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Rank #3 of 5 in Auth & Identity

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Better Auth

Open SourceYC X25

Better Auth (Vercel)

29.9k12.9k/yrnpm 6.2M/wk +103npm/wk -1.2M

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Install

npmnpm install better-auth

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Showcase

Better Auth homepage screenshot
homepage · captured Sep 2026 · view live ↗
Better Auth docs screenshot
docs · captured Sep 2026 · view live ↗

Try itExperimental

See what an agent can do with Better Auth before you ever sign up. Pick a story: recorded sessions replay real probe-harness transcripts; the live MCP handshake runs real requests from our edge, right now — including, where the server allows it, one real read-only tool call (bring your own key for auth-gated servers); sandboxed self-drive sessions are designed and gated (docs/TRY-IT.md).

$mcp-probe → https://mcp.better-auth.com/mcplive — run just now from our edge
$ press ▶ run to send one JSON-RPC initialize from our edge
real JSON-RPC against the vendor’s documented MCP endpoint — read-only, nothing is written

Verified integrations

Connections to other tracked products — hover a chip for the verbatim evidence quote behind it.

By theme — the product's score on each story themeBy theme

Agent auth — stories about agent auth in this arenaAgent authevidence →

Stories about agent auth in this arena

41.9/100

Agenticness — how well agents can access and operate the productAgenticnessevidence →

How well agents can access and operate the product

35.7/100

Automation depth — how much of the product can run unattendedAutomation depthevidence →

How much of the product can run unattended

0.0/100

Deployment control — stories about deployment control in this arenaDeployment controlevidence →

Stories about deployment control in this arena

90.0/100

Enterprise sso — stories about enterprise sso in this arenaEnterprise ssoevidence →

Stories about enterprise sso in this arena

36.0/100

Events webhooks — stories about events webhooks in this arenaEvents webhooksevidence →

Stories about events webhooks in this arena

0.0/100

Framework integration — stories about framework integration in this arenaFramework integrationevidence →

Stories about framework integration in this arena

18.0/100

Mfa passwordless — stories about mfa passwordless in this arenaMfa passwordlessevidence →

Stories about mfa passwordless in this arena

53.7/100

Oauth oidc — stories about oauth oidc in this arenaOauth oidcevidence →

Stories about oauth oidc in this arena

72.9/100

Openness — open source, data portability, and self-hosting storiesOpennessevidence →

Open source, data portability, and self-hosting stories

62.8/100

Orgs multitenant — stories about orgs multitenant in this arenaOrgs multitenantevidence →

Stories about orgs multitenant in this arena

33.6/100

Privacy posture — data-handling and privacy storiesPrivacy postureevidence →

Data-handling and privacy stories

18.0/100

Rbac permissions — stories about rbac permissions in this arenaRbac permissionsevidence →

Stories about rbac permissions in this arena

33.0/100

Session management — stories about session management in this arenaSession managementevidence →

Stories about session management in this arena

67.5/100

User migration — stories about user migration in this arenaUser migrationevidence →

Stories about user migration in this arena

32.0/100

Story verdicts — every judged story with its evidenceStory verdicts

What’s free: 8 free · 0 paid · 0 enterprise · 27 not stated in evidence

?

Sorted by importance (agentic first) (high → low) · 56/56 stories · click a row’s chevron for the rationale and evidence

Connect an agent via an official MCP server G

Agent access

ai-native userAgenticness — how well agents can access and operate the productAgenticness3full8/10T

Drive the product through a documented public API G

Agent access

ai-native userAgenticness — how well agents can access and operate the productAgenticness3full8/10T

Delegate tasks to a built-in AI assistant inside the product G

Agentic features

ai-native userAgenticness — how well agents can access and operate the productAgenticness3none±untestednone yet

Plug MCP servers into this product so it can use their tools G

Agent access

ai-native userAgenticness — how well agents can access and operate the productAgenticness3n/auntestednone yet

Point an agent at llms.txt or agent-oriented docs G

Agent access

ai-native userAgenticness — how well agents can access and operate the productAgenticness2full9/10T

Use an official CLI G

Agent access

ai-native userAgenticness — how well agents can access and operate the productAgenticness2full8/10T

Build against official SDKs G

Agent access

ai-native userAgenticness — how well agents can access and operate the productAgenticness2partial±6/10T

Issue scoped/least-privilege API credentials for an agent G

Agent access

ai-native userAgenticness — how well agents can access and operate the productAgenticness2partial6/10T

