{"eid":"clerk","name":"Clerk","domain":"clerk.com","resolved_by":"domain","topics":["dev-services"],"n_records":1,"best_vorder":1,"review":null,"aliases":["Clerk","clerk.com"],"records":[{"rid":"dev-services/clerk","card":{"rid":"dev-services/clerk","eid":"clerk","topic":"dev-services","slug":"clerk","provider":"Clerk","url":"https://clerk.com/pricing","domain":"clerk.com","category":"hosted user authentication and user management (sign-up, sign-in, sessions, organizations)","tier":"Hobby","verdict":"qualifies-with-caveat","vorder":1,"grp":"usable","self_hosted":0,"confidence":"documented","binding":"write-gated","identity_kind":"email","identity_basis":"stated","needs_card":0,"needs_phone":null,"needs_id":0,"needs_institution":0,"country":null,"crypto":null,"interfaces":"rest","egress_metered":0,"per_object_bytes":null,"retention_days":1,"verified_at":"2026-11-02T00:37:55.408Z","verified_basis":"live","checked_on":"2026-11-02","stale_on":"2026-12-03","n_evidence":42,"usd_month":null,"usd_per_tb_month":null,"summary":"Hobby: free with no credit card; 50,000 monthly retained users per app, unlimited applications, up to 3 dashboard seats","duplicate_of":null,"n_unknown":0,"free_unit":"users"},"record":{"topic":"dev-services","slug":"clerk","provider":"Clerk","tier":"Hobby","url":"https://clerk.com/pricing","category":"hosted user authentication and user management (sign-up, sign-in, sessions, organizations)","free_tier":{"stated":"Hobby: free with no credit card; 50,000 monthly retained users per app, unlimited applications, up to 3 dashboard seats","unit":"users","metered_on":"identity-count","source_url":"https://clerk.com/pricing","read_on":"2026-10-30","notes":"A user counts as retained only after signing in again more than 24 hours after sign-up. Above 50,000 retained users on Hobby a one-month grace period applies before an upgrade is needed. Hobby also includes 1,000 API key creations and 100,000 verifications, 2,500 M2M token creations and 100,000 verifications a month, 100 monthly retained organizations per app with up to 20 members each, and 10,000 protection checks a month. SMS codes and multi-factor authentication are not on Hobby. A development instance is capped at 100 users and delivers at most 20 SMS messages and 100 emails a month."},"per_object_cap":{"stated":"user metadata (public, private and unsafe) is limited to 8KB maximum; custom claims copied into the session token should stay under 1.2KB","bytes":null,"source_url":"https://clerk.com/docs/guides/users/extending","notes":"The session token is stored in a cookie that most browsers cap at 4KB; after Clerk's default claims the cookie supports up to 1.2KB of custom claims."},"retention":{"stated":"Application Logs are kept 1 day on Hobby (7 days on Pro, 30 days on Business)","days":1,"source_url":"https://clerk.com/pricing","notes":"No retention period for user records is stated on the pages read."},"egress":{"terms":"not applicable: an authentication API; no traffic allowance or egress term is published","metered":false,"free_allowance":null,"price_per_tb":null,"source_url":"https://clerk.com/pricing"},"interface":["rest"],"interface_detail":"Frontend API for sign-in and sign-up from the browser, rate limited per IP address; Backend API for administrative tasks, called with a secret key at https://api.clerk.com/v1 (a GET /v1/users without a key answered 401); webhooks for data sync; an OAuth 2.0 authorization server and OpenID Connect identity provider on the instance's Frontend API URL (metadata at /.well-known/oauth-authorization-server, user information at /oauth/userinfo).","endpoint":"https://api.clerk.com/v1","tooling":"Clerk SDKs and prebuilt sign-in components, the clerk CLI (npx clerk@latest), or any HTTP client against the Backend API with a secret