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. Better Auth, an open-source TypeScript library, has matured enough to be the new default for margin-sensitive or flexibility-focused projects. The post covers switching costs, lock-in math, and a decision framework based on UI sensitivity, stack, and cost profile. Auth0, Firebase Auth, NextAuth, and WorkOS are briefly dismissed for most solo dev use cases.
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: