AuthentikOpen source, self-hosted identity provider for unified authentication.
vs
ClerkAuthentication and user management for modern web apps
Comparison · Identity & Access Management · weekly run Nov 3
Authentik vs Clerk
Which one do AI engines recommend, and how do they differ on price, fit and features?
The short answer
Clerk is the stronger AI pick in Identity & Access Management: it has a visibility score of 3.1 versus 2.7 for Authentik.
Choose Authentik if…
- You want a lower entry price ($5 vs $25)
- AI answers describe it more positively (67% vs 56% positive)
- You need OpenID Certified coverage
- Per seat pricing suits your budget better than usage-based
Choose Clerk if…
- You want the brand AI engines rank higher (3.1 vs 2.7)
- You need SOC 2 Type 2 or HIPAA or GDPR (EU-U.S. Data Privacy Framework) or CCPA coverage
- You prefer a larger, established vendor (51–200 employees)
- Usage-based pricing suits your budget better than per seat
AI visibility side by side
Latest weekly run · Nov 3
| Metric | Authentik | Clerk |
|---|---|---|
| Visibility score | 2.7% | 3.1% |
| Change vs last week | up+1.7% | up+1.6% |
| Rank in Identity & Access Management | #24 | #22 |
| Share of voice | 0.6% | 1.3% |
| Mentions this run | 2 | 4 |
| Positive in AI answers | 67% | 56% |
The stronger value in each row is marked with a ✓.
Visibility score trend
Weekly runs over the last 60 days
Authentik +1.0000000000000002pp · Clerk +0.6000000000000001pp over 1 weekly runs.
Engine by engine
Clerk leads on 2 of 3 engines
ChatGPT
AI Mode
Perplexity
AuthentikClerk
Head to head in AI answers
0 engine answers name both brands
0Authentik ranked higher
0Clerk ranked higher
Features, pricing & fit
| Dimension | Authentik | Clerk |
|---|---|---|
| Pricing model | Per seat | Usage-based |
| Entry price | Free; paid from $5 per seat / mo | Free; paid from $25 / mo |
| Free plan | Yes | Yes |
| Deployment | Self-hosted (Kubernetes, Terraform, Docker Compose, AWS CloudFormation); no hosted version offered | Cloud (SaaS) |
| Compliance | OpenID Certified | SOC 2 Type 2, HIPAA, GDPR (EU-U.S. Data Privacy Framework), CCPA |
| Support | Community Discord, GitHub community support, Ticket-based support (Enterprise over $1k), Dedicated support with SLAs (Enterprise Plus) | Community Discord, Email support, Priority support, Dedicated technical account manager |
| Founded | 2018 | 2019 |
| Headquarters | — | San Francisco, CA, United States |
| Employees | 1–10 | 51–200 |
| Funding | Later-stage VC · $2M raised | Series C · $101M raised |
| Best for | Organizations that want to self-host their identity provider and keep control of their identity data, from homelabs to enterprises with thousands of users. | Developers building React and Next.js apps who want prebuilt auth and user management, including B2B SaaS needing organizations and SSO |
Plans side by side
Authentik
Open Source$0free
Enterprise$5user / month, billed annually
Enterprise Plus$20,000year (starting at)
Clerk
Hobby$0month
Pro$25month ($20/mo billed annually)
Business$300month ($250/mo billed annually)
EnterpriseCustomcustom, billed annually
Pros and cons
Themes from the AI answers that mention each brand
Authentik
- fully open-source, self-hosted IAM platform
- modern UI
- easy to administer
- affordable, reliable, secure IAM platform for business use
- highly flexible with built-in MFA and proxy outposts
- you must manage hosting, updates, backups, and security yourself
Clerk
- Free user management up to 1,000,000 MAUs
- Clear, modular per-connection pricing
- Rapid development and developer experience
- Expanded support for B2B organizations and multi-tenancy
- Good fit for rapid MVP builds
Data collected ·ChatGPT, Perplexity, Google AI Mode·coverage 98.8%·next run
Cite as: SlateIndex, “Authentik vs Clerk”, https://slateindex.ai/compare/authentik-vs-clerk, data of Nov 3, 2026. Licence: CC BY 4.0.