#4 in Identity & Access ManagementUpdated 2026-08

Better Auth

by Better Auth · TypeScript authentication framework that runs inside your own app

70.7 — BenchRank score out of 100

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Pricing page

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Overview

Better Auth is a TypeScript authentication framework that runs inside your own application and connects to your own database. Authentication is configured in code — email and password, social sign-on, and 50+ plugins covering passkeys, 2FA, organisations, API keys and SSO. An optional managed service adds a dashboard, audit logs, user management and threat detection.

Best for: TypeScript teams who want authentication defined in code rather than in a hosted provider's dashboard
Pricing: The framework is free and open source; the managed infrastructure has a free Starter plan, a Pro plan at $20/month plus usage charges, and custom Enterprise pricing.
Runs on: WebSelf-hostedCLI

Strengths and trade-offs

Strengths

Works with Next.js, Nuxt, SvelteKit, Astro, Hono and 20+ more
50+ plugins: passkeys, magic links, 2FA, JWTs, API keys
SSO, SAML 2.0, SCIM and directory sync for enterprise use
Framework is free and open source; bring your own database

Trade-offs

Dashboard, audit logs and threat detection need the paid hosted service
Starter retains audit logs for 1 day; Pro for 7 days
Overages billed at $0.0001 per audit event and $0.001 per detection
SSO and directory sync cost $50/month per connection after the first

Pricing

Published plans from Better Auth’s own pricing page, in USD. Usage charges and add-ons may apply on top.

Better Auth pricing tiers, monthly rates in USD
Plan	Monthly	Includes
Starter	Freeflat	1 dashboard seat 10,000 audit logs/month, 1 day retention 1,000 security detections/month Community support
Pro	$20flat	Unlimited seats; 7 day audit log retention 20,000 audit logs/month, then $0.0001 per event Self-service SSO and directory sync, 1 connection included Transactional email at $0.001 and SMS at $0.09; email support
Enterprise	Contact sales	Custom usage and retention Custom domain and log drain included Dashboard RBAC Slack support, implementation help, custom MSA and DPA

How this score is made up

Each dimension is scored out of 100 and combined into the headline score using fixed weights.

MCP support: 92 out of 100
API quality: 50 out of 100
Documentation: 80 out of 100
Agent friendliness: 73 out of 100
Pricing transparency: 85 out of 100
Changelog: 100 out of 100
Marketing site structure: 40 out of 100
Operational trust: 15 out of 100

Measured, but not part of the score

Useful to know, but not a mark for or against the product — so these do not affect the ranking.

Openness: 100 out of 100
Maintenance: 100 out of 100

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