# Alternatives to Kinde

Kinde is an authentication-as-a-service platform aimed at early-stage and growing SaaS companies, bundling social login, passwordless, MFA, RBAC, and multi-tenant org support with pre-built UI components and integrated billing. It's positioned as a lower-cost, faster-to-integrate alternative for startups compared to enterprise-oriented CIAM vendors. It differentiates on price-to-feature ratio and a free tier generous enough for early production use.

Kinde ranks #12 of 12 in Authentication & identity providers, with an Alt Score of 74. It is proprietary, freemium from $25/mo and available on the web. 12 of 12 checklist rows are verified against a public source.

Source: https://altcatalog.com/alternatives/kinde/
Category: Authentication & identity providers

## Overview

- **Who it's for**: Kinde is aimed at developers and founders building SaaS products who need authentication, user management, and billing without assembling separate vendors. Its plans span from hobbyist/personal projects on the free tier up to enterprise B2B businesses that need SAML SSO, multi-tenant organizations, and dedicated infrastructure.
- **What you get**: The platform provides social login, OTP-based passwordless sign-in, passkeys/WebAuthn (paid plans), MFA, enterprise SAML connections, role-based access control, multi-tenant organizations, customizable hosted auth pages (the Kinde widget), and integrated subscription billing. All plans include a free tier of 10,500 monthly active users.
- **How it works**: Kinde runs as a hosted, multi-tenant service (single database with a per-tenant schema) that developers integrate via SDKs for web and native platforms or directly against its APIs. User sign-in flows are served from Kinde-hosted pages that can be restyled with CSS or replaced with custom HTML/CSS/JS synced from a connected GitHub repo, while roles, permissions, and organization membership are managed through the Kinde dashboard or Management API and surfaced to applications via JWT claims.

## Profile

- **License**: Proprietary (verified 2026-07-30)
- **Pricing model**: Freemium (verified 2026-07-30)
- **Starts at**: $25/mo (verified 2026-07-30)
- **Platforms**: Web
- **Status**: active (verified 2026-07-30)

## Ranked alternatives

| # | App | Alt Score | Licence | Platforms |
|---|-----|-----------|---------|-----------|
| 1 | [FusionAuth](https://altcatalog.com/alternatives/fusionauth.md) | 93 | Proprietary | Windows, macOS, Linux, Web |
| 2 | [Ory](https://altcatalog.com/alternatives/ory.md) | 93 | Apache-2.0 | Linux, macOS, Windows |
| 3 | [Zitadel](https://altcatalog.com/alternatives/zitadel.md) | 93 | AGPL-3.0 | Linux, macOS, Web |
| 4 | [Auth0](https://altcatalog.com/alternatives/auth0.md) | 89 | Proprietary | Web |
| 5 | [Clerk](https://altcatalog.com/alternatives/clerk.md) | 89 | Proprietary | Web, iOS, Android |
| 6 | [Frontegg](https://altcatalog.com/alternatives/frontegg.md) | 89 | Proprietary | Web, iOS, Android |
| 7 | [Stytch](https://altcatalog.com/alternatives/stytch.md) | 89 | Proprietary | Web, iOS, Android |
| 8 | [Descope](https://altcatalog.com/alternatives/descope.md) | 85 | Proprietary | Web, iOS, Android |
| 9 | [WorkOS](https://altcatalog.com/alternatives/workos.md) | 85 | Proprietary | Web |
| 10 | [Keycloak](https://altcatalog.com/alternatives/keycloak.md) | 81 | Apache License 2.0 | Linux, Windows, Web |
| 11 | [Amazon Cognito](https://altcatalog.com/alternatives/cognito.md) | 78 | ? | Web |

Alt Score = Verified coverage (90%) + Visibility (10%). See https://altcatalog.com/how-alt-score-works/

## Feature comparison

Legend: Yes / No / Partial / ? (not verified).

| Authentication & identity providers checklist | Kinde | FusionAuth | Ory | Zitadel | Auth0 | Clerk |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pricing model | Freemium | Freemium | OSS + paid hosting | Freemium | Freemium | Freemium |
| Starts at | $25/mo | $162/mo | $770/yr | US$100/mo | $35/mo | $25/mo |
| License | Proprietary | Proprietary | Apache-2.0 | AGPL-3.0 | Proprietary | Proprietary |
| Platforms | Web | Windows, macOS, Linux, Web | Linux, macOS, Windows | Linux, macOS, Web | Web | Web, iOS, Android |
| Social login | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Passwordless / magic links | Partial | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Passkeys / WebAuthn | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| MFA | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Enterprise SSO (SAML / OIDC) | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| SCIM provisioning | No | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| B2B org / multi-tenant | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Self-hostable | No | Yes | Yes | Yes | Partial | No |
| Pre-built UI components | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| RBAC / permissions | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Open source | No | No | Yes | Yes | No | Partial |
| Generous free tier (MAUs) | Yes | Yes | No | No | Yes | Yes |

## Sources

Sources for Kinde. Each alternative is sourced on its own page.

