Clerk free tier: the verified facts
Last verified: 2026-10-06· official pricing page
FREE TIER EXISTS NO CARD NEEDED
Drop-in auth with 50K free monthly retained users — but the features you want at launch are paid.
Current limits
| What | Limit | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Users | 50,000 MRUs per app | Monthly RETAINED users — only counts users who return 24h+ after signup |
| Applications | Unlimited | |
| Social login providers | Up to 3 | |
| Session lifetime | Fixed 7 days | Not configurable on free |
| Organizations (B2B) | 100 MROs, max 20 members each | |
| Log retention | 1 day |
Gotchas that bite people
MFA, passkeys, and SMS auth are PAID features — all Pro features work free in dev instances, which hides this until you launch to production
'Secured by Clerk' branding on all prebuilt UIs — removal costs $25/month (Pro)
Exceeding 50K MRUs gives only a one-month grace period before forced upgrade
Billing is per MRU per APP — the same human using two of your apps counts twice
Notes for developers in India
SaaS API, no region selection. India data-residency/edge latency unverified.
Change history
2026-10-06— Verified 50K MRU free tier (billing unit changed from MAU to MRU with 'First Day Free'). Directory Sync becomes separately billed from 2027-01-01
Outgrowing the free tier?
When the limits above stop being enough, see our comparison guides for the cheapest reliable upgrade paths — including options with India regions.