Bitwarden vs Clerk
Bitwarden and Clerk are both security & identity tools. Bitwarden is aimed at freelancers and developers, while Clerk is aimed at developers. Bitwarden costs less, from $1.65/mo versus $25/mo for Clerk. Both have a free plan.
| Pricing | Open source · $2 | Freemium · $25 |
| Starting price | $1.65/mo | $25/mo |
| Free plan | Yes | Yes |
| Free trial | — | — |
| Built for | Freelancers, Developers, Small businesses | Developers |
| Platforms | web, macos, windows, linux, ios, android | web |
| Country | US · 2016 | US · 2019 |
| Rating | — | — |
Choose Bitwarden if
Individuals and businesses who want solid, audited security at the lowest cost.
- Best free password manager
- Open source and self-hostable
- Very low business pricing
Look elsewhere if: Users who prioritize the most polished UX (1Password).
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.
Bitwarden vs Clerk pricing
Bitwarden
- Free$0Unlimited passwords and devices
- Premium$1.65/moBilled annually at $19.80; security reports, emergency access
- Families$3.99/moBilled annually at $47.88; up to 6 users
- Teams$4/user/moBilled annually; shared collections, event logs
- Enterprise$6/user/moBilled annually; SSO, SCIM, policies
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
Bitwarden · Key features
- Unlimited vault items and devices on the free plan
- Passkeys, TOTP authenticator (Premium) and emergency access
- Shared collections, roles and policies for teams
- SSO, SCIM and self-hosting (Enterprise)
- Secrets Manager for developers
- Open source with regular third-party audits
Cons
- UI less polished than 1Password
- Autofill reliability varies by site
- Fewer integrations with device trust tools
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
Bitwarden vs Clerk: FAQ
Which is cheaper, Bitwarden or Clerk?
Bitwarden starts at $1.65/mo and Clerk at $25/mo. Both prices are checked on the vendors' own pricing pages.
Do Bitwarden and Clerk have a free plan?
Yes, both Bitwarden and Clerk have a free plan; paid plans add more usage and features.
Which is better for small businesses, Bitwarden or Clerk?
Bitwarden lists small businesses as a core audience, while Clerk is aimed more at developers.