Recently updated services
Choose if: You want full ownership of your auth stack with zero per-user cost and no vendor lock-in.
Open-source authentication for Next.js, SvelteKit, and more. Zero cost, full control, no vendor lock-in — but you build everything yourself.
HIGH No pre-built UI
Choose if: You need enterprise compliance (HIPAA, FedRAMP, SAML, LDAP) and have the budget for it.
Enterprise-grade identity platform. Feature-rich but expensive — pricing has drifted upward since Okta acquisition in 2022.
SOC 2HIPAAGDPRFedRAMP
HIGH Pricing drift post-Okta acquisition HIGH Complex pricing model
Choose if: You are already on AWS, need enterprise compliance, and have ops capacity to manage VPC and security group configuration.
Amazon's managed relational database. Battle-tested and feature-complete, but complex pricing with many hidden add-on costs.
SOC 2HIPAAGDPRFedRAMPPCI DSS
HIGH Free tier is only 12 months HIGH Multi-AZ doubles the cost
Choose if: You are already on AWS, sending 50K+ emails/month, and have ops capacity for infrastructure setup.
Amazon's email sending service. Cheapest at scale but complex setup requiring multiple AWS services. Best for teams already on AWS.
SOC 2HIPAAGDPRFedRAMPPCI DSS
HIGH Complex multi-service setup HIGH Sandbox mode by default HIGH Bounce/complaint handling is DIY
Choose if: You need auth working in minutes with polished pre-built UI components in a React/Next.js app.
Drop-in auth with pre-built UI components. Fastest time-to-auth, but stores data in US by default — GDPR risk for EU apps.
SOC 2
HIGH US data storage by default HIGH Pricing scales fast
Choose if: You're on Google Cloud and want the most generous free tier (50K MAU) with zero auth infrastructure to manage.
Google's managed auth service. Generous free tier (50K MAU), broad provider support, but ties you into the Firebase/Google Cloud ecosystem.
SOC 2GDPRHIPAA (with Firebase on GCP)
Choose if: You need inbound email parsing, routing rules, or email validation as built-in platform features.
Developer-focused email API by Sinch. Strong API design and good deliverability, but pricing changed significantly after Sinch acquisition.
SOC 2GDPR
HIGH Free tier removed
Choose if: You need serverless Postgres with database branching for CI/CD workflows and can afford the Scale tier for production.
Serverless Postgres with branching. Innovative features but free tier has 500ms cold starts that make it unusable for production APIs.
SOC 2
HIGH 500ms cold starts on free/Launch tiers
Choose if: You need MySQL with zero-downtime schema changes and horizontal sharding, and can handle the $39/month minimum.
Serverless MySQL with branching and zero-downtime schema changes. Removed free tier in 2024 — now starts at $39/month.
SOC 2HIPAA
HIGH Free tier removed HIGH MySQL only HIGH No foreign keys
Choose if: Deliverability is your top priority and you need a proven, battle-tested transactional email service.
Transactional email service known for exceptional deliverability. Established, reliable, but setup requires DKIM/SPF knowledge.
SOC 2GDPR