Resources // Developer Infrastructure

WorkOS

High-value

Offer Auth free up to 1,000,000 users

Suits for Non-VC-backedVC-backed

Updated Jun 2026

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The offer

AuthKit / User Management free up to 1,000,000 monthly active users ($2,500/mo per additional 1M)
Free batteries-included auth: social login, email and password with leak detection, Magic Auth, MFA, passkeys, RBAC, and org auth policies
Enterprise SSO (SAML / OIDC) billed per connection: $125/mo each, with volume discounts down to ~$50/mo
Directory Sync (SCIM) priced the same per connection; Radar bot/fraud protection free for the first 1,000 checks
Annual Credits plan adds pre-pay discounts, a 99.99% uptime SLA, and guided migration

Who qualifies

Free tier and self-serve: anyone, no credit card until production, no funding requirement or MAU floor
Annual Credits / Enterprise plans via a sales call
SSO and Directory Sync are billed per enterprise connection regardless of end-user count. They are not free

Community Insights

WorkOS is the “enterprise-ready” auth choice and has benefited directly from the 2026 Clerk pricing backlash. Developers cite solid AuthKit performance and strong SSO / SCIM / RBAC, with big names (Cursor, Perplexity, Vercel) anchoring its credibility. Coverage is more enterprise-flavored than Clerk’s. The main critique is that the API is incomplete and assumes one app per account with fixed environments, which is awkward for developers juggling many small projects. Strong for B2B SaaS going up-market.

Best Practices (from community tips)

Use the free 1M-MAU AuthKit tier for all standard login. It is free, no card until production.
Budget SSO and Directory Sync as per-connection line items ($125/mo each). Price them into the enterprise deal, not your base costs.
Lean on volume discounts. Per-connection price drops sharply at 16+ connections.
Keep minimal user state in WorkOS. Syncing provider state with your own DB is a known source of bugs.
If you run many separate apps, confirm current multi-app support before committing (historically one app per account).
Schedule a sales call for Annual Credits only once usage justifies the pre-pay discount and SLA.