Can I self-host an alternative to Auth0?

Yes — Better Auth, Supabase Auth, Ory Kratos all support self-hosting. Most ship as Docker containers and run on any VPS.

Better Auth is open-source under MIT. You can self-host for free. Many also offer a hosted cloud option with a free tier and paid plans.

All alternatives

Authentication

Best Open-Source Alternatives to Auth0

Q: What is the best open-source alternative to Auth0?

The top open-source alternative to Auth0 is Better Auth: Better Auth is the 2026 darling for TypeScript-first teams. Drop into any Node/Bun/Deno app, supports OAuth, magic links, passkeys, multi-tenant, 2FA, organizations — out of the box. Database-agnostic

Auth0 is the developer-friendly auth SaaS, acquired by Okta. Free tier covers 25k MAU but costs jump fast — Pro is $240/mo and Enterprise hits four figures. Self-hosting gives you the same auth flows for $0 + DB costs.

TL;DR — top pick

Better Auth

Better Auth is the 2026 darling for TypeScript-first teams. Drop into any Node/Bun/Deno app, supports OAuth, magic links, passkeys, multi-tenant, 2FA, organizations — out of the box.

github.com/better-auth/better-auth

All 3 alternatives ranked

Better Auth

MITSelf-hostable★ ~12k

github.com/better-auth/better-auth

Better Auth is the 2026 darling for TypeScript-first teams. Drop into any Node/Bun/Deno app, supports OAuth, magic links, passkeys, multi-tenant, 2FA, organizations — out of the box. Database-agnostic (Drizzle, Prisma, Kysely all work). Adoption exploded after shadcn endorsed it.

Pick Better Auth if

You're on Next.js + Drizzle/Prisma and want type-safe auth that handles the modern stuff (passkeys, social, magic links) without Auth0's monthly bill.

Skip if

You need enterprise SSO (SAML, custom IdPs) — Better Auth has it in beta but Auth0/Ory are more mature.

Supabase Auth

Apache 2.0Self-hostable★ ~2k

github.com/supabase/auth

If you're already on Supabase, their auth ships with the platform — JWT-based, hooks into RLS so your DB does authz, supports 20+ OAuth providers, magic links, phone OTP. Free tier covers 50k MAU, paid is $0.00325/MAU after that (~10× cheaper than Auth0).

Pick Supabase Auth if

Supabase is your backend, you want auth + database authz in one product, and you don't want to wire your own session storage.

Skip if

You're not on Postgres — Supabase Auth assumes you're using their DB.

Ory Kratos

Apache 2.0Self-hostable★ ~12k

github.com/ory/kratos

Ory is the enterprise-grade open-source auth stack. Kratos handles identity, Hydra is the OAuth2 server, Keto is permissions. Each runs as its own service — more setup than Better Auth, but it's what you want if you need SAML, custom enterprise IdPs, or air-gapped deployments.

Pick Ory Kratos if

You're selling to enterprises that need SAML/SCIM, or you need a battle-tested OAuth2 server you control end-to-end.

Skip if

You're a solo dev shipping a side project — Better Auth ships in an afternoon, Ory takes a week.

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