Auth0 pricing: how it works and compares to WorkOS

Users commonly complain about Auth0's high costs, low usage caps, and opaque pricing. On the other hand, WorkOS stands out for its transparent and scalable pricing model that grows with your business.

This post will:

• Provide a detailed breakdown of the Auth0 pricing model
• Explain how WorkOS delivers more transparent and competitive pricing options
• Help you understand how WorkOS and Auth0 pricing models compare

Auth0 pricing explained

‍‍Auth0 has two primary variables that drive pricing:

1. The number of monthly active users (MAUs).
2. The number of SSO/SCIM connections.

Their most recent pricing update, in September 2024, was focused on the free plan that anchors around the 25,000 MAU cap. Auth0 defines an MAU as a unique user who logs in at least once within a given month.

Auth0 B2B Free Plan vs. WorkOS AuthKit

Compared to the WorkOS AuthKit pricing, the Auth0 B2B free plan has several limitations:

1. MAU cap: Auth0’s free plan is limited to 25,000 MAUs, which is significantly lower than AuthKit's 1,000,000 MAUs.
2. Unclear pricing beyond the cap: Once usage exceeds 25,000 MAUs, Auth0’s pricing becomes less transparent.
3. Limits on organizations and admins: Auth0’s free plan caps the number of organizations at 5 and admin users at 3, whereas WorkOS AuthKit has no such restrictions.
4. Feature gaps: Auth0’s free plan does not support additional features like Bot Detection, RBAC (Role Management), and Identity Linking (Account Linking), which are included for free with AuthKit.

Auth0 vs. WorkOS pricing 

As your business expands and surpasses the limits of the free plan, moving to a higher tier becomes necessary.

Auth0 offers several paid options, but we intentionally selected the Auth0 B2B Professional Plan to compare since it provides upfront pricing for the highest number of MAUs (7,500) and SSO connections (5).

Auth0 Vs. WorkOS: Key points of comparison

• MAU cap: Auth0’s free plan doesn't translate linearly when moving to paid plans. Instead of increasing, the 25,000 MAU cap is replaced by a 7,500 MAU cap and 5 SSO connections cap in the B2B Professional Plan. So, as you transition to higher-tier plans, you get different limits, rather than a straightforward increase. WorkOS offers a consistent MAU cap of 1,000,000.
• Transparency: If you exceed either of those caps (7500 MAUs and 5 SSO connections), you must engage with the Auth0 sales team to get the exact pricing details. WorkOS offers straightforward, predictable pricing. Both SSO and SCIM connections are priced at a flat rate of $125/month.
• SSO protocol support: While Auth0 supports "unlimited" Okta connections across all plan types, these only cover OIDC connections and not SAML connections, which is necessary for IdP-initiated SSO. 

So, if you have a customer who wants to set up a SAML connection, it will count towards the cap of 5 SSO connections. WorkOS supports both protocols under the same pricing structure.

The reason for the free 1 million MAU support is simple. Our philosophy is to monetize when our customers also monetize. In B2B SaaS, this typically occurs as organizations sell to larger customers that need enterprise features like SSO and SCIM, not when the number of users increases.

By replacing the number of MAUs with the number of SSO and SCIM connections as the primary cost driver, WorkOS enables organizations to align cost with projected growth more accurately.

WorkOS Single Sign-On automatic discounts

Auth0's pricing structure is hard to follow when you want to set up SSO connections (Auth0 calls these "Enterprise Connections") for your customers. The Essentials paid plan is limited to 3 connections, while the Professional plan is capped at 5 connections. Beyond these limits, you must engage with their sales team for custom pricing details.

Compared with WorkOS, the same MAU cap of 1,000,000 for the free plan applies to users who sign in via SSO. Unlike most SSO providers, WorkOS offers SSO at a flat rate of $125/mo/organization with automatic volume discounts that trigger at various levels. 

Should you use Auth0 or WorkOS?

If you’re tired of negotiating with sales teams for low usage caps and complex pricing, consider WorkOS. 

• Transparent and predictable pricing: Unlike Auth0, which has a monthly active user price, WorkOS charges a flat rate for each company you onboard, whether they bring 10 or 10,000 users to your app.
• High usage caps: With up to 1,000,000 MAUs supported for free, you can grow confidently without worrying about hitting low caps.
• All-in-one platform: WorkOS brings essential authentication and user management features under one roof. This simplification saves you vendor costs and simplifies integrations and support.

Migrating from Auth0 is fast and easy. Hypercare did it in less than 2 weeks. 

Schedule time with our solutions engineering team to get help with a tailored migration plan.