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Comparison

Welcome | authentik vs Clerk

Welcome | authentik and Clerk both land on Depends.

Welcome | authentik versus Clerk
CompareWelcome | authentikClerk
VerdictDependsDepends
Best forDevOps-capable teamsReact/Next.js startups
Who it's not forSmall teams without a dedicated ops personHigh-volume consumer apps . MAU pricing bites hard
PrivacyNo known public vulnerabilities found in the sources reviewed.²Multiple public CVEs including a CVSS 9.1 auth bypass . pattern warrants monitoring before trusting it with critical flows.11
Support qualityTiny community signals slow help when auth breaksNo support evidence found
Public sentimentPublic user sentiment is sparse; the loudest signal questions why adoption is so low.⁴Developers consistently praise the fast React/Next.js setup but complain loudly that pricing scales badly with user growth.⁷
Biggest gotchaTiny community (388 YouTube subscribers) means slow answers when login breaks⁴MAU-based pricing escalates fast; founder publicly answered 'predatory pricing' accusations16

Pick Welcome | authentik when

  • DevOps-capable teams
  • Self-hosters and homelabs
  • Orgs keeping auth data in-house
  • B2B and B2C app owners

When Welcome | authentik is not a fit

  • Small teams without a dedicated ops person
  • Buyers wanting managed, hands-off auth
  • Anyone needing vendor-backed SLAs
  • Non-technical founders who need logins working today

Pick Clerk when

  • React/Next.js startups
  • Fast MVP launches
  • B2B SaaS with orgs/teams
  • Devs avoiding DIY auth

When Clerk is not a fit

  • High-volume consumer apps . MAU pricing bites hard
  • Security-critical or regulated apps wanting self-custody
  • Non-React stacks; it's purpose-built for the modern React web
  • Anyone wanting predictable flat pricing

Sources

  1. Welcome | authentik (homepage)goauthentik.io
    official
  2. Security pagegoauthentik.io
    security
  3. goauthentik/authentik on GitHubgithub.com
    official
  4. Why does Authentik seem to be used by so few people? (r/sysadmin)reddit.com
    review
  5. authentik API referenceapi.goauthentik.io
    official
  6. Is Clerk's pricing really that insane? . Redditreddit.com
    review
  7. Any experience with Clerk? . Redditreddit.com
    review
  8. Clerk.dev on G2 (2.9/5)g2.com
    review
  9. Clerk Pricingclerk.com
    official
  10. Clerk pricing explainedclerk.com
    official
  11. CVE-2026-41248: Clerk middleware bypasszeropath.com
    security
  12. CVE-2025-63700: clerk-js OAuth bypassgithub.com
    security
  13. Clerk Series C announcementclerk.com
    news
  14. Novu migrates user management to Clerknovu.co
    news
  15. Clerk alternatives: ceding vs owning UAM controlsupertokens.com
    review
  16. news.ycombinator.comnews.ycombinator.com
    review