# Free alternatives to Clerk

> Clerk (Pro) costs $240 a year. Free alternatives: Logto, Better Auth and ZITADEL. Data checked 2026-10-17.

- Page: https://stoprenting.dev/apps/clerk/
- Category: Developer Tools (https://stoprenting.dev/categories/developer-tools/)
- Vendor: Clerk
- Plan: Pro
- Price: $20/month, $240/year
- Billing: $25/mo monthly or $20/mo billed annually (pricing table: "$25/mo, $20/mo billed annually"); 50,000 MRU included per app
- Price quote from the vendor's page: "Pro Monthly Annual $20 per month, billed annually"
- Price source: https://clerk.com/pricing (checked 2026-10-17)

## Alternatives

### Logto

- Website: https://logto.io
- Repository: https://github.com/logto-io/logto (14,687 stars, last push 2026-10-17)
- License: MPL-2.0
- Open source: yes, OSI-approved license
- Type: server app
- Linux: self-hosted server; web UI
- Self-hostable: yes
- More: https://stoprenting.dev/alternatives/logto/
- Checked: 2026-10-17

### Better Auth

- Website: https://better-auth.com
- Repository: https://github.com/better-auth/better-auth (30,335 stars, last push 2026-10-17)
- License: MIT
- Open source: yes, OSI-approved license
- Type: server app
- Linux: self-hosted server; web UI
- Self-hostable: yes
- Note: A TypeScript library, not a hosted service: you build the sign-in UI and user admin screens yourself.
- More: https://stoprenting.dev/alternatives/better-auth/
- Checked: 2026-10-17

### ZITADEL

- Website: https://zitadel.com
- Repository: https://github.com/zitadel/zitadel (15,334 stars, last push 2026-10-16)
- License: AGPL-3.0
- Open source: yes, OSI-approved license
- Type: server app
- Linux: self-hosted server; web UI
- Self-hostable: yes
- More: https://stoprenting.dev/alternatives/zitadel/
- Checked: 2026-10-17

## FAQ

### Is there a free alternative to Clerk?

Yes. The 3 free alternatives are Logto (open source, MPL-2.0), Better Auth (open source, MIT) and ZITADEL (open source, AGPL-3.0).

### How much does Clerk cost?

Clerk's Pro plan costs $20 a month, which is $240 a year ($25/mo monthly or $20/mo billed annually (pricing table: "$25/mo, $20/mo billed annually"); 50,000 MRU included per app). Source: the official pricing page at clerk.com, checked Oct 17, 2026.

### Which Clerk alternatives run on Linux?

Logto (self-hosted server; web UI), Better Auth (self-hosted server; web UI) and ZITADEL (self-hosted server; web UI).

### Can you self-host a Clerk alternative?

Yes. Logto, Better Auth and ZITADEL run on your own server.

### Are these Clerk alternatives open source?

Yes. All 3 use OSI-approved open-source licenses: Logto (MPL-2.0), Better Auth (MIT) and ZITADEL (AGPL-3.0).

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Source: Stop Renting (https://stoprenting.dev). Methodology: https://stoprenting.dev/methodology/