stytch.com
The best authentication services in 2025 - Stytch
Excerpt
Clerk is designed to work with Next.js (and includes fully pre-built UI components). It's easy to use with features like session management built-in, which includes robust session handling without any extra setup required. Due to its focus on Next.js and assisting front-end developers, it can be difficult to use with other frameworks (or back-end authentication), and it seems less well-designed for larger enterprise projects, offering fewer enterprise features than some other providers. It can also become quite expensive once you start scaling to larger numbers of users.
Related Pain Points
Limited framework support and difficult integration outside Next.js
6Clerk is tightly coupled to Next.js with pre-built UI components optimized for that framework. Integration with other frameworks or backend authentication scenarios is difficult and less well-supported.
High vendor lock-in with limited customization
6Clerk's commercial model creates high vendor lock-in with limited customization options available, making it difficult for developers who need full control over authentication flows or plan to self-host.