1Password vs Clerk
1Password and Clerk are both security & identity tools. 1Password is aimed at small businesses and enterprise, while Clerk is aimed at developers. 1Password costs less, from $3.99/mo versus $25/mo for Clerk. Only Clerk has a free plan.
| Pricing | Paid · $4 | Freemium · $25 |
| Starting price | $3.99/mo | $25/mo |
| Free plan | No | Yes |
| Free trial | 14 days | — |
| Built for | Small businesses, Enterprise, Freelancers | Developers |
| Platforms | web, macos, windows, linux, ios, android | web |
| Country | CA · 2005 | US · 2019 |
| Rating | — | — |
Choose 1Password if
Businesses and individuals who want the most polished experience and are willing to pay for it.
- Excellent apps and autofill reliability
- Strong security architecture and audits
- Business features are mature
Look elsewhere if: Budget users and open-source purists (Bitwarden, Proton Pass).
Choose Clerk if
React and Next.js teams who want production auth with great UX immediately.
- Beautiful components save weeks of work
- Generous free tier
- Organizations and B2B features built in
Look elsewhere if: Teams requiring full ownership of auth data (Better Auth, Keycloak) or non-JS stacks.
1Password vs Clerk pricing
1Password
- Individual$3.99/moBilled annually; first-year promo $2.99/mo; 1 user
- Families$5.99/moBilled annually; promo $4.49/mo; 5 members
- Teams Starter Pack$24.95/moBilled annually; 10 users, extra seats $4.99
- Business$8.99/user/moBilled annually; SSO, admin controls
- EnterpriseCustom
Clerk
- Hobby$050,000 monthly retained users per app, 3 dashboard seats
- Pro$25/mo$20/mo billed annually; 50k MRUs, then from $0.02/MRU
- Business$300/mo$250/mo billed annually; 10 dashboard seats
- EnterpriseCustomAnnual billing; 99.99% uptime SLA, volume discounts
1Password · Key features
- Vaults for passwords, passkeys, cards, documents and SSH keys
- Watchtower breach and weak-password monitoring
- Autofill across browsers, desktop and mobile apps
- Shared vaults, guest access and Travel Mode
- Business: SSO, policies, reporting, Extended Access Management
- Developer CLI, SSH agent and secrets automation
Cons
- No free tier
- More expensive than Bitwarden
- Some advanced features need Business or Enterprise
Clerk · Key features
- Prebuilt UI components for auth and user profile
- Email, password, passkeys, OTP and 20+ social providers
- Organizations, roles and permissions (B2B)
- MFA, bot protection and session management
- Clerk Billing for subscriptions and feature gating
- SDKs for Next.js, React, Remix, Expo, Astro and more
Cons
- User data lives with a third party
- Per-user (MRU) cost grows with scale
- Enhanced features (SAML, MFA) cost extra
1Password vs Clerk: FAQ
Which is cheaper, 1Password or Clerk?
1Password starts at $3.99/mo and Clerk at $25/mo. Both prices are checked on the vendors' own pricing pages.
Do 1Password and Clerk have a free plan?
1Password has no free plan, a 14-day free trial. Clerk has a free plan.
Which is better for small businesses, 1Password or Clerk?
1Password lists small businesses as a core audience, while Clerk is aimed more at developers.