- **Starts at**: $25/mo — <https://kinde.com/pricing/> (verified 2026-07-30)
  - Note: Cheapest paid tier is Pro at $25/month base. Paid plans also add a per-customer transaction fee (0.7% on Pro, scaling down to 0.5% on Scale) on top of the base price.
  - Quote: “Upgrade when you want, cancel anytime. $25 USD per month”
- **Platforms**: Web — <https://docs.kinde.com/design/customize-with-code/quick-start-guide/> (verified 2026-07-30)
  - Note: Kinde is a hosted web platform (admin dashboard + hosted auth pages). It also ships native SDKs (iOS, Android, React Native, Flutter) for embedding auth into mobile apps, but these are client integrat
  - Quote: “The quickest way to see an end-to-end example of custom HTML/CSS and JS running on Kinde hosted pages is to follow this guide.”
- **Pricing model**: Freemium — <https://kinde.com/pricing/> (verified 2026-07-30)
  - Quote: “Every plan includes a free tier of 10,500 monthly active users (MAU), with paid features and usage billed as you scale.”
- **License**: Proprietary — <https://docs.kinde.com/trust-center/agreements/end-user-licence-agreement/> (verified 2026-07-30)
  - Note: Standard SaaS terms-of-use grant, not an open-source licence. Kinde publishes open-source client SDKs/helper libraries under the kinde-oss GitHub org, but the core hosted platform is closed source.
  - Quote: “we grant you a personal, non-exclusive, royalty-free, revocable, worldwide, non-transferable licence to use our Platform in accordance with these Terms. All other uses are prohibited without our prior”
- **Status**: active — <https://updates.kinde.com/announcements/passkeys-flexible-billing-and-more> (verified 2026-07-30)
  - Note: Dated June 30, 2026 release note; changelog shows ongoing shipped features close to the current date.
  - Quote: “Sign in with passkeys You can now offer your users passwordless authentication with passkeys (WebAuthn/FIDO2). Users can register and sign in with passkeys”
- **Social login**: Yes — <https://kinde.com/authentication/> (verified 2026-07-30)
  - Quote: “Social proof built in Your users already know and love social login because they use it every day.”
- **Passwordless / magic links**: Partial — <https://docs.kinde.com/authenticate/authentication-methods/passwordless-authentication/> (verified 2026-07-30)
  - Note: Passwordless sign-in exists (email/SMS/username one-time passcode), but Kinde explicitly does not offer a magic-link flow.
  - Quote: “Kinde does not support magic links as a password alternative, instead, we prefer to use one-time passcodes (OTPs) as they are more secure”
- **Passkeys / WebAuthn**: Yes — <https://docs.kinde.com/authenticate/authentication-methods/passkeys/> (verified 2026-07-30)
  - Note: Passkeys require a Kinde paid plan (Pro, Plus, Scale, or Enterprise) — not included on the Free tier.
  - Quote: “Passkeys are a passwordless sign-in method based on the Web Authentication (WebAuthn) standard.”
- **MFA**: Yes — <https://kinde.com/pricing/> (verified 2026-07-30)
  - Quote: “Includes 10,500 MAU free, 0.7% per customer transaction, subscriptions & billing, email/SMS/social login, MFA, organizations, custom domain, workflows, M2M, RBAC, feature flags, and more.”
- **Enterprise SSO (SAML / OIDC)**: Yes — <https://docs.kinde.com/authenticate/enterprise-connections/about-enterprise-connections/> (verified 2026-07-30)
  - Note: SAML is broadly supported (Entra ID, Cloudflare, Google Workspace, LastPass, Okta, Custom SAML). OIDC/OAuth 2.0 enterprise connections are currently limited to Microsoft Entra ID specifically, not a g
  - Quote: “Enterprise authentication is a common method for managing user access to systems in large organizations. Kinde supports a number of enterprise connection types, including: Microsoft Entra ID (OAuth 2.”
- **SCIM provisioning**: No — <https://docs.kinde.com/authenticate/enterprise-connections/provision-users-enterprise/> (verified 2026-07-30)
  - Note: Kinde's pricing page lists 'advanced MFA/SCIM' under the Scale plan, but this docs page explicitly states SCIM is still in development / coming soon. Reviewer should verify current status before publi
  - Quote: “Automated provisioning with SCIM (coming soon) ... SCIM (System for Cross-domain Identity Management) support is currently in development.”
- **B2B org / multi-tenant**: Yes — <https://docs.kinde.com/build/organizations/multi-tenancy-using-organizations/> (verified 2026-07-30)
  - Quote: “You can run multiple businesses on the Kinde platform, and you can also use organizations to separately manage sub-entities and user groups - known as multi-tenanting.”
- **Self-hostable**: No — <https://kinde.com/pricing/> (verified 2026-07-30)
  - Note: Even the top Enterprise tier only offers Kinde-managed 'dedicated infrastructure', i.e. a dedicated hosted instance operated by Kinde, not a package customers can run on their own infrastructure. No s
  - Quote: “Custom plan for teams with complex needs and highest support. Custom pricing. All features in Scale, plus: advanced deployment, dedicated infra, volume discounts, unlimited environments, custom SLAs/s”
- **Pre-built UI components**: Yes — <https://docs.kinde.com/design/customize-with-code/kinde-widget/> (verified 2026-07-30)
  - Quote: “The Kinde widget is a core element in Kinde page design. The components that make up the widget have been specifically designed to be easily overridden by your own CSS so you can give it the look and ”
- **RBAC / permissions**: Yes — <https://docs.kinde.com/manage-users/roles-and-permissions/user-roles/> (verified 2026-07-30)
  - Quote: “Roles allow you to group permissions into buckets.”
- **Open source**: No — <https://docs.kinde.com/trust-center/agreements/end-user-licence-agreement/> (verified 2026-07-30)
  - Note: This is a proprietary usage licence for the hosted service, not an open-source licence. Kinde does publish open-source SDKs/helper libraries under the kinde-oss GitHub org, but the core platform is cl
  - Quote: “we grant you a personal, non-exclusive, royalty-free, revocable, worldwide, non-transferable licence to use our Platform in accordance with these Terms. All other uses are prohibited without our prior”
- **Generous free tier (MAUs)**: Yes — <https://kinde.com/pricing/> (verified 2026-07-30)
  - Quote: “Yes, our Free plan gives you 10,500 monthly active users at no cost, and does not require a credit card to get started.”

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Ranked by verified data, never by who paid. https://altcatalog.com/trust/