Better Auth vs Stytch
Pricing
Better Auth: Free and open source (MIT); optional managed dashboard from $20/mo
Stytch: Free up to 10,000 MAU, then pay as you go
Description
Better Auth: Open-source TypeScript authentication framework that runs inside your app and stores users in your own database
Stytch: Passwordless authentication API focused on magic links, OTPs, and passkeys
Pros
- Free under the MIT licence; you pay only if you want the optional managed dashboard
- Works across frameworks and lets you bring your own database
- Plugins add OAuth providers and security features such as rate limiting, bot detection and breached-password checks
- Purpose-built for passwordless: magic links, OTPs, passkeys, and biometrics
- Free tier covers 10,000 monthly active users, unlimited organizations and 5 SSO or SCIM connections
- Clean API design with SDKs for React, Next.js, Python, Go, and more
Cons
- Built for TypeScript projects only
- It runs inside your own app, so updates and security patches are your job, unlike hosted services such as Clerk or Auth0
- The free Starter dashboard keeps audit logs for one day and caps them at 10,000 a month
- Removing Stytch branding from emails and login screens costs a $99 fee
- Extra SSO or SCIM connections cost $125 each beyond the 5 included
- Traditional email/password auth feels like an afterthought
Details
Better Auth is a library, not a hosted service. You install it in your TypeScript app, point it at your own database, and it handles sign-in and OAuth providers, with plugins for the extras. Your users stay in your database, and the framework itself costs nothing.
It suits developer founders who want to own their auth without writing it from scratch. The team also took over Auth.js (formerly NextAuth.js), and Better Auth’s site announces that it is joining Vercel.
The paid part is an optional managed dashboard with audit logs, security detections, transactional email and SMS, and single sign-on. Starter is free with one seat; Pro is $20/month plus usage.
Stytch is built around the idea that passwords are a liability. Instead of email/password as the default, it leads with magic links, one-time passcodes, passkeys, and biometric auth. The API is well-designed: you can have passwordless login working in under an hour. It also offers fraud tools such as device fingerprinting, with 10,000 fingerprints included free. Twilio completed its purchase of Stytch on 14 November 2025, and the product continues under the Stytch name.
Pricing is pay as you go with no monthly base fee. The free tier covers 10,000 monthly active users and AI agents, unlimited organizations, 5 SSO or SCIM connections and 1,000 machine-to-machine tokens, and usage above that is billed per unit with no hard caps. Full email customization and removal of Stytch branding cost $99. If your product specifically benefits from passwordless (fewer support tickets, higher conversion on sign-up), Stytch is a strong fit. If you just need standard social login and email/password, Clerk or Firebase Auth are simpler to set up.
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