Clerk vs Okta
Clerk and Okta are both security & identity tools. Clerk is aimed at developers, while Okta is aimed at enterprise and small businesses. Okta costs less, from $6/mo versus $25/mo for Clerk. Only Clerk has a free plan.
Drop-in authentication and user management
Enterprise identity platform for SSO, MFA and user lifecycle
| Pricing | Freemium · $25 | Paid · $6 |
| Starting price | $25/mo | $6/mo |
| Free plan | Yes | No |
| Free trial | — | 30 days |
| Built for | Developers | Enterprise, Small businesses, Developers |
| Platforms | web | web, macos, windows, ios, android |
| Country | US · 2019 | US · 2009 |
| Rating | — | — |
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.
Choose Okta if
Mid-sized and large companies with many SaaS apps that need central SSO, MFA and automated joiner, mover and leaver processes.
- Largest catalog of prebuilt SSO and provisioning integrations
- Vendor-neutral, works well across Microsoft, Google and AWS
- Mature lifecycle automation that speeds onboarding and offboarding
Look elsewhere if: Very small teams or those fully on Microsoft 365 (Microsoft Entra ID, Keycloak, 1Password).
Clerk vs Okta pricing
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
Okta
- Starter$6/user/moBilled annually; SSO, MFA, Universal Directory, 5 Workflows
- Core Essentials$14/user/moBilled annually; mid-tier bundle between Starter and Essentials
- Essentials$17/user/moBilled annually; Adaptive MFA, lifecycle, governance, 50 Workflows
- Professional / EnterpriseCustomDevice Access, ITDR, ISPM, API Access Management
- Customer Identity$3,000/moEnterprise base platform, billed annually
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
Okta · Key features
- Single sign-on to thousands of apps via the Okta Integration Network
- Adaptive MFA with Okta Verify push, biometrics and FastPass
- Universal Directory that syncs users from AD, LDAP and HR systems
- Lifecycle management for automatic provisioning and deprovisioning
- No-code Okta Workflows for identity automation
- Identity governance, access reviews and privileged access
Cons
- $1,500 annual minimum rules out very small teams
- Many capabilities are add-ons, so real costs exceed list prices
- Professional and Enterprise tiers are quote-only
Clerk vs Okta: FAQ
Which is cheaper, Clerk or Okta?
Okta starts at $6/mo and Clerk at $25/mo. Both prices are checked on the vendors' own pricing pages.
Do Clerk and Okta have a free plan?
Clerk has a free plan. Okta has no free plan, a 30-day free trial.
Which is better for small businesses, Clerk or Okta?
Okta lists small businesses as a core audience, while Clerk is aimed more at developers.