Clerk
Web and SaaS
user management as a service
SHOW HN2021
582points
223comments
#35of 2,533 in 2021
Top 2%of 2021 by points
How HN took it
MixedNo clear lean
19 positive, 48 neutral or asking, 3 mixed, 36 critical, out of 106 comments about the project. Thread score -0.16.
Idea: 10 for, 10 againstPrivacy: 2 for, 14 againstPricing: 2 for, 7 againstDesign: 2 for, 0 againstDocs: 0 for, 2 against
The thread, comment by comment
Each row is a top-level comment and its replies, in HN's order. Select a cell to open that comment on HN.
positive neutral or mixed critical about another commenter or something else the maker
What HN said
What people liked
Good Next.js integration
From 1 comment
Really good stuff. The Next.js integration story is already really quite good[1] and the Clerk team has really good ideas on how to make it even better and more seamless. It's…
Rauchg on HN
Useful for prototyping and growing products
From 1 comment
I can immediately see how this would be useful for prototyping (and growing) a product! But it might be helpful to include a FAQ answering (at least) the following questions: -…
hmsimha on HN
Fills a gap beyond authentication
From 1 comment
Really good stuff. The Next.js integration story is already really quite good[1] and the Clerk team has really good ideas on how to make it even better and more seamless. It's…
Rauchg on HN
Objections
Trust in a third party holding user data
From 3 comments
This is my question as well. It's an honest question and hopefully someone can educate me. Why would anyone trust a third party with what is the most important asset, their…
taytus on HNI'm even hesitant to trust Auth0 for this, why would I trust a new company?
faeyanpiraat on HNI can't speak for anyone else, but I would trust a service like this a lot more if i could easily export all my data. I would do so on a regular basis, basically as a backup. The…
ziftface on HN
Vendor lock-in and no easy data export
From 3 comments
I can't speak for anyone else, but I would trust a service like this a lot more if i could easily export all my data. I would do so on a regular basis, basically as a backup. The…
ziftface on HNI'm the founder of WorkOS (https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=22607402) which is sort of close to this so wanted to share a thought or two. WorkOS has taken the alternative…
grinich on HNI can’t think of a more dangerous way to tie your revenue to someone else’s product. And what if you want to drop this vendor?
TedDoesntTalk on HN
Confusing pricing and free tier limits
From 2 comments
The pricing model has me confused: 1) Pricing is free up to 5,000 MAU 2) But the next pricing grade starts at 1,000 MAU for $49/mo + $0.05/MAU additional so if you have 5,001 MAU…
rexreed on HNI can immediately see how this would be useful for prototyping (and growing) a product! But it might be helpful to include a FAQ answering (at least) the following questions: -…
hmsimha on HN
Security headers and third-party CDN JS concerns
From 1 comment
I'm probably not the main audience for this, but if you mention security as a top-level feature it might be good to fix these:…
SahAssar on HN
Django and other frameworks already include user management
From 1 comment
As someone who uses Django which has user management out of the box, why would I use a service like this?
yuppiepuppie on HN
Requests
Data export and self-hosted option
From 2 comments
Have you considered offering an on-premise solution? Ideally a docker image you can easily stand up and point to a postgres DB. I can only imagine using this "for real" if I…
Diggsey on HNI can't speak for anyone else, but I would trust a service like this a lot more if i could easily export all my data. I would do so on a regular basis, basically as a backup. The…
ziftface on HN
Subscription and billing management
From 2 comments
Nice. If you could also add the ability to charge subscriptions from users and manage their subscription plans this would become a no-brainer. Also your pricing model could…
asimjalis on HNReally cool, love your positioning towards the frontend as frameworks like Django handle the static side fairly well. I can't see it yet but I'm expectant you'd have ancillary…
kulor on HN
Organization and team support
From 2 comments
Do you handle teams? Eg for a b2b SaaS?
mritchie712 on HNI'll take another look when you start supporting Org features like adding clients with seats. I would love to have something simple to use for an admin product.
o_____________o on HN
Frameworks beyond React and native mobile support
From 2 comments
Are the components only available for React?
spankalee on HNThis is great. Do you have plans to provide any native mobile (iOS/android) support?
_rohan on HN
Questions
How it differs from Auth0, Okta, Cognito and FusionAuth
From 3 comments
Definitely see the need for this but its not that clear to me how it differs from eg FusionAuth which is positioned as an "Auth" solution but actually does everything(?) you call…
sixhobbits on HNTwo questions: 1. Why use this over AWS Cognito? 2. Any intention to manage authorization as well?
ucarion on HNHow do you guys compare your service with Auth0 OR Okta?
the_arun on HN
Whether user schema can be extended with custom attributes
From 2 comments
Is the User schema[1] extensible? Can I add custom attributes or metadata to my users? [1] https://frontend-docs.clerk.dev/object-reference/user
zorbash on HNWhat's the story around extensibility? I feel like it starts to get murky when the boundaries of data ownership are unclear. What if I have some bespoke user-level data that…
colinmorelli on HN
SOC 2 compliance
From 1 comment
SOC 2?
itisit on HN
What happens if the service goes down
From 1 comment
This is very promising! Going down this path now. 2 questions: 1. What happens if you go down? Then our users can’t auth in right? 2. I saw in one of the screenshots the ability…
catchmeifyoucan on HN
Alternatives named
Auth0
From 2 comments
I'm even hesitant to trust Auth0 for this, why would I trust a new company?
faeyanpiraat on HNHow do you guys compare your service with Auth0 OR Okta?
the_arun on HN
Okta
From 2 comments
Looks great and I can see a lot of value in this having been disappointed myself with how much is left to the developer with services like Auth0 and Okta. Could you expand some…
type_Ben_struct on HNHow do you guys compare your service with Auth0 OR Okta?
the_arun on HN
AWS Cognito
From 1 comment
Two questions: 1. Why use this over AWS Cognito? 2. Any intention to manage authorization as well?
ucarion on HN
FusionAuth
From 1 comment
Definitely see the need for this but its not that clear to me how it differs from eg FusionAuth which is positioned as an "Auth" solution but actually does everything(?) you call…
sixhobbits on HN
WorkOS
From 1 comment
I'm the founder of WorkOS (https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=22607402) which is sort of close to this so wanted to share a thought or two. WorkOS has taken the alternative…
grinich on HN