Better Auth
by Better Auth · TypeScript authentication framework that runs inside your own app
BenchRank score
Screenshots of Better Auth
Homepage
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
How Better Auth markets itself
A structured read of the promise, proof and page design on Better Auth’s captured homepage.
Homepage capture
“The most comprehensive authentication framework”
- Angle: Developer-first
- Hero: Abstract graphic
Pricing
Published plans and prices from Better Auth’s own pricing page.
How this score is made up
Each dimension is scored out of 100 and combined into the headline score using fixed weights.
MCP support
Whether an agent can drive the product through the Model Context Protocol, and how much setup that takes.
API quality
Public API surface: machine-readable spec, official SDKs, documented auth, errors, rate limits and versioning.
Documentation
Publicly reachable docs — coverage, freshness, code samples and machine readability.
Agent friendliness
How readable the site is to an automated client: llms.txt, structured data, server-rendered content, crawler access.
Pricing transparency
Whether real prices are published, self-serve signup exists, and usage costs are knowable without a sales call.
Changelog
A public, dated record of what shipped and when — the clearest signal that a product is still alive.
Marketing site structure
Whether the site answers a buyer's questions: clear positioning, the pages that matter, and accessibility.
Page speed
How fast the site loads for real visitors: Chrome UX Report 75th-percentile LCP, INP and CLS, with a Lighthouse mobile run standing in where a site has too little traffic for field data.
Operational trust
Status page and incident history, security disclosure, compliance and data-processing documentation.
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
Source availability, self-hosting, data export and open standards. Scored and shown, but not part of the composite — paid SaaS is not worse for being paid SaaS.
Maintenance
Release cadence and repository activity. Scored and shown, but not part of the composite — it is only measurable for open repositories.
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Where this comes from
The Better Auth pages BenchRank reads when it scores the product — its documentation, release notes, status and security pages, and its repository where there is one.
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