key.","chaining":"Login and user store for a web app on free hosting; leaving the 100-user development instance needs a domain with DNS records, which pairs with a cheap or free name from domains-dns.","limits":[{"kind":"volume-quota","value":"50,000 monthly retained users per app","source":"https://clerk.com/pricing"},{"kind":"write-gated","value":"a production instance needs a domain the user owns and DNS records on it; a development instance is capped at 100 users","source":"https://clerk.com/docs/guides/development/deployment/production.md"},{"kind":"request-rate","value":"Backend API: 100 requests per 10 seconds on a development instance, 1000 requests per 10 seconds on a production instance","source":"https://clerk.com/docs/guides/how-clerk-works/system-limits"},{"kind":"request-rate","value":"Frontend API sign-up creation: 5 requests per 10 seconds, limited per IP address","source":"https://clerk.com/docs/guides/how-clerk-works/system-limits"},{"kind":"volume-quota","value":"development instance: 20 SMS messages and 100 emails per calendar month","source":"https://clerk.com/docs/guides/development/testing/test-emails-and-phones.md"},{"kind":"retention-clamped","value":"Application Logs kept 1 day","source":"https://clerk.com/pricing"},{"kind":"per-object-cap","value":"user metadata (public, private and unsafe) 8KB maximum","source":"https://clerk.com/docs/guides/users/extending"}],"limits_note":"Dashboard seats are capped at 3 on Hobby; the vocabulary has no kind for a seat count.","binding":"write-gated","binding_note":"Without a domain the app stays on a development instance, capped at 100 users and 100 emails a month; with a domain, the 50,000 retained users per app is the ceiling.","identity_cost":{"kind":"email","detail":"The sign-up form asks for an email address and a password, or a GitHub or Google sign-in, and states no credit card is required. The Clerk CLI needs no account to start: signed out, npx clerk@latest init provisions a claimable application, writes dev keys to .env.local, and signing in later claims it. A production instance also needs a domain with DNS records. Whether a later step of the dashboard sign-up asks for a phone number is unverified: behind a sign-up.","country":null},"reliability_note":"A rate-limited request answers 429 with a Retry-After header; Hobby email support covers billing, registration and abuse queries only.","confidence":"documented","confidence_note":"Every limit is quoted from first-party pricing, docs and sign-up pages; the Backend API host was probed and answered 401 without a key. A sign-in and a Backend API call on a Hobby instance would move it to measured.","evidence":[{"url":"https://clerk.com/pricing","date":"2026-10-30","proved":"the Hobby plan is free and needs no credit card","capture":"sha256:f2a5711e85eb3133fd7620c6cbbde6da8fcca4a496a70a6d6aa501c02d8c1014","quote":"## Hobby — Free (No credit card required)"},{"url":"https://clerk.com/pricing","date":"2026-10-30","proved":"Hobby is free and Pro is USD 25 a month","capture":"sha256:f2a5711e85eb3133fd7620c6cbbde6da8fcca4a496a70a6d6aa501c02d8c1014","quote":"| Price (monthly) | Free | $25/mo | $300/mo | Custom |"},{"url":"https://clerk.com/pricing","date":"2026-10-30","proved":"Pro is USD 20 a month billed annually","capture":"sha256:f2a5711e85eb3133fd7620c6cbbde6da8fcca4a496a70a6d6aa501c02d8c1014","quote":"| Price (annual) | Free | $20/mo | $250/mo | Custom (annual only) |"},{"url":"https://clerk.com/pricing","date":"2026-10-30","proved":"Hobby is limited to 50,000 monthly retained users per app","capture":"sha256:f2a5711e85eb3133fd7620c6cbbde6da8fcca4a496a70a6d6aa501c02d8c1014","quote":"- 50,000 MRU limit per app"},{"url":"https://clerk.com/pricing","date":"2026-10-30","proved":"Hobby has up to 3 dashboard