Clerk Free Plan 2026: What's Included & What's Not
Honest breakdown of the free tier limits and features
Clerk costs Free to $300 per month as of May 2026. Pricing depends on your chosen tier, contract length, and negotiated discounts.
Use the interactive pricing calculator to estimate your exact cost based on team size and requirements.
- Free tier: No free tier available
Yes, Clerk offers a forever free plan as of May 2026. The free tier includes 8 features with limits on usage. Paid plans start at $25/month (Pro). Pricing verified from 2 sources by CostBench.
Clerk's free plan is available indefinitely with no time limit.
What's Included in the Free Plan
- Unlimited applications
- 50,000 MRU limit per app
- Up to 3 dashboard seats
- Up to 5 user impersonations
- Prebuilt UIs for sign-up, sign-in, user profile
- Custom domain
- Fixed 7-day session lifetime
- Machine Authentication / API Keys & M2M Tokens
What's NOT Included (Paid Only)
- 50,000 MRU included per app ($0.02/mo each additional)
- 1 Enterprise connection included ($75/mo each additional)
- Remove Clerk branding
- Multi-factor authentication (MFA)
- Satellite domains ($10/mo each)
- Custom session lifetime
- SMS Authentication available
- Volume discounts on MRUs (down to $0.012/mo at 10M+)
You'll Need to Upgrade When...
- You exceed the user limit
- You need features like 50,000 MRU included per app ($0.02/mo each additional) or 1 Enterprise connection included ($75/mo each additional)
- You require premium support or SLA guarantees
- You need to remove branding or watermarks
- You need advanced integrations or API access
Hidden Restrictions on Free Plan
- Clerk branding may appear on your content or communications
- Support is limited to community forums or email with longer response times
- Export options may be restricted or include watermarks
- API access is typically limited or not available
- Advanced reporting and analytics require paid plans
Free vs Paid: Which Do You Need?
Free Plan is Enough If...
- You're an individual or very small team
- You need only basic features
- You don't mind usage limits
- Branding on output is acceptable
- Community support is sufficient
You Need Paid If...
- Your team is growing beyond limits
- You need advanced features
- Professional branding is required
- You need priority support
- Integrations/API access is critical
Free vs Pro Plan Comparison
| Hobby $0 | Pro $25/month | |
|---|---|---|
| Features | 8 included | 9+ included |
| Support | Community/Email | Priority Support |
| Branding | Clerk branding | Your branding |
| Best For | Developers and hobby projects getting started with authentication | Growing apps needing full-featured auth with usage-based scaling |
Frequently Asked Questions
01 Is Clerk free?
Yes, Clerk offers a forever free plan with 8 core features included. However, there are limits on users and features that may require upgrading.
02 What's included in Clerk's free plan?
Clerk's free plan includes: Unlimited applications, 50,000 MRU limit per app, Up to 3 dashboard seats, Up to 5 user impersonations, Prebuilt UIs for sign-up, sign-in, user profile, and 3 more features. Key limits include basic usage caps.
03 What's NOT included in Clerk's free plan?
The free plan excludes: 50,000 MRU included per app ($0.02/mo each additional), 1 Enterprise connection included ($75/mo each additional), Remove Clerk branding, Multi-factor authentication (MFA), Satellite domains ($10/mo each). You'll also have Clerk branding and limited support options.
04 When should I upgrade from Clerk's free plan?
Consider upgrading when: you hit user or storage limits, need features like 50,000 MRU included per app ($0.02/mo each additional) or 1 Enterprise connection included ($75/mo each additional), require premium support, or want to remove branding. The cheapest paid plan starts at $25/month.
05 Is Clerk's free plan really free forever?
Yes, Clerk's free plan is available indefinitely with no time limit. However, feature and usage limits may restrict what you can do without upgrading to a paid plan.