Limits, pricing history. Verified September 2026. Last updated 2026-09-19.
Clerk's free tier offers Drop-in auth with 50K monthly retained users free, unlimited apps. We rate it stable. The one record we hold was our own error and has been withdrawn.
Retracted — this record was our error (2026-09-05). The Hobby tier still exists. The description of included features is more detailed and includes limits for Machine Authentication API Keys and M2M Tokens. The page also details pricing for exceeding the 50,000 MRU limit per app. Retracted 2026-09-05: Clerk's Hobby plan was not restructured. clerk.com/pricing, fetched 2026-09-05, renders Hobby as "Free", "No credit card required", "Unlimited applications" and "50,000 MRU limit per app", and the same page's FAQ states "Clerk pricing is based on Monthly Retained Users (MRU)" — which is what our stored description already carried. This record's own summary says the tier still exists and that what changed is the level of detail in the feature list. This row was our error, not a change Clerk made. Source ↗
After: Hobby tier is free and includes up to 50,000 MRU per app, unlimited applications, up to 3 dashboard seats, and limits for Machine Authentication API Keys and M2M Tokens. Additional MRUs are priced per month.
We do not push notifications. Every change we record is readable the moment it lands, and the JSON answer carries an ETag — send it back as If-None-Match and an unchanged answer costs one 304.
Yes, Clerk offers a free tier: Hobby. Drop-in auth with 50K monthly retained users free, unlimited apps
What is Clerk's free tier?
Clerk's free tier is called "Hobby". Drop-in auth with 50K monthly retained users free, unlimited apps
Is Clerk's free tier reliable?
Clerk's free tier is considered stable. The one record we hold was our own error and has been withdrawn. See the pricing history below.
Is Clerk's free tier good for production?
Clerk's free tier can be suitable for small production workloads and side projects. We rate it stable and it offers Drop-in auth with 50K monthly retained users free, unlimited apps, so it's a reasonable starting point. The one record we hold was our own error and has been withdrawn. Monitor your usage against the limits and have an upgrade plan ready.
What changed in Clerk's pricing?
The one record we hold was our own error and has been withdrawn.
When will I outgrow Clerk's free tier?
When your usage exceeds the free tier limits, you'll need to upgrade. When you outgrow the free tier, evaluate paid plans against alternatives — sometimes a competitor's free tier covers what you need.
What category is Clerk in?
Clerk is categorized under Auth on AgentDeals.
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