Side-by-side comparison · Databases & Backend

Clerk vs Supabase

Everything that matters when choosing between them, in one place: our rating, what each can do, what they cost, and the trade-offs.

Best overall

Clerk

4.4

From $20/mo

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Supabase

4.3

From From $25/mo

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Comparing 2 tools. Add one more if you like.

At a glance

Clerk4.4

Best overallEasiest to use

Pick it if: Anyone building a web or mobile app who needs user accounts and logins without writing them from scratch.

Supabase4.3

Best value

Pick it if: Anyone building an app with AI tools who needs somewhere real to keep user accounts and data.

Clerk scores highest overall, but Supabase gives you more for your money. Which one is right comes down to what you value most.

Overview

Attribute	Clerk	Supabase
In one line	Ready-made sign-up, login and user accounts you can add to an app in minutes.	A ready-made database, logins and file storage for apps you build with AI tools.
Pricing model	Freemium	Freemium
Starting price	$20/mo	From $25/mo
Free plan	Yes	Yes
Works with Claude Code	Yes	Yes

Rating breakdown

Our scores out of 5. The higher bar in each row is highlighted.

Attribute	Clerk	Supabase
Overall rating	4.4Winner	4.3
Ease of useHow quickly someone non-technical gets value from it.	4.5	4.0
FeaturesHow completely it covers its own job, and how well the pieces fit together.	4.5	4.5
Output qualityHow good the results are before you fix them.	4.5	4.5
Value for moneyWhat you get for the price, including the free plan.	4.0	4.5
Speed & reliabilityHow fast it is and how often it falls over.	4.5	4.0

Feature comparison

A tick means it does this today. A dash means we haven't checked.

Attribute	Clerk	Supabase
Access & platform
Free plan	Yes	Yes
Mobile app	No	No
Desktop app	No	No
Browser extension	No	No
API access	Yes	Yes
Teams & business
Team workspace	Yes	Yes
Enterprise plan or SSO	Yes	Yes
Connects to other apps	Yes	Yes
Open source or self-hosted	No	Yes
AI abilities
Works with your files	No	Yes
Understands images	–	No
Makes images	No	No
Makes video	No	No
Writes code	No	Yes
Runs agents or automations	–	Yes
Learns your brand or style	–	No
Works in many languages	Yes	–
Capabilities score	6/ 17	9/ 17

Pricing

Plans as listed on each vendor's site when we last checked. Confirm before you buy.

Attribute	Clerk	Supabase
Plans	Hobby Free New apps and side projects.	Free Free Prototypes, side projects and seeing if it suits you.
	ProOur pick $20/mo billed yearly, or $25 monthly Apps with paying customers.	ProOur pick From $25/mo Anything real people will use.
	Business $250/mo billed yearly, or $300 monthly Growing companies that need compliance paperwork.	Team From $599/mo Companies that need SSO and compliance paperwork.
	Enterprise Custom Large companies with strict security needs.	Enterprise Custom Large products with uptime guarantees.
Which plan to pick	Build on Hobby. It's enough until you have customers who care about the Clerk branding or need multi-factor login, then move to Pro. Business only matters when a customer asks for a SOC 2 report.	Build on Free. Switch to Pro the day you share the app with anyone outside your team, mostly so the project stops pausing. Team is a big jump that only makes sense once a client or auditor asks for SSO or a SOC 2 report.

Key features

Attribute	Clerk	Supabase
Standout features	Prebuilt screens Every login method Organisations Bot and fraud protection Clerk Billing	Postgres database Auth Storage Edge Functions Realtime Official MCP server

Pros and cons

Attribute	Clerk	Supabase
Pros	Fastest way to add polished logins to an app 50,000 free monthly users per app Covers social, passwordless, passkeys and SMS Team accounts and billing built in AI coding tools know it well	Standard Postgres underneath, so you can leave any time Logins, storage, functions and live updates in one dashboard The widest support across AI app builders and Claude Code Generous free plan for trying things out Open source, with self-hosting if you ever need it
Cons	Removing branding and multi-factor login need Pro Enterprise SSO connections cost $75 a month each after the first Your user accounts live with Clerk, so moving away takes work SMS codes cost extra per message	Free projects pause after a week of inactivity Usage charges on Pro can be hard to predict as traffic grows Access rules and SQL still take some learning for non-technical people The jump from Pro to Team is steep

Who each one is for

Attribute	Clerk	Supabase
Best for	Adding sign-up and login to an app Google, Apple and passwordless sign-in Apps where customers have team accounts Charging subscriptions inside your app	Backend for AI-built apps User logins and permissions File and image storage Apps that need a real database
You'll find it used by	Indie builders Startups SaaS companies Developers	Indie builders Startups Developers Agencies

Questions people ask

Which is better, Clerk or Supabase?

Clerk scores highest overall in our ratings (Clerk 4.4/5 and Supabase 4.3/5). Clerk is best for adding sign-up and login to an app and Google, Apple and passwordless sign-in. Supabase is best for backend for AI-built apps and user logins and permissions.

Which is cheaper, Clerk or Supabase?

Clerk: There's a free plan, and paid plans start at $20/mo. Supabase: There's a free plan, and paid plans start at From $25/mo.

Which is easier to use, Clerk or Supabase?

Clerk rates highest for ease of use in our scores. Anyone building a web or mobile app who needs user accounts and logins without writing them from scratch.

Ratings are our own, from using each tool, across ease of use, features, output quality, value for money, speed & reliability.

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