Of the six Auth0 alternatives pages we read, five quote no prices at all. This one lists five alternatives with the numbers from each vendor's own pricing page, read on 28 October 2026. They're list prices, with no discounts or negotiated terms, and the ranking is our judgment for a team of 5-30 engineers replacing Auth0. Auth0 is the baseline, not a row. Auth is one of many stack decisions, and the rest are in Hire developers by tech stack: rates, vetting and interview guides.
Auth0 alternatives at a glance
| Provider | Free tier | Starting paid price | SSO connections | Best for |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Descope | 7,500 MAU, 10 monthly active tenants | Pro from $249/mo billed annually (10,000 MAU) | 3 free; 5 on Pro; 10 on Growth | A B2B app that needs a small-team plan with SSO built in |
| Stytch | 10,000 monthly active users and AI agents ("Always free") | Pay as you go; no per-MAU rate on the page, "Volume discounts" | 5 included; extra at $125/connection | Teams that want to stay on usage billing |
| WorkOS | First 1M MAU free | $2,500/mo per additional 1M MAU | $125 each for 1-15 connections | A large free consumer base, paying only when enterprise SSO sells |
| FusionAuth | Community edition: free and unlimited, self-hosted | Starter $162/mo billed annually, at the 1,000 MAU selector | Not stated on the pages we read | Teams that will self-host now or pick hosting later |
| Keycloak | Open source project, no price on its page | n/a | OpenID Connect, OAuth 2.0 and SAML supported | Teams with an engineer to run it |
Best for is our judgment; prices are from each vendor's pricing page in October 2026.
Descope ranks first in our judgment because its small paid plan (Pro, $249 a month) includes 5 SSO connections. Stytch also includes 5, on usage billing, and ranks second for teams that want to stay on usage billing. That's judgment, not a benchmark. WorkOS ranks third because its pricing only makes sense if enterprise SSO is your revenue driver. FusionAuth and Keycloak come last because they put the operating work on you.
Clerk isn't a row. The comparison with Auth0 already lives in Clerk against Auth0 head to head, so we won't repeat it here.
What does Auth0 cost?
Auth0's pricing page lists a Free plan at $0 a month with "up to 25,000 MAUs" and no credit card. Paid plans start higher. Essentials is $35 a month for B2C and $150 for B2B. Professional is $240 for B2C and $800 for B2B. Every starting price covers 500 MAUs. Enterprise is "contact sales". Yearly billing is 11 times the monthly price, which Auth0 describes as one month free.
The rule that matters is this one, quoted from the page: "If your usage falls between tiers, you are billed at the next tier up." Auth0's price table shows 5,000 MAUs at the following. Essentials B2C is $350 a month, or $3,850 a year. Essentials B2B is $1,300 a month, or $14,300 a year.
We can't tell you the Auth0 price at exactly 7,500 MAU. On the page we read, the price comes from a MAU selector and a B2C or B2B toggle, and the text doesn't state a figure for that tier. We aren't going to guess one. What the 5,000 example shows is the shape: the B2B bill is almost four times the B2C bill at the same user count.
The comparison that does work is free-tier thresholds, because they differ by orders of magnitude. Auth0 Free goes to 25,000 MAU. Descope's Free Forever plan covers 7,500 MAUs. Stytch's always-free tier covers 10,000. WorkOS charges nothing for the first 1M. At 7,500 users, all four list a $0 plan. The free plans have different feature limits, and we haven't compared them line by line, so check that yours includes what you need.
For a B2B product, SSO is where the bill starts. This is an illustration using only the unit prices above, not a quote. A B2B product with 10 enterprise customers, each on its own SSO connection:
- WorkOS: 10 x $125 = $1,250 a month.
- Stytch: 5 connections are included, so the other 5 are 5 x $125 = $625 a month.
- Descope: the Growth plan includes 10 SSO connections and starts at $799 a month billed annually.
The Descope figure is the plan's starting price, not a computed total, and plan limits apply to users and tenants too. The three prices aren't the same product, so treat this as a sizing exercise.
Which alternative for which situation?
It depends on what's driving your bill. This table is judgment, built from the prices above.
| Your situation | Pick | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Under 7,500 users, B2B, a few SSO customers | Descope | Free plan with 3 SSO connections, Pro includes 5 |
| You want usage billing and up to 10,000 users free | Stytch | Always-free tier at 10,000, 5 SSO connections included |
| Big consumer base, few paying enterprise accounts | WorkOS | First 1M MAU free, SSO charged per connection |
| You'd rather own the stack | FusionAuth Community or Keycloak | Open source, but you run it and should check the licence |
| Your Auth0 bill is small and stable | Stay on Auth0 | Free to 25,000 MAU, and migration costs engineer time |
Is there a free version of Auth0?
Yes. Auth0's Free plan is $0 a month for up to 25,000 MAUs, with no credit card needed. That's a bigger free allowance than Descope (7,500) or Stytch (10,000), though smaller than WorkOS, which lists the first 1M MAUs as free. FusionAuth Community is free and unlimited, but you host it yourself.
Open source: Keycloak and FusionAuth Community
Keycloak's home page says it's based on standard protocols and supports OpenID Connect, OAuth 2.0 and SAML. It also says Keycloak is a Cloud Native Computing Foundation incubation project. Keycloak is open source; the page we read names no licence, so check the licence and what running it yourself costs. FusionAuth describes its Community edition as free and unlimited, and runs it self-hosted.
Free software has an operator. Someone has to upgrade it, patch it, size the database and get paged when login breaks at 2 a.m. For a product where nobody can sign in when auth is down, that's an on-call commitment. If you're picking this route, read setting up an on-call rotation for a nearshore team before you commit. Whether the people cost is lower than a hosted bill depends on your team, and we haven't priced it.
What this means for choosing an auth provider
Decide on three questions, in this order.
First, how many users will you have in 12 months? If you stay under 7,500, several of these vendors list a $0 plan. If you're heading toward 25,000 and beyond, Auth0's tier rule ("billed at the next tier up") is the thing to model.
Second, how many enterprise customers will ask for SSO? At $125 a connection on WorkOS and Stytch, ten customers cost $625-1,250 a month in the illustration above. If SSO is a deal requirement, choose on that number, not on the headline MAU price. Those same buyers will likely ask for evidence too, so know what SOC 2 Type 1 and Type 2 mean before the first questionnaire arrives.
Third, who owns auth and the migration? Moving providers means re-issuing sessions, migrating users and testing every login path. Budget for it as a project with an owner. If that's unaffordable, renegotiating with Auth0 is a real option.
Next, read answering a customer's security questionnaire about vendors, because your identity vendor will be on that list.
Hiring Node.js engineers through HighCircl
If nobody on your team wants to own an auth migration, bring in someone who has done one. HighCircl sends a shortlist of 3-5 vetted senior engineers within 72 hours, from seven European countries, at €45-105/hr ($50-115/hr). Vetting has four stages run by senior engineers, and about 1 in 10 applicants passes. The margin is 20% and capped, with no subscription or recruitment fee. Start with Node.js engineers through HighCircl.
FAQ
Is there a free version of Auth0?
Yes. Auth0's pricing page lists a Free plan at $0 a month for up to 25,000 MAUs, with no credit card needed. Paid Essentials plans start at $35 a month for B2C and $150 for B2B, each covering 500 MAUs at the starting price.
Auth0 vs Firebase and Cognito: which is better?
We can't say. We read Auth0's pricing page and not Firebase's or Amazon Cognito's, so we're not making a claim about either. Check their pricing pages against the same two numbers used here: free users and SSO cost.
What is the difference between OAuth and Auth0?
OAuth 2.0 is a protocol. Auth0 is a vendor product that sells login and user management. Keycloak's home page lists OpenID Connect, OAuth 2.0 and SAML as standards it supports, which shows that protocols and products are separate things. You can use OAuth without Auth0.
What is the cheapest Auth0 alternative at small scale?
In our judgment from list prices, the free tiers. Descope's covers 7,500 MAUs, Stytch's 10,000 and WorkOS's the first 1M. FusionAuth Community is free but self-hosted, and Keycloak is open source but you run it. Past the free tier, Descope Pro starts at $249 a month billed annually and FusionAuth Starter at $162, at the 1,000 MAU selector.
Who are Auth0's main competitors?
On the pages we read, Descope, Stytch, WorkOS, FusionAuth and Keycloak, compared in the table above. Clerk is covered in our separate Auth0 comparison. We haven't read pages for Cognito, Firebase, Okta or others, so we're not ranking them.