Software · head to head
Clerk vs Ory
Clerk
Software
Drop-in user authentication and management for developers
- From
- Free
- Rated
- -
Ory
Software
Open-source identity, authentication, and permissions infrastructure
- From
- Free
- Rated
- -
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.; Ory production and Growth plans are billed annually ($770/year and $9,350/year), which is a larger upfront commitment than monthly-only competitors.
- They diverge on capability: Clerk covers Prebuilt UI components, Ory covers Authentication APIs.
Where they differ
Only the attributes on which Clerk and Ory actually diverge.
Identical on both: starting price (Free), free tier (Yes), user rating (Not yet rated), category (Unknown).
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
- Multi-factor authentication
- Social sign-on
- Billing
- Enterprise connections
Only in Ory
- Authentication APIs
- Permissions engine
- Machine-to-machine tokens
- B2B organizations
- SAML SSO
- Multi-region deployments
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 Ory
- B2B SaaS apps needing organizations and role-based accessnot Ory
- Startups wanting prebuilt UI instead of building auth in-housenot Ory
- Apps needing MFA and fraud detection out of the boxnot Ory
Ory
- Adding self-hosted or cloud identity to a new productnot Clerk
- Implementing fine-grained permission checksnot Clerk
- Supporting B2B organizations and multi-tenancynot Clerk
- Building machine-to-machine authentication for microservicesnot 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.
Ory
- Production and Growth plans are billed annually ($770/year and $9,350/year), which is a larger upfront commitment than monthly-only competitors.
- SAML SSO and multi-region deployments are reserved for the custom-priced Enterprise tier.
- Usage-based pricing across aDAU, M2M tokens, and permission checks makes cost estimation more complex than flat per-MAU billing.
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
Ory
Free- DeveloperFree
- Community support
- No production environments
- Production$64/month
- $21 monthly credit included
- 1 production environment
- 3 staging environments
- Growth$779/month
- $255 monthly credit included
- 2 production environments
- B2B organizations (max 3)
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.
Choose Ory if
- You need authentication apis.
- You want to start without paying.
- You work on web, api.
- You also want permissions engine.
Questions people ask
- Is Clerk or Ory better?
- Neither clearly leads. Clerk starts at Free and Ory at Free, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
- Which is cheaper, Clerk or Ory?
- Clerk starts at Free and Ory at Free.
- Does Clerk or Ory run on more platforms?
- Clerk runs on web, ios, android, api. Ory runs on web, api.
- 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 Ory is typically brought in for.
- What can Clerk do that Ory cannot?
- Clerk covers Prebuilt UI components, Organization management, Multi-factor authentication, Social sign-on. Ory covers Authentication APIs, Permissions engine, Machine-to-machine tokens, B2B organizations.
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.
SourceOry: What does Ory cost?
Ory has a free Developer tier, a Production plan at $770/year including a $21 monthly credit, a Growth plan at $9,350/year including a $255 monthly credit, and custom Enterprise pricing.
SourceClerk: 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.
SourceOry: How is usage metered?
Beyond the included credit, Ory charges per average daily active user (aDAU), per machine-to-machine token, and per permission check, with lower per-unit rates on the Growth plan.
SourceClerk: 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.
SourceOry: What payment methods are supported?
Ory accepts credit cards (Visa, MasterCard, Amex) and bank transfer, processed via Stripe.
Source