Is Clerk or Okta better?

Neither clearly leads. Clerk starts at Free and Okta at Free, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.

Which is cheaper, Clerk or Okta?

Clerk starts at Free and Okta at Free.

Does Clerk or Okta run on more platforms?

Clerk runs on web, ios, android, api. Okta runs on Web, SaaS.

Can I use Clerk for free?

Both have a free tier, so you can try either at no cost before committing.

What is Clerk best used for?

Clerk is most often used for adding sign-in and user profiles to a web or mobile app quickly, b2b saas apps needing organizations and role-based access, startups wanting prebuilt ui instead of building auth in-house, apps needing mfa and fraud detection out of the box. Of those, adding sign-in and user profiles to a web or mobile app quickly and b2b saas apps needing organizations and role-based access are not what Okta is typically brought in for.

What can Clerk do that Okta cannot?

Clerk covers Prebuilt UI components, Organization management, Social sign-on, Billing. Okta covers Single sign-on (SSO), Lifecycle management, Universal directory, API access management. Both handle Multi-factor authentication.

Identity & Access Management · head to head

Clerk vs Okta

Clerk

Identity & Access Management

Drop-in user authentication and management for developers

From: Free
Rated: -

Full review Website

Okta

Technology

The identity platform for builders

From: Free
Rated: -

Full review Website

The short version

Each has a real cost: Clerk pricing scales with monthly retained users, which can grow expensive quickly for consumer apps with large user bases.; Okta requires $1,500 annual minimum contract
They diverge on capability: Clerk covers Prebuilt UI components, Okta covers Single sign-on (SSO).

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which Clerk and Okta actually diverge.

Attributes where Clerk and Okta differ
Attribute	Clerk	Okta
Pricing model	freemium	Unknown
Platforms	web, ios, android, api	Web, SaaS
Category	Identity & Access Management	Technology
Founded	Unknown	2009

Identical on both: starting price (Free), free tier (Yes), user rating (Not yet rated).

What each one covers

Drawn from each product's published feature list. An absence here means we hold no record of it - not that the product lacks it.

Only in Clerk

Prebuilt UI components
Organization management
Social sign-on
Billing
Enterprise connections

Only in Okta

Single sign-on (SSO)
Lifecycle management
Universal directory
API access management
B2B integration
Passwordless authentication
Adaptive MFA
Microsoft 365

Both cover

Multi-factor authentication

What people use each for

The jobs each tool is most often brought in to do.

Clerk

Adding sign-in and user profiles to a web or mobile app quicklynot Okta
B2B SaaS apps needing organizations and role-based accessnot Okta
Startups wanting prebuilt UI instead of building auth in-housenot Okta
Apps needing MFA and fraud detection out of the boxnot Okta

Okta

Employee SSOnot Clerk
Customer identitynot Clerk
B2B integrationnot Clerk
Zero Trust securitynot Clerk
Compliancenot Clerk

Where each one falls short

Documented limitations, not opinions. Every one is a constraint you would hit in normal use.

Clerk

Pricing scales with monthly retained users, which can grow expensive quickly for consumer apps with large user bases.
Enterprise SSO connections beyond the first are billed as add-ons, adding cost for larger organizations.
The Business tier's extra dashboard seats cost $20/month each, which adds up for larger teams.
Enterprise-tier features like the 99.99% uptime SLA require annual contracts rather than flexible monthly billing.

Okta

Requires $1,500 annual minimum contract
Admin-only MFA can be vulnerable to push notification fatigue attacks
Implementation requires significant services and integration fees in year one

Pricing, plan by plan

Clerk

Free

HobbyFree
- 50,000 MRU limit per app
- Up to 3 dashboard seats
- Unlimited applications
Pro$25/month
- 50,000 MRUs included, $0.02/MRU overage
- Up to 3 dashboard seats
- 1 Enterprise Connection included
Business$300/month
- 50,000 MRUs included with volume pricing
- 10 dashboard seats included
- SOC2 report and priority support
Enterprise$undefined/month
- Custom pricing, annual billing
- 99.99% uptime SLA
- HIPAA available, dedicated Slack channel

Okta

Free

Starter Suite$6/user/month
- SSO
- MFA
- Universal Directory
Core Essentials Suite$14/user/month
- Adaptive MFA
- Privileged Access
- Lifecycle Management
Essentials Suite$17/user/month
- Same as Core Essentials
- Most popular
Professional Suite$undefined/custom
- Device Access
- Identity Security Posture
- Threat Protection

Which should you pick?

