Better Auth
Open source TypeScript authentication framework that joined Vercel on 7 July 2026.
Pricing Open sourcePaid from $20 a month for Pro (managed infrastructure)Open source yesStars 30.3knpm a week 13M
Keycloak alternatives
9 tools you can use instead of Keycloak, ranked by live GitHub stars and npm downloads. Better Auth, WorkOS and Clerk are the most used. Stats updated 5 hours ago.
When Keycloak is not a good fit
Keycloak is an open source identity and access management server that adds authentication and single sign-on to applications and services. It is a Cloud Native Computing Foundation incubation project and supports OpenID Connect, OAuth 2.0 and SAML 2.0. You run it yourself, so there is no per-user fee, but you also run the updates and the infrastructure.
It is a weaker choice for:
- Small apps that want sign-in running in an afternoon: you host, upgrade and secure it yourself
- Teams that want a vendor to run it and answer support calls: the project itself does not sell a hosted service
- Apps that need prebuilt UI components in a specific frontend framework: Keycloak is a standalone server with its own login pages
The alternatives
Most used first.
View Better Auth
WorkOS
Enterprise-readiness platform adding SSO, directory sync, audit logs and user management to an app.
Pricing FreemiumPaid from $125 a month per connection for Single Sign-On or Directory SyncOpen source noStars 224npm a week 4M
Clerk
Hosted authentication and user management with prebuilt sign-in, profile and organization components.
Pricing FreemiumPaid from $25 a month, or $20 a month billed yearly (Pro)Open source noStars 1.8knpm a week 3.1M
SuperTokens
Open source authentication platform, free to self-host with no limits, or managed cloud from $0.02 per MAU.
Pricing FreemiumPaid from $0.02 per MAU (managed cloud, beyond free tier)Open source yesStars 15.3knpm a week 76k
Ory
Open source identity and access management platform, self-hosted or as a managed cloud service.
Pricing FreemiumPaid from $770 a year for the Production planOpen source yesStars 13.9knpm a week 205k
Auth0
Identity and access management platform for authentication and single sign-on, owned by Okta.
Pricing FreemiumPaid from $35 a month for Essentials (up to 500 monthly active users)Open source noStars 2.3knpm a week 1.1M
Stytch
Authentication platform with passwordless, fraud prevention and B2B SSO/SCIM support, priced pay-as-you-go.
Pricing FreemiumPaid from Usage-based pricing beyond free tier limits (Pay as You Go plan)Open source noStars 116npm a week 333k
FusionAuth
Authentication and user management platform, free to self-host or available as a hosted service.
Pricing FreemiumPaid from $162 a month billed annually (Starter, hosted)Open source nonpm a week 76.5k
Kinde
Authentication and user management platform with a generous free tier and built-in billing tools.
Pricing FreemiumPaid from $25 a month (Pro plan)Open source noStars 184npm a week 57.8k
Keycloak and its alternatives, side by side
| Tool | Pricing | Free plan | Paid from | Open source | GitHub stars |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Keycloak | Open source | Yes: free to download and self-host, with no user limits | Not listed | Yes, Apache-2.0 | None |
| Better Auth | Open source | The framework is free. The managed Starter plan is $0 a month with 1 dashboard seat. | $20 a month for Pro (managed infrastructure) | Yes, MIT | 30.3k |
| WorkOS | Freemium | Yes: AuthKit is free for up to 1 million monthly active users | $125 a month per connection for Single Sign-On or Directory Sync | No | 224 |
| Clerk | Freemium | Yes: Hobby plan with 50,000 monthly retained users per app and up to 3 dashboard seats | $25 a month, or $20 a month billed yearly (Pro) | No | 1.8k |
| SuperTokens | Freemium | Yes: self-hosted open source features are free with no limits; managed cloud is free under 5,000 MAU | $0.02 per MAU (managed cloud, beyond free tier) | Yes, Apache-2.0 | 15.3k |
| Ory | Freemium | Yes: the Developer plan is free, with 2 development environments and community support; self-hosting the open source components is also free | $770 a year for the Production plan | Yes, Apache-2.0 (core open source components) | 13.9k |
| Auth0 | Freemium | Yes: up to 25,000 monthly active users, 1 custom domain, passwordless auth, unlimited social connections, 5 organizations | $35 a month for Essentials (up to 500 monthly active users) | No | 2.3k |
| Stytch | Freemium | Yes: 10,000 monthly active users and AI agents, unlimited organizations, 5 SSO/SCIM connections and 1,000 M2M tokens included free | Usage-based pricing beyond free tier limits (Pay as You Go plan) | No | 116 |
| FusionAuth | Freemium | Yes: Community edition is free and self-hosted with unlimited users | $162 a month billed annually (Starter, hosted) | No | None |
| Kinde | Freemium | Yes, forever free: 10,500 monthly active users included, no setup or hidden fees | $25 a month (Pro plan) | No | 184 |
Pricing facts come from each tool's official pricing page, with the checked date on the tool's own page.
Questions
What is the most popular alternative to Keycloak?
By GitHub stars, Better Auth is the most used alternative to Keycloak listed on ScratchDB, with 30.3k stars.
Which Keycloak alternatives are open source?
Better Auth, SuperTokens and Ory are open source.
Which Keycloak alternatives have a free plan?
WorkOS, Clerk, SuperTokens, Ory, Auth0, Stytch, FusionAuth and Kinde have a free plan. The table on this page shows what each one includes.