Run the product headlessly / in CI for automation G

Agent access

ai-native userAgenticness — how well agents can access and operate the productAgenticness2partial±5/10T

Operate the product with natural-language commands G

Agentic features

ai-native userAgenticness — how well agents can access and operate the productAgenticness2partial4/10T

Download a machine-readable API spec (OpenAPI or equivalent) G

Api quality

ai-native userAgenticness — how well agents can access and operate the productAgenticness2none0/10

Explore an interactive API reference with runnable examples G

Api quality

ai-native userAgenticness — how well agents can access and operate the productAgenticness2none0/10

Rely on versioned APIs with a documented deprecation policy G

Api quality

ai-native userAgenticness — how well agents can access and operate the productAgenticness2none0/10

Get AI-generated insights and suggestions from my data inside the product G

Agentic features

ai-native userAgenticness — how well agents can access and operate the productAgenticness2n/auntestednone yet

Set up automations that run autonomously in the background G

Agentic features

ai-native userAgenticness — how well agents can access and operate the productAgenticness2n/auntestednone yet

Subscribe to events via webhooks G

Agent access

ai-native userAgenticness — how well agents can access and operate the productAgenticness2noneuntestednone yet

Test against a sandbox environment without touching production data G

Api quality

ai-native userAgenticness — how well agents can access and operate the productAgenticness1none0/10

Manage session lifecycle — expiry, refresh, and immediate server-side revocation of a compromised session C

Sessions

developerSession management — stories about session management in this arenaSession management3full8/10C

Put a spec-compliant OAuth authorization flow in front of my MCP server so remote agents connect with scoped, verifiable tokens C

Mcp

ai-native userAgent auth — stories about agent auth in this arenaAgent auth3full8/10T

Self-host the core product G

ai-native userOpenness — open source, data portability, and self-hosting storiesOpenness3fullfree8/10X

Implement standard OAuth 2.0 / OIDC flows (authorization code with PKCE, refresh tokens) without hand-rolling protocol details C

Flows

developerOauth oidc — stories about oauth oidc in this arenaOauth oidc3full7/10C

Require multi-factor authentication with TOTP authenticator apps and backup codes, with step-up enforcement where needed G

Mfa

security-engineerMfa passwordless — stories about mfa passwordless in this arenaMfa passwordless3partial7/10C

Connect enterprise identity providers over SAML and OIDC (Okta, Entra, Google Workspace) for workforce sign-in G

Sso

security-engineerEnterprise sso — stories about enterprise sso in this arenaEnterprise sso3full6/10C

Define roles and permissions and have them enforced and surfaced in session tokens for authorization checks G

Rbac

developerRbac permissions — stories about rbac permissions in this arenaRbac permissions3partial6/10C

Export all of my data in open formats and leave G

ai-native userOpenness — open source, data portability, and self-hosting storiesOpenness3partialfree6/10X

Give each agent its own least-privilege machine identity with narrowly scoped permissions and instant revocation, instead of sharing a human's credentials C

Machine identity

ai-native userAgent auth — stories about agent auth in this arenaAgent auth3partial6/10C

Model multi-tenant B2B apps with organizations, memberships, and invitation flows out of the box C

Orgs

developerOrgs multitenant — stories about orgs multitenant in this arenaOrgs multitenant3partial6/10X

Issue machine-to-machine credentials (client-credentials flow) so backend services and agents authenticate without a human in the loop C

Machine identity

ai-native userAgent auth — stories about agent auth in this arenaAgent auth3partial5/10C

Protect routes with first-party framework SDKs and middleware (Next.js and peers) that verify sessions at the edge C

Frameworks

developerFramework integration — stories about framework integration in this arenaFramework integration3partial5/10T

Have an agent obtain short-lived, user-consented tokens for third-party APIs (token vault/exchange) so tool calls run under the user's delegated authority C

Delegation

ai-native userAgent auth — stories about agent auth in this arenaAgent auth3partial4/10C

Define rules that trigger actions automatically on events G

ai-native userAutomation depth — how much of the product can run unattendedAutomation depth3noneuntestednone yet

Prevent my data from being used to train AI models G

ai-native userPrivacy posture — data-handling and privacy storiesPrivacy posture3n/auntestednone yet

Control where the auth system and its user data run — self-managed deployment, private instance, or my own database C

Deployment

security-engineerDeployment control — stories about deployment control in this arenaDeployment control2fullfree9/10X

Authenticate CLIs and headless agents via the OAuth device authorization flow instead of pasting long-lived secrets C

Device flow

ai-native userAgent auth — stories about agent auth in this arenaAgent auth2full8/10C