seats","capture":"sha256:f2a5711e85eb3133fd7620c6cbbde6da8fcca4a496a70a6d6aa501c02d8c1014","quote":"- Up to 3 dashboard seats"},{"url":"https://clerk.com/pricing","date":"2026-10-30","proved":"Hobby allows unlimited applications","capture":"sha256:f2a5711e85eb3133fd7620c6cbbde6da8fcca4a496a70a6d6aa501c02d8c1014","quote":"- Unlimited applications"},{"url":"https://clerk.com/pricing","date":"2026-10-30","proved":"a user counts only after signing in again after the first 24 hours","capture":"sha256:f2a5711e85eb3133fd7620c6cbbde6da8fcca4a496a70a6d6aa501c02d8c1014","quote":"- First Day Free: Users are not counted as active unless they sign in again after their first 24 hours, so a user who signs up and never returns is never billed."},{"url":"https://clerk.com/pricing","date":"2026-10-30","proved":"exceeding 50,000 retained users on Hobby gives a one-month grace period","capture":"sha256:f2a5711e85eb3133fd7620c6cbbde6da8fcca4a496a70a6d6aa501c02d8c1014","quote":"- Grace period: If you exceed 50,000 monthly retained users on Hobby, or 100 monthly retained organizations without the B2B Authentication add-on, you get a one-month grace period to upgrade so your application keeps running."},{"url":"https://clerk.com/pricing","date":"2026-10-30","proved":"Hobby keeps Application Logs 1 day","capture":"sha256:f2a5711e85eb3133fd7620c6cbbde6da8fcca4a496a70a6d6aa501c02d8c1014","quote":"- Application Logs (1 day retention)"},{"url":"https://clerk.com/pricing","date":"2026-10-30","proved":"Application Logs are kept 1, 7 and 30 days on Hobby, Pro and Business","capture":"sha256:f2a5711e85eb3133fd7620c6cbbde6da8fcca4a496a70a6d6aa501c02d8c1014","quote":"| 1 day retention | 7 day retention | 30 day retention |"},{"url":"https://clerk.com/pricing","date":"2026-10-30","proved":"Hobby includes 1,000 API key creations, 2,500 M2M token creations and 100,000 verifications of each a month","capture":"sha256:f2a5711e85eb3133fd7620c6cbbde6da8fcca4a496a70a6d6aa501c02d8c1014","quote":"- Machine Authentication (API Keys & M2M Tokens limit per month; API Keys: 1,000 creations & 100,000 verifications per month; M2M Tokens: 2,500 creations & 100,000 verifications per month)"},{"url":"https://clerk.com/pricing","date":"2026-10-30","proved":"SMS codes are not available on Hobby","capture":"sha256:f2a5711e85eb3133fd7620c6cbbde6da8fcca4a496a70a6d6aa501c02d8c1014","quote":"| SMS codes. Authenticate with a code sent directly to the user's phone via SMS. US and Canada, $0.01 per SMS. International: market rate | No | Per SMS fees apply | Per SMS fees apply |"},{"url":"https://clerk.com/pricing","date":"2026-10-30","proved":"multi-factor authentication is not available on Hobby","capture":"sha256:f2a5711e85eb3133fd7620c6cbbde6da8fcca4a496a70a6d6aa501c02d8c1014","quote":"| Multifactor authentication (MFA). Allow users to enable multifactor authentication with authenticator applications, SMS codes, and backup codes. | No | Yes | Yes |"},{"url":"https://clerk.com/pricing","date":"2026-10-30","proved":"100 monthly retained organizations per app are included","capture":"sha256:f2a5711e85eb3133fd7620c6cbbde6da8fcca4a496a70a6d6aa501c02d8c1014","quote":"- 100 MRO included per app"},{"url":"https://clerk.com/pricing","date":"2026-10-30","proved":"an organization has up to 20 members without the add-on","capture":"sha256:f2a5711e85eb3133fd7620c6cbbde6da8fcca4a496a70a6d6aa501c02d8c1014","quote":"- Up to 20 members per Organization"},{"url":"https://clerk.com/pricing","date":"2026-10-30","proved":"10,000 protection checks a month are free","capture":"sha256:f2a5711e85eb3133fd7620c6cbbde6da8fcca4a496a70a6d6aa501c02d8c1014","quote":"Usage: 10,000 protection checks free per month, then $0.002 per protection check up to 1,000,000. Basic and advanced protections use protection checks. Brute force prevention doesn't count toward them."