Better Auth
TypeScript auth that lives in your app, not a rented IdP
Next.js / Auth · Freemium · 29.8k
What's Good
Framework is MIT (LICENSE.md). Credentials, social, orgs, passkeys, MCP/agent auth, npx auth init. Hosted dashboard Starter is 0 USD/month (1 seat, 10,000 audit logs/month, 1-day retention). You keep the user table. Works next to Polar. Homepage names OpenAI, Databricks, and Strapi.
The Catch
The library is free; dashboards, audit, and SSO add-ons are the paid wedge. Starter audit retention is 1 day. This is not a hosted IdP — you still own the database and the incident.
Verdict
The MIT auth library to reach for before Clerk. Framework is free; the dashboard is the upsell.
Embed
[](https://stackgems.com/gems/better-auth)