Offer passkeys/WebAuthn and passwordless options like magic links or email OTP as first-class sign-in methods G

Passwordless

developerMfa passwordless — stories about mfa passwordless in this arenaMfa passwordless2full8/10X

Offer sign-in with a broad set of social and OAuth identity providers through configuration, not custom code G

Flows

developerOauth oidc — stories about oauth oidc in this arenaOauth oidc2fullfree8/10X

Do everything through the API that I can do in the UI G

ai-native userOpenness — open source, data portability, and self-hosting storiesOpenness2full7/10T

Read the product's source under an open license G

ai-native userOpenness — open source, data portability, and self-hosting storiesOpenness2fullfree7/10X

Turn my own application into an OAuth provider that issues tokens to third-party clients ("Sign in with my app") C

Provider

developerOauth oidc — stories about oauth oidc in this arenaOauth oidc2full7/10T

Bulk-import existing users — including password hashes — and export them again, so I am never locked in C

Migration

developerUser migration — stories about user migration in this arenaUser migration2partialfree5/10X

Choose where my data is stored (region/residency) G

ai-native userPrivacy posture — data-handling and privacy storiesPrivacy posture2partialfree5/10X

Give each customer organization its own SSO connection with verified domains and just-in-time provisioning G

Orgs

security-engineerOrgs multitenant — stories about orgs multitenant in this arenaOrgs multitenant2partial5/10C

Control data retention and deletion G

ai-native userPrivacy posture — data-handling and privacy storiesPrivacy posture2partialfree4/10X

Capture tamper-evident audit logs of authentication and admin activity and stream or export them to my SIEM G

Audit

security-engineerEvents webhooks — stories about events webhooks in this arenaEvents webhooks2none0/10

Perform bulk operations across many items at once G

ai-native userAutomation depth — how much of the product can run unattendedAutomation depth2none0/10

Require asynchronous human approval (e.g. CIBA-style confirmation) before an autonomous agent completes a sensitive transaction C

Delegation

ai-native userAgent auth — stories about agent auth in this arenaAgent auth2none0/10

Ship production sign-in, sign-up, and profile management with prebuilt, customizable UI components or hosted pages C

Frameworks

developerFramework integration — stories about framework integration in this arenaFramework integration2none0/10

Subscribe to webhooks or event streams for auth events (sign-ups, sign-ins, user changes) to keep my systems in sync C

Webhooks

developerEvents webhooks — stories about events webhooks in this arenaEvents webhooks2none0/10

Opt out of telemetry and usage tracking G

ai-native userPrivacy posture — data-handling and privacy storiesPrivacy posture2noneuntestednone yet

Schedule recurring jobs or workflows G

ai-native userAutomation depth — how much of the product can run unattendedAutomation depth2n/auntestednone yet

Sync users and groups from customer directories via SCIM so deprovisioning in the IdP revokes app access G

Sso

security-engineerEnterprise sso — stories about enterprise sso in this arenaEnterprise sso2noneuntestednone yet

Follow vendor-maintained migration guides or tooling for moving off a competing auth provider without forcing password resets C

Migration

founderUser migration — stories about user migration in this arenaUser migration1partial6/10C

Rely on built-in protection against bots, credential stuffing, and brute-force attacks on the auth flows C

Hardening

security-engineerMfa passwordless — stories about mfa passwordless in this arenaMfa passwordless1partial6/10C

Let users and admins see active sessions and devices and revoke them individually or all at once C

Sessions

security-engineerSession management — stories about session management in this arenaSession management1partial5/10C

Express fine-grained, resource-level authorization (relationship- or policy-based) beyond simple roles C

Rbac

security-engineerRbac permissions — stories about rbac permissions in this arenaRbac permissions1partial4/10C

Version, review, and roll back my automations G

ai-native userAutomation depth — how much of the product can run unattendedAutomation depth1n/auntestednone yet

Opportunities — the stories that would move this product's scores, from its own judged verdictsOpportunitiestop 8 of 34 stories with headroom

What would move Better Auth’s scores — derived from its own judged verdicts, biggest headroom first. Each line quotes what the judge found missing; shipping it (or evidencing it publicly) is the fix.

  1. Agenticness — how well agents can access and operate the productDelegate tasks to a built-in AI assistant inside the product

    nonemoves Built-in AIimpact 45

    The axis applies to this product kind (peer products hold positive or none verdicts on this story), so lack of evidence for an applicable capability is "none", never "na".

  2. Automation depth — how much of the product can run unattendedDefine rules that trigger actions automatically on events

    nonemoves PA Scoreimpact 30

    The evidence pack shows no documentation of an event-hook or rules-trigger system (e.g., 'on sign-up run X', webhooks, or automation rules) — only static configuration options like rate limits and session expiration.

  3. Agenticness — how well agents can access and operate the productSubscribe to events via webhooks

    nonemoves agent-readyimpact 30

    No evidence of any webhook subscription feature in Better Auth's docs (rate limiting, sessions, MCP, plugins, etc.

  4. Agenticness — how well agents can access and operate the productExplore an interactive API reference with runnable examples

    nonemoves API qualityimpact 30

    The evidence pack shows only static markdown documentation with code snippets, and a direct probe for an OpenAPI/interactive API reference (Swagger, openapi.json, etc.) found all candidate paths returning 404, indicating no interactive, runnable API reference is exposed.

  5. Agenticness — how well agents can access and operate the productDownload a machine-readable API spec (OpenAPI or equivalent)

    nonemoves API qualityimpact 30

    The evidence pack shows an explicit probe for OpenAPI/swagger spec endpoints that all returned 404, and no documentation in the pack references an OpenAPI/machine-readable spec output for Better Auth's API surface.

  6. Agenticness — how well agents can access and operate the productRely on versioned APIs with a documented deprecation policy

    nonemoves API qualityimpact 30

    Missing: versioning policy documentation, deprecation/changelog process, evidence of API stability guarantees for AI/agent consumers.

  7. Events webhooks — stories about events webhooks in this arenaCapture tamper-evident audit logs of authentication and admin activity and stream or export them to my SIEM

    nonemoves PA Scoreimpact 20

    The evidence pack shows only a marketing-page activity feed mockup listing generic events (session created, token revoked, 2FA enabled) with no documentation of tamper-evident logging, hashing/integrity guarantees, or any SIEM export/streaming/webhook mechanism for audit or admin activity.

  8. Events webhooks — stories about events webhooks in this arenaSubscribe to webhooks or event streams for auth events (sign-ups, sign-ins, user changes) to keep my systems in sync

    nonemoves PA Scoreimpact 20

    No evidence pack item documents a webhook system or event-stream API for auth events; the only related item (docs-63) shows a UI activity-feed mockup, not a subscribable webhook/event mechanism for external systems to sync with.

Showing the top 8 of 34 — every none/partial verdict in the story verdicts table is headroom.

Think a verdict is wrong? Every verdicts-table row has a Flag link — see the methodology.

Coverage map — which docs area, API section, or community source covers which judged storiesCoverage map5 surfaces · 36 covered stories

Where the cited evidence behind each covered verdict came from — the same citations the verdicts table shows, no extra judging.

docs34 stories

better-auth.com19 stories

Claims vs evidence — vendor claims reconciled against independent verdictsClaims vs evidence

11 of 20 testable claims verified · 1 contradictedintegrity 45/100

25 distinct capability claims found in Better Auth’s own claimed-docs/GitHub materials, reconciled against our judge’s independent verdicts.

11

Verified

8

Unverified

1

Contradicted

17

Undersold

Verified (12)
Unverified (10)
Contradicted (1)
Undersold (17)
Claims outside our story set (3)

Real capability claims found in Better Auth’s own materials, but no story in this arena’s taxonomy covers them yet — that’s feedback on the taxonomy, not a mark against the product.

  • Built-in email and password authentication support

    source ↗
  • Supports non-destructive rotation of the auth secret without downtime or DB migration

    source ↗
  • Admin plugin lets admins create users, manage roles, ban/unban, and impersonate users

    source ↗
Suggest a story for these →

Business model

open-source

Open-source (MIT) TypeScript authentication framework that runs inside your own app and database — no per-MAU pricing; the company (now part of Vercel) monetizes adjacent infrastructure, not the framework.

pricing ↗

Score trend

How this product’s scores have moved as evidence and verdicts are re-derived — a point per change, not per day.

PA Score32 (Sep 4 '26)31 (Sep 16 '26)
Agent-ready58 (Sep 4 '26)57 (Sep 16 '26)

Try Experimental

Run it in the microterminal →

Recorded agent sessions — and a live MCP handshake where the vendor ships one.

Flag

⚑ Flag a verdict

Think a verdict is wrong? Opens a prefilled GitHub issue — or use the ⚑ next to any verdict above.

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For agents

Data

Agent surface uptime MCP 100% · llms.txt 100% (30d, checked every 6h since Sep 8 '26)