Pick Clerk if
next.js / SaaS teams who will stay on Hobby at $0 (50,000 MRUs, 3 seats) while they ship a first Sign-in, then buy Pro at $20/month billed yearly ($25 monthly) when they need MFA, passkeys, and branding removed.
Read the Clerk pageClerk vs Descope
Our take
Pick Clerk if next.js / SaaS teams who will stay on Hobby at $0 (50,000 MRUs, 3 seats) while they ship a first Sign-in, then buy Pro at $20/month billed yearly ($25 monthly) when they need MFA, passkeys, and branding removed. Pick Descope if saaS teams who will stay on Free Forever at $0 (7,500 MAUs, 10 tenants, 3 SSO, no watermark) while they ship a first Sign Up or In Flow, then buy Pro at $249/month billed
Best for
Clerk Sign-in you start at $0
Descope Sign-in journeys you draw at $0
Free plan
Clerk $0 · no card. 50,000 MRUs / app. 3 dashboard seats. Unlimited applications. Custom domain. Session 7 days. Logs 1 day. API keys: 1,000 creations / 100,000 verifications. M2M: 2,500 / 100,000. Up to 5 impersonations. Up to 3 social connections
Descope $0 · 7,500 MAUs. 10 monthly active tenants. 3 SSO connections. 1 federated OIDC app. 5 test users. 10,000 M2M exchanges. 2,000 MACs / 2,000 MATKs. All auth methods, RBAC, MFA, sessions, widgets, connectors, no watermark, community support, 99% SLA. No overages — upgrade required to exceed limits
Lowest paid
Clerk Pro $25/mo
Descope Pro $249/mo yearly
Next step up
Clerk B2B Enhanced add-on $100/mo
Descope Growth $799/mo yearly
Runs where
Clerk Local or hosted
Descope Hosted
Watch out
Clerk Hobby MFA / passkeys / no-branding are Pro
Descope Pro $249 is billed annually
Last checked
Clerk 2026-10-23 · clerk.com/pricing
Descope 2026-10-23 · descope.com/pricing
Which one, then?
Pick Descope if
saaS teams who will stay on Free Forever at $0 (7,500 MAUs, 10 tenants, 3 SSO, no watermark) while they ship a first Sign Up or In Flow, then buy Pro at $249/month billed annually when they need a custom domain and 10,000 MAUs.
Read the Descope page