},{"url":"https://clerk.com/pricing","date":"2026-10-30","proved":"Hobby email support covers billing, registration and abuse queries only","capture":"sha256:f2a5711e85eb3133fd7620c6cbbde6da8fcca4a496a70a6d6aa501c02d8c1014","quote":"| Email support. 24/7 access to our expert support staff. | Included (Billing, registration, and abuse queries only) | Yes | Priority Email, Support included |"},{"url":"https://clerk.com/pricing","date":"2026-10-30","proved":"Pro charges USD 0.02 a month per retained user above 50,000","capture":"sha256:f2a5711e85eb3133fd7620c6cbbde6da8fcca4a496a70a6d6aa501c02d8c1014","quote":"- 50,000 MRU included per app (Additional $0.02/mo each; volume discounts available)"},{"url":"https://clerk.com/docs/guides/how-clerk-works/system-limits","date":"2026-10-30","proved":"a development instance takes 100 Backend API requests per 10 seconds","capture":"sha256:904a833d32102156dab1a03c7fad08341336eba8bf34e1b8f5defcb3bf14132b","quote":"| Development instances |      | 100 requests per 10 seconds  |"},{"url":"https://clerk.com/docs/guides/how-clerk-works/system-limits","date":"2026-10-30","proved":"a production instance takes 1000 Backend API requests per 10 seconds","capture":"sha256:904a833d32102156dab1a03c7fad08341336eba8bf34e1b8f5defcb3bf14132b","quote":"| Production instances  |      | 1000 requests per 10 seconds |"},{"url":"https://clerk.com/docs/guides/how-clerk-works/system-limits","date":"2026-10-30","proved":"Frontend API limits apply per IP address","capture":"sha256:904a833d32102156dab1a03c7fad08341336eba8bf34e1b8f5defcb3bf14132b","quote":"Frontend API requests are rate-limited per user and identified by their IP address."},{"url":"https://clerk.com/docs/guides/how-clerk-works/system-limits","date":"2026-10-30","proved":"sign-up creation is limited to 5 requests per 10 seconds","capture":"sha256:904a833d32102156dab1a03c7fad08341336eba8bf34e1b8f5defcb3bf14132b","quote":"/v1/sign\\_ups 5 requests per 10 seconds"},{"url":"https://clerk.com/docs/guides/how-clerk-works/system-limits","date":"2026-10-30","proved":"a rate-limited request carries Retry-After","capture":"sha256:904a833d32102156dab1a03c7fad08341336eba8bf34e1b8f5defcb3bf14132b","quote":"Requests that have been rate limited will receive the `Retry-After` response header, which contains the number of seconds after which the block expires."},{"url":"https://dashboard.clerk.com/sign-up","date":"2026-10-30","proved":"the sign-up asks for GitHub, Google or an email address and a password, with no credit card","capture":"sha256:0b27886fc029704582e1a6a1158ed6f7575bcd5eab2c9d32433ec5eb368e8f89","quote":"# Create your account\n\nNo credit card required.\n\nGitHubGoogle\n\nor\n\nEmail address\n\nPassword"},{"url":"https://clerk.com/docs/guides/development/managing-environments.md","date":"2026-10-31","proved":"a development instance is capped at 100 users","capture":"sha256:2e0bec94f27e94db19c18234de3562ff546dad3b6967a6f9ef70a98386a354ae","quote":"- Development instances are capped at 100 users, and user data can not be transferred between instances."},{"url":"https://clerk.com/docs/guides/development/managing-environments.md","date":"2026-10-31","proved":"the development instance's session handling is not meant for production","capture":"sha256:2e0bec94f27e94db19c18234de3562ff546dad3b6967a6f9ef70a98386a354ae","quote":"While this enables smooth local development workflows, it is not secure enough for production use."},{"url":"https://clerk.com/docs/guides/development/managing-environments.md","date":"2026-10-31","proved":"the development instance carries the session token in the querystring","capture":"sha256:2e0bec94f27e94db19c18234de3562ff546dad3b6967a6f9ef70a98386a354ae","quote":"Including a sensitive value like the client token in a querystring is not a strong security practice"},{"url":"https://clerk.com/docs/guides/development/deployment/production.md","date":"2026-10-31","proved":"a production deployment needs a domain the user owns","capture":"sha256:ebdf2e7c5ff8d0d1b26537b031b27c3afd9b668e043fd51b78c48e11b7b5bab2","quote":"1. You will need to have a domain you own."