A practical comparison of three auth providers for solo developers in 2026: Clerk, Supabase Auth, and Better Auth. Clerk wins on UI polish and org features but has real lock-in and per-user pricing that scales poorly. Supabase Auth is the natural choice when already using Supabase, especially for row-level security integration.
Table of contents
Why This Decision Matters More Than It Feels Like It DoesClerk: The Polished DefaultSupabase Auth: The Pragmatic BundleBetter Auth: The Open-Source Answer That Changed the ConversationThe Decision Framework I Actually UseThe Lock-In MathWhat About Auth0, Firebase Auth, and Everyone Else?The Thing I Wish Someone Had Told Me EarlierSort: