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Best Free & Open Source Alternatives to Clerk

Compare 1 open-source Clerk alternative including Tinyauth

If you're looking for the best open-source alternative to Clerk; Tinyauth is a strong place to start.

#1 Tinyauth

Tinyauth

The tiniest OpenID Certified self-hosted authentication and authorization server, with OAuth, OIDC, LDAP, 2FA, and Traefik/Nginx/Caddy middleware support.

Tinyauth is a self-hosted authentication and authorization server written in Go with a small TypeScript frontend. It is OpenID Certified for Basic OP (since v5.1.0) and ships as a single small Go binary plus a minimal web UI, designed to be dropped in front of any self-hosted app that needs SSO.

It works in two modes: as a reverse-proxy middleware in front of Traefik, Nginx or Caddy (the most common deployment), or as a standalone OIDC/OAuth provider that other apps can federate to. Out of the box it supports username/password logins, OAuth providers, LDAP, and TOTP-based two-factor authentication, with per-app access controls, user allow-lists and per-domain rules. Tinyauth v5 is the first version to pass the OpenID Foundation conformance test suite, so it can act as a real OIDC identity provider for any OIDC-compliant client.

It's built for homelabs and self-hosters: the Go binary is small, the distroless Docker image is tiny, configuration is one .env file, and the project ships a working docker-compose example with Traefik. The web UI offers user management, app configuration, and OAuth setup. Tinyauth is licensed under AGPL-3.0 and is currently one of the most-starred self-hosted auth projects on GitHub.

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Frequently Asked Questions

Are there any open source alternatives to Clerk?

Yes, there are 1 open source alternatives to Clerk. Popular options include Tinyauth. These alternatives are free to use and many offer self-hosting options.

What is the best free alternative to Clerk?

The best free alternative to Clerk depends on your specific needs. Tinyauth is a popular choice with self-hosting capabilities. All alternatives listed here are open source and free to use.

Can I self-host an alternative to Clerk?

Yes, 1 of the alternatives listed here can be self-hosted, giving you complete control over your data and privacy.

Why should I switch from Clerk to an open source alternative?

Open source alternatives to Clerk offer several advantages: no vendor lock-in, complete data ownership, no subscription fees, the ability to self-host for privacy and security, and active community support. You can also customize the software to fit your specific needs.

Clerk

Clerk

Clerk is a developer-first authentication and user management platform that provides drop-in UI components, flexible APIs, and a dashboard to build secure sign-in and user management into web and mobile apps.

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