feat: adds clerk pricing blog

content/clerk-pricing-the-complete-guide/index.md

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+---
+title: "Clerk Pricing - The Complete Guide"
+date: "2025-11-02"
+description: "Deep dive into Clerk’s free & paid tiers, real cost examples, hidden fees, and comparison with Auth0/Okta for pricing clarity."
+cover: "clerk-pricing-the-complete-guide.png"
+category: "programming"
+author: "Joel Coutinho"
+---
+
+## Introduction
+
+Clerk has become one of the most developer-friendly authentication platforms in the modern React/Next.js ecosystem. Teams choose Clerk because it ships fully-styled UI components, admin dashboards, user and organization management, and seamless multi-tenant support. Its **free tier---10,000 Monthly Active Users (MAUs) and 100 Monthly Active Organizations (MAOs)**---makes it appealing for early-stage products. Beyond that, Clerk follows a **pay-as-you-grow**model that scales with your user base.
+
+This guide breaks down every part of Clerk pricing: free limits, per-user costs, B2B org charges, real-world cost examples, hidden fees, comparison with Auth0/Okta, and how to estimate your spend reliably.
+
+
+## What Is Clerk and How Does It Price?
+
+
+Clerk is an authentication and identity platform offering:
+
+-   User management
+
+-   Organization and team management for B2B apps
+
+-   Social providers
+
+-   Multi-tenant support
+
+-   Custom domains
+
+-   Admin dashboards
+
+-   Embedded UI components
+
+According to Reddit discussions, reviews on G2, and community writeups, Clerk is praised for its fast integration and modern DX---especially for Next.js---but also criticized for cost escalation at scale.
+
+### Clerk's Pricing Model
+
+#### Free Tier
+
+-   **10,000 MAUs**
+
+-   **100 MAOs**
+
+-   Includes essential auth, UI components, social logins
+
+#### Pro Tier
+
+-   **$0.02 per MAU** beyond 10,000
+
+-   **$1 per MAO** beyond 100
+
+-   **$100/mo** for *Enhanced Authentication* add-on
+
+-   **$100/mo** for *Admin* add-on
+
+This linear model is simpler than Auth0/Okta, though Clerk introduces unique MAO-based costs that catch teams by surprise.
+
+## A Breakdown of Clerk Pricing Tiers
+
+Based on clerk.com/pricing:
+
+| Tier / Feature | Free | Pro |
+| --- | --- | --- |
+| MAUs | 10,000 included | $0.02 per MAU beyond 10K |
+| MAOs (Organizations) | 100 included | $1 per MAO beyond 100 |
+| SSO | Included | Included |
+| Social logins | Included | Included |
+| Custom Domain | Included | Included |
+| Multi-tenant support | Included | Included |
+| Enhanced Authentication (MFA, biometrics, passkeys) | Add-on $100/mo | Add-on $100/mo |
+| Admin Dashboard | Add-on $100/mo | Add-on $100/mo |
+| Dashboard seats | 3 included | $10/mo per additional seat |
+| SLA / Support | Shared support | Paid plans / Enterprise |
+
+## What Does Clerk Actually Cost?
+
+A large portion of online feedback---especially on Reddit and Hacker News---focuses on cost surprises. Let's break down real examples.
+
+### **Example 1: 15K MAUs and 80 Orgs**
+
+-   Free MAUs: 10,000
+
+-   Billable MAUs: 5,000 × $0.02 = **$100/mo**
+
+-   Orgs < 100 → **$0**
+
+-   No add-ons
+
+**Total: $100/mo**
+
+### **Example 2: B2B at Scale (200 Orgs)**
+
+-   Free MAOs: 100
+
+-   Billable MAOs: 100 × $1 = **$100/mo**
+
+-   With add-ons: Enhanced Auth + Admin = **$200/mo**
+
+**Total: $300/mo**
+
+### **Community Feedback**
+
+Quotes from Reddit, G2, and AppSumo consistently mention:
+
+-   "Clerk is expensive but their B2B features are hard to match."
+
+-   "Pricing skyrockets once you grow past the free tier."
+
+-   "Super clean developer experience---the cost is the trade-off."
+
+## Hidden Costs to Watch Out For
+
+While Clerk's pricing page appears simple, real-world usage reveals additional charges.
+
+### 1. Per-MAO Fees
+
+Once you exceed 100 organizations, **each one costs $1/mo.**
+
+For B2B SaaS, org counts scale faster than user counts---this becomes the most significant pricing lever.
+
+### 2. Add-On Costs
+
+Two add-ons, both **$100/mo**:
+
+-   Enhanced Authentication (MFA, biometrics, passkeys)
+
+-   Admin tools
+
+If you need both, that's **$200/mo** flat.
+
+### 3. Dashboard Seats
+
+Clerk includes 3 dashboard seats.
+Every additional seat costs **$10/mo**.
+
+### 4. Support Responsiveness
+
+Reviews on G2 and GetApp note:
+
+-   Slow response times
+
+-   Limited support unless on higher tiers
+
+-   Inconsistent SLA experience
+
+This becomes a consideration for production systems requiring guaranteed uptime.
+
+## How Clerk Pricing Compares to Auth0 & Okta
+
+Clerk has a more generous free tier but introduces org-based billing, which competitors typically avoid.
+
+### Feature & Pricing Comparison
+
+| Dimension | Clerk | Auth0 | Okta |
+| --- | --- | --- | --- |
+| Free MAUs | **10,000** | 7,000 | ~1,000 |
+| Free B2B orgs | **100** | None | None |
+| Per-MAU pricing | **$0.02** linear | Tiered + jumps | Tiered + enterprise |
+| MAO / org pricing | **$1 per org** | Not charged | Not charged |
+| MFA | Add-on | Paid tier | Paid tier |
+| Admin features | Add-on | Paid tier | Paid tier |
+| Developer experience | Excellent | Moderate | Enterprise-heavy |
+
+**Summary:**
+Clerk is cheaper at low scale but often more expensive beyond 10K MAUs or 100 orgs.
+
+## Why Teams Choose SuperTokens Over Clerk
+
+Teams often migrate from Clerk to SuperTokens when they hit scaling thresholds.
+
+### Benefits of SuperTokens
+
+-   **Self-hosted or managed**, fully open-source
+
+-   **Predictable pricing** without per-user or per-org charges
+
+-   **No add-ons**---MFA, admin functionality, and SSO included
+
+-   **Lower TCO** at scale
+
+-   **Better support responsiveness**
+
+This appeals especially to B2B companies with growing org bases.
+
+## Final Comparison
+
+Clerk offers a modern developer experience, generous free tier, and built-in B2B capabilities. But costs rise quickly as MAUs and MAOs increase---especially when add-ons and dashboard seats are added.
+
+### **Ideal for**
+
+-   Early startups
+
+-   Teams that need fast B2B setup
+
+-   Products with fewer orgs and predictable usage
+
+### **Before choosing Clerk**
+
+Estimate costs carefully, consider long-term org growth, and compare with alternatives like **SuperTokens**, which deliver predictable pricing and full feature access without per-user or per-org charges.
+
+If you want this blog formatted for WordPress/MD, or need a downloadable SEO-optimized version, just let me know.