 organizations. Actions, Branding, MFA included
Superseded: As of 2026-09-03, supabase.com/pricing reads: The free tier includes unlimited API requests, 50,000 monthly active users, 500 MB database size, 5 GB egress, 1 GB file storage. Free projects are paused after 1 week of inactivity. Paid plans include $10/mo in compute credits. We are not publishing our stored Supabase terms beside it — our own pricing change record, discovered 2026-09-03, names them as the previous ones. Read what we recorded ↓
Free OSS (Apache 2.0). Red Hat-backed identity and access management. SSO, OIDC, SAML, LDAP, social login, MFA, fine-grained authorization. Self-hosted with no user limits
Superseded: As of 2026-09-01, fusionauth.io/pricing reads: Community: 1,000 MAUs Self-hosted: Free Download FusionAuth Community is free and unlimited. It has the core authentication features. Core authentication standards & features most apps need Community support (forums, Slack, Github) Self-host FusionAuth on your own infrastructure for free. We are not publishing our stored FusionAuth terms beside it — our own pricing change record, discovered 2026-09-01, names them as the previous ones. Read what we recorded ↓
Superseded: As of 2026-09-02, logto.io/pricing reads: Free tier is $0/month for up to 50,000 MAU and 50K tokens. Includes user authentication, machine-to-machine apps, account APIs, audit logs, and user management. Additional features like RBAC, MFA, and Organizations are paid add-ons. We are not publishing our stored Logto terms beside it — our own pricing change record, discovered 2026-09-02, names them as the previous ones. Read what we recorded ↓
*FusionAuth and Keycloak are free self-hosted with no user limits. WorkOS leads managed platforms at 1M MAU free (AuthKit). Clerk and Logto both offer 50K MAU. Supabase and Firebase bundle auth into broader BaaS free tiers.
As of 2026-09-03, supabase.com/pricing reads: The free tier includes unlimited API requests, 50,000 monthly active users, 500 MB… Our stored Supabase terms are superseded and withheld.
As of 2026-09-01, fusionauth.io/pricing reads: Community: 1,000 MAUs Self-hosted: Free Download FusionAuth Community is free and… Our stored FusionAuth terms are superseded and withheld.
As of 2026-09-02, logto.io/pricing reads: Free tier is $0/month for up to 50,000 MAU and 50K tokens… Our stored Logto terms are superseded and withheld.
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