Clerk vs Rownd.
Last verified 2026-05-07
When Clerk wins
- Clerk has auth: passwords; Rownd does not
- Clerk has SAML SSO; Rownd does partially
- Clerk has auth: step up auth; Rownd does partially
- Clerk has authz: rbac; Rownd does partially
- Clerk has B2B Organizations / multi-tenant model; Rownd does partially
- Clerk has user mgmt: multi tenancy; Rownd does partially
When Rownd wins
- Rownd has HIPAA; Clerk does partially
- Rownd has security: pii minimization; Clerk does partially
- Rownd has consent management; Clerk does not
- Rownd has consent: preference center; Clerk does partially
- Rownd has purpose-specific consent; Clerk does not
Both win
- Both support WebAuthn passkeys natively
- Both support social login at scale
- Both have SOC 2 Type II
Pricing comparison
| MAU band | Clerk | Rownd |
|---|---|---|
| 10,000 MAU | $25/mo | $49/mo |
| 100,000 MAU | $800/mo | $350/mo |
| 500,000 MAU | $2,800/mo | $1,400/mo |
| 1,000,000 MAU | $5,500/mo | $2,700/mo |
Side-by-side capability matrix
| Capability | Clerk | Rownd |
|---|---|---|
| Password authentication | ✓ Yes | ✕ No |
| Social login | ✓ Yes | ✓ Yes |
| Magic links | ✓ Yes | ✓ Yes |
| SMS OTP | ✓ Yes | ✓ Yes |
| Email OTP | ✓ Yes | ✓ Yes |
| TOTP (authenticator app) | ✓ Yes | ✓ Yes |
| Push MFA | ✕ No | ✕ No |
| WebAuthn / passkeys | ✓ Yes | ✓ Yes |
| Biometric | ✓ Yes | ✓ Yes |
| Hardware security keys | ✓ Yes | ✓ Yes |
| SAML SSO | ✓ Yes | ~ Partial |
| OIDC SSO | ✓ Yes | ✓ Yes |
| OAuth 2.0 SSO | ✓ Yes | ✓ Yes |
| Enterprise federation | ~ Partial | ✕ No |
| Passwordless-only flows | ✓ Yes | ✓ Yes |
| Adaptive MFA | ~ Partial | ✕ No |
| Step-up auth | ✓ Yes | ~ Partial |
| Capability | Clerk | Rownd |
|---|---|---|
| RBAC | ✓ Yes | ~ Partial |
| ABAC | ✕ No | ✕ No |
| ReBAC | ✕ No | ✕ No |
| FGA engine | ✕ No | ✕ No |
| API authorization | ✓ Yes | ✓ Yes |
| Fine-grained permissions | ~ Partial | ~ Partial |
| Capability | Clerk | Rownd |
|---|---|---|
| Self-service registration | ✓ Yes | ✓ Yes |
| Progressive profiling | ✓ Yes | ✓ Yes |
| Self-service account | ✓ Yes | ✓ Yes |
| Bulk user import | ✓ Yes | ✓ Yes |
| Admin user search | ✓ Yes | ✓ Yes |
| Custom user metadata | ✓ Yes | ✓ Yes |
| Organizations / tenants | ✓ Yes | ~ Partial |
| Multi-tenancy | ✓ Yes | ~ Partial |
| Capability | Clerk | Rownd |
|---|---|---|
| REST API | ✓ Yes | ✓ Yes |
| GraphQL API | ✕ No | ✕ No |
| SDKs | 9 listed | 10 listed |
| CLI | ✓ Yes | ✕ No |
| Terraform provider | ✕ No | ✕ No |
| Local emulator | ✕ No | ✕ No |
| Extension model | Webhooks + JWT templates | Webhooks + custom UI components |
| Capability | Clerk | Rownd |
|---|---|---|
| Bot detection | ✓ Yes | ✕ No |
| Breached password detection | ✓ Yes | ✕ No |
| Brute-force protection | ✓ Yes | ✓ Yes |
| Anomaly detection | ~ Partial | ✕ No |
| Log streams | ~ Partial | ~ Partial |
| Audit logs | ✓ Yes | ✓ Yes |
| GDPR data export | ✓ Yes | ✓ Yes |
| PII minimization | ~ Partial | ✓ Yes |
| Post-quantum roadmap | ✕ No | ✕ No |
| Capability | Clerk | Rownd |
|---|---|---|
| MCP support | ✕ No | ✕ No |
| OAuth 2.1 | ✓ Yes | ✓ Yes |
| Dynamic client registration | ✕ No | ✕ No |
| Agent vs human token separation | ✕ No | ✕ No |
| Web Bot Auth | ✕ No | ✕ No |
| Capability | Clerk | Rownd |
|---|---|---|
| SOC 2 Type II | ✓ Yes | ✓ Yes |
| ISO 27001 | ✕ No | ✕ No |
| ISO 27018 | ✕ No | ✕ No |
| HIPAA | ~ Partial | ✓ Yes |
| PCI DSS | ✕ No | ✕ No |
| GDPR | ✓ Yes | ✓ Yes |
| CCPA | ✓ Yes | ✓ Yes |
| FedRAMP | ✕ No | ✕ No |
| EU data residency | ✓ Yes | ✓ Yes |
| Capability | Clerk | Rownd |
|---|---|---|
| Consent management | ✕ No | ✓ Yes |
| Preference center | ~ Partial | ✓ Yes |
| Purpose-specific consent | ✕ No | ✓ Yes |
| Integrates with CMPs | n/a | n/a |
FAQ
- How does Clerk compare to Rownd on pricing?
- Clerk prices on tiered-mau; Rownd prices on tiered-mau. See the pricing comparison table on this page for our editorial estimates at 10k / 100k / 500k / 1M MAU using the standard methodology assumptions.
- Should I switch from Clerk to Rownd?
- Switching is a 60–90 day exercise in either direction once SDK rewrites and hooks/Actions migration are accounted for. If your team is hitting cost or feature ceilings on Clerk, evaluate Rownd on the specific axes flagged in the "When Rownd wins" list. If you're operating well within Clerk, the switching cost rarely pays back.
- Do Clerk and Rownd both support passkeys?
- Both Clerk and Rownd support WebAuthn passkeys natively per public documentation. Adoption rates depend on orchestration quality (device-aware prompting, conditional UI), not raw protocol support, see the passwordless guide for the orchestration question.
This comparison is auto-generated from the underlying capability matrix and pricing data on each vendor's profile. Editorial verdict lists below are seeded heuristically from the matrix diff; a maintainer review refines them before the page goes public.