},{"url":"https://clerk.com/docs/guides/development/deployment/production.md","date":"2026-10-31","proved":"a production deployment needs DNS records on that domain","capture":"sha256:ebdf2e7c5ff8d0d1b26537b031b27c3afd9b668e043fd51b78c48e11b7b5bab2","quote":"2. You will need to be able to add DNS records on your domain."},{"url":"https://clerk.com/docs/guides/development/testing/test-emails-and-phones.md","date":"2026-10-31","proved":"a development instance delivers at most 20 SMS and 100 emails a month","capture":"sha256:138118eede9a5e929fb3e6881a246eee29f0e5041120dc798fbb7ea1b0e4eed8","quote":"If Clerk is used to deliver SMS messages and/or emails for your development instance, a maximum of 20 SMS messages and 100 emails can be delivered per calendar month."},{"url":"https://clerk.com/docs/guides/development/managing-environments.md","date":"2026-10-31","proved":"a clerk CLI creates applications from the terminal","capture":"sha256:2e0bec94f27e94db19c18234de3562ff546dad3b6967a6f9ef70a98386a354ae","quote":"run `npx -y clerk@latest apps create \"My App Staging\"`"},{"url":"https://clerk.com/docs/guides/how-clerk-works/overview.md","date":"2026-10-31","proved":"administrative tasks go through a separate Backend API","capture":"sha256:f698021c22e41b08b693e254e598c16e7855e3152e14e4085762a745767fc1dc","quote":"These operations are handled by a separate API known as the backend API (BAPI)."},{"url":"https://clerk.com/docs/guides/how-clerk-works/overview.md","date":"2026-10-31","proved":"the Backend API is called with a secret key","capture":"sha256:f698021c22e41b08b693e254e598c16e7855e3152e14e4085762a745767fc1dc","quote":"To maintain security, these administrative tasks should only be executed on the server side using a secret key inaccessible to your users or the browser."},{"url":"probe:https://api.clerk.com/v1/users","date":"2026-10-31","proved":"api.clerk.com/v1/users answers 401 without a key","capture":"sha256:028e621a0c9e176aa5b46896a70c20defc2c91c696a9e1e22fa59abe5bd0af58","quote":"\"status\": 401"},{"url":"https://clerk.com/docs/guides/users/extending","date":"2026-11-01","proved":"Clerk limits metadata to 8KB maximum and recommends keeping a metadata custom claim in the session token under 1.2KB","capture":"sha256:979ccdf39eacdf69c9fb104b326babf48233337acfc941dcf88a1b575a27424e","quote":"Metadata is limited to 8KB maximum. If you're storing metadata as a custom claim in the session token, it's highly recommended to keep it under 1.2KB."},{"url":"https://clerk.com/docs/guides/users/extending","date":"2026-11-01","proved":"the session token cookie is capped at 4KB by most browsers and supports up to 1.2KB of custom claims","capture":"sha256:979ccdf39eacdf69c9fb104b326babf48233337acfc941dcf88a1b575a27424e","quote":"Clerk stores the session token in a cookie, and most browsers cap cookie size at [4KB](https://datatracker.ietf.org/doc/html/rfc2109#section-6.3). After accounting for the size of Clerk's default claims, the cookie can support up to 1.2KB of custom claims."},{"url":"https://clerk.com/docs/nextjs/getting-started/quickstart","date":"2026-11-01","proved":"the Clerk CLI sets up an application without a Clerk account","capture":"sha256:c1381e0da66b5e4a6a8ebe15430ed68a80c7a0b6d1247f77d4bc99ffd8498b8b","quote":"`npx -y clerk@latest init` needs no Clerk account."