Choose Clerk if

You need prebuilt ui components.
You want to start without paying.
You work on web, ios, android, api.
You also want organization management.

Clerk review

Choose Okta if

You need single sign-on (sso).
You want to start without paying.
You work on Web, SaaS.
You also want lifecycle management.

Okta review

Questions people ask

Is Clerk or Okta better?: Neither clearly leads. Clerk starts at Free and Okta at Free, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, Clerk or Okta?: Clerk starts at Free and Okta at Free.
Does Clerk or Okta run on more platforms?: Clerk runs on web, ios, android, api. Okta runs on Web, SaaS.
Can I use Clerk for free?: Both have a free tier, so you can try either at no cost before committing.
What is Clerk best used for?: Clerk is most often used for adding sign-in and user profiles to a web or mobile app quickly, b2b saas apps needing organizations and role-based access, startups wanting prebuilt ui instead of building auth in-house, apps needing mfa and fraud detection out of the box. Of those, adding sign-in and user profiles to a web or mobile app quickly and b2b saas apps needing organizations and role-based access are not what Okta is typically brought in for.
What can Clerk do that Okta cannot?: Clerk covers Prebuilt UI components, Organization management, Social sign-on, Billing. Okta covers Single sign-on (SSO), Lifecycle management, Universal directory, API access management. Both handle Multi-factor authentication.

Answered from the vendors’ own pages

Clerk: What does Clerk cost?

Clerk's Hobby plan is free with a 50,000 MRU limit; Pro is $25/month ($20/month billed annually), Business is $300/month ($250 annually), and Enterprise uses custom annual pricing.

Source

Okta: What is the minimum contract for Okta Workforce Identity?

Okta requires a $1,500 annual minimum contract for Workforce Identity plans. Pricing starts at $6 per user per month (Starter) and ranges to $17 per user per month (Essentials), billed annually.

Source

Clerk: Is there a free plan and what are its limits?

Yes, the Hobby plan is free with a 50,000 monthly retained user (MRU) limit per app, up to 3 dashboard seats, and unlimited applications, with no credit card required.

Source

Okta: Does Okta offer a free trial?

Yes, Okta provides a 30-day free trial so customers can explore all product capabilities before committing to a paid plan.

Source

Clerk: How is usage metered?

Clerk meters by monthly retained users (MRUs) — users who return to the app at least a day after signing up — with overage billed at $0.02 per MRU beyond the included 50,000 on paid plans.

Source

Okta: How many pre-built integrations does Okta support?

Okta offers over 7,000 pre-built integrations with popular enterprise applications including Salesforce, Slack, Workday, Box, Confluence, and Zendesk.

Source

Okta: What security features does Okta provide for admins?

Okta provides multi-factor authentication, adaptive MFA, single logout, and identity threat detection and response. However, only 94% of Okta customers have MFA enabled for administrators.

Source

Okta: Can Okta integrate with on-premises directories?

Yes, Okta's Universal Directory and lifecycle management support cloud and on-premises identity sources, including Active Directory and LDAP.

Source

Clerk vs Okta

Clerk

Okta

The short version

Where they differ

What each one covers

Only in Clerk

Only in Okta

Both cover

What people use each for

Clerk

Okta

Where each one falls short

Clerk

Okta

Pricing, plan by plan

Clerk

Okta

Which should you pick?

Choose Clerk if

Choose Okta if

Questions people ask

Answered from the vendors’ own pages

Related pages

More on Clerk

More on Okta

Keep looking

Other head to heads