},{"url":"https://clerk.com/docs/nextjs/getting-started/quickstart","date":"2026-11-01","proved":"signed out, init provisions a claimable application with dev keys, and signing in later claims it","capture":"sha256:c1381e0da66b5e4a6a8ebe15430ed68a80c7a0b6d1247f77d4bc99ffd8498b8b","quote":"Signed out, it provisions a claimable application, writes dev keys to `.env.local`, and configures the SDK, provider, middleware, and auth routes. Signing in later claims it."},{"url":"https://clerk.com/docs/guides/configure/auth-strategies/oauth/single-sign-on","date":"2026-11-01","proved":"Clerk acts as an OAuth 2.0 authorization server and, for OIDC clients, as their identity provider","capture":"sha256:98a58d3f07cd38c6e41ba7de1ec1644a01715908fc58646ebf2791690804b1ee","quote":"Clerk can act as an OAuth 2.0 authorization server for third-party clients. When those clients use OIDC for sign-in, Clerk also acts as their IdP, allowing users to authenticate with their Clerk credentials."},{"url":"https://clerk.com/docs/guides/configure/auth-strategies/oauth/single-sign-on","date":"2026-11-01","proved":"an OAuth access token retrieves user information from the /oauth/userinfo endpoint of the Frontend API URL","capture":"sha256:98a58d3f07cd38c6e41ba7de1ec1644a01715908fc58646ebf2791690804b1ee","quote":"you can retrieve additional user information from Clerk's [`/oauth/userinfo`]"},{"url":"https://clerk.com/docs/guides/configure/auth-strategies/oauth/how-clerk-implements-oauth","date":"2026-11-01","proved":"authorization server metadata is served at /.well-known/oauth-authorization-server on the Frontend API URL","capture":"sha256:5909e9d31f963523b919664b61b19e451f6cfc2a4b1e98629456e90fc1d5f99b","quote":"You can easily retrieve this metadata by loading your Clerk Frontend API URL with `/.well-known/oauth-authorization-server` appended to it."},{"url":"https://dashboard.clerk.com/sign-up","date":"2026-11-01","proved":"the dashboard sign-up page asks for GitHub, Google, or an email address and a password, and states no credit card is required","capture":"sha256:ce618148a329d5a13315dae0c828938dd630270c84c8dc342ed96742474b7d1e","quote":"# Create your account\n\nNo credit card required.\n\nGitHubGoogle\n\nor\n\nEmail address\n\nPassword"}],"verdict":"qualifies-with-caveat","verified_at":"2026-11-02T00:37:55.408Z","notes":"A development instance passes its session token in the querystring, which Clerk states is not secure enough for production use. Pro is USD 25 a month (USD 20 billed annually) and charges USD 0.02 a month per retained user above 50,000 per app."},"claims":[{"path":"$.free_tier","kind":"has-free-tier","num":1.0,"unit":null,"per":null,"currency":null,"usd":null,"fx_date":null,"parse":"ok"},{"path":"$.free_tier.stated","kind":"free-quota","num":null,"unit":null,"per":null,"currency":null,"usd":null,"fx_date":null,"parse":"unparsed"},{"path":"$.limits[0].value","kind":"limit:volume-quota","num":null,"unit":null,"per":null,"currency":null,"usd":null,"fx_date":null,"parse":"unparsed"},{"path":"$.limits[1].value","kind":"limit:write-gated","num":null,"unit":null,"per":null,"currency":null,"usd":null,"fx_date":null,"parse":"unparsed"},{"path":"$.limits[2].value","kind":"limit:request-rate","num":100.0,"unit":"requests","per":null,"currency":null,"usd":null,"fx_date":null,"parse":"ok"},{"path":"$.limits[3].value","kind":"limit:request-rate","num":5.0,"unit":"requests","per":null,"currency":null,"usd":null,"fx_date":null,"parse":"ok"},{"path":"$.limits[4].value","kind":"limit:volume-quota","num":null,"unit":null,"per":null,"currency":null,"usd":null,"fx_date":null,"parse":"unparsed"},{"path":"$.limits[5].value","kind":"limit:retention-clamped","num":null,"unit":null,"per":null,"currency":null,"usd":null,"fx_date":null,"parse":"unparsed"},{"path":"$.limits[6].value","kind":"limit:per-object-cap","num":8.0,"unit":"KB","per":null,"currency":null,"usd":null,"fx_date":null,"parse":"ok"}],"unknown":[],"history":[],"drift":[]}]}