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Better Auth vs Supabase Auth - Feature Comparison

A comprehensive feature-by-feature comparison between Better Auth and Supabase Auth.

Table of Contents

Core Authentication Methods

Feature Better Auth Supabase Auth
Email & Password ✅ Built-in ✅ Built-in
Magic Link ✅ Plugin ✅ Built-in
Email OTP ✅ Plugin ✅ Built-in (OTP)
Phone Number ✅ Plugin ✅ Built-in (via Twilio, MessageBird, Vonage)
Username ✅ Plugin ❌ Not available
Anonymous Sign-in ✅ Plugin ✅ Built-in
Web3 (Ethereum/Solana) ✅ Plugin (SIWE) ✅ Built-in

OAuth & Social Providers

Provider Better Auth Supabase Auth
Google ✅ Built-in ✅ Built-in
GitHub ✅ Built-in ✅ Built-in
Apple ✅ Built-in ✅ Built-in
Microsoft/Azure ✅ Built-in ✅ Built-in
Facebook ✅ Built-in ✅ Built-in
Twitter/X ✅ Built-in ✅ Built-in
Discord ✅ Built-in ✅ Built-in
GitLab ✅ Built-in ✅ Built-in
LinkedIn ✅ Built-in ✅ Built-in
Slack ✅ Built-in ✅ Built-in
Spotify ✅ Built-in ✅ Built-in
Twitch ✅ Built-in ✅ Built-in
Zoom ✅ Built-in ✅ Built-in
Figma ✅ Built-in ✅ Built-in
Notion ✅ Built-in ✅ Built-in
Kakao ✅ Built-in ✅ Built-in
Bitbucket ❌ Not available ✅ Built-in
Keycloak ❌ Not available ✅ Built-in
WorkOS ❌ Not available ✅ Built-in
Atlassian ✅ Built-in ❌ Not available
Dropbox ✅ Built-in ❌ Not available
Hugging Face ✅ Built-in ❌ Not available
Kick ✅ Built-in ❌ Not available
LINE ✅ Built-in ❌ Not available
Linear ✅ Built-in ❌ Not available
Naver ✅ Built-in ❌ Not available
PayPal ✅ Built-in ❌ Not available
Reddit ✅ Built-in ❌ Not available
Roblox ✅ Built-in ❌ Not available
Salesforce ✅ Built-in ❌ Not available
TikTok ✅ Built-in ❌ Not available
VK ✅ Built-in ❌ Not available
Generic OAuth ✅ Plugin ❌ Not available

Advanced Authentication Features

Feature Better Auth Supabase Auth
Two-Factor Authentication (2FA) ✅ Plugin (TOTP, OTP, Backup codes) ✅ Built-in (MFA)
Multi-Factor Authentication (MFA) ✅ Plugin ✅ Built-in
Passkeys (WebAuthn) ✅ Plugin ❌ Not available
Single Sign-On (SSO) ✅ Plugin (SAML, OIDC) ✅ Built-in (Enterprise)
OIDC Provider ✅ Plugin ❌ Not available
Device Authorization Grant ✅ Plugin ❌ Not available
OAuth Proxy ✅ Plugin ❌ Not available
One Tap ✅ Plugin ❌ Not available
Account Linking ✅ Built-in ✅ Built-in
Email Verification ✅ Built-in ✅ Built-in
Password Reset ✅ Built-in ✅ Built-in

Session Management

Feature Better Auth Supabase Auth
Cookie-based Sessions ✅ Built-in ✅ Built-in
JWT Tokens ✅ Plugin ✅ Built-in
Bearer Token Auth ✅ Plugin ❌ Not available
Multi-Session Support ✅ Plugin ❌ Not available
Session Freshness ✅ Built-in ❌ Not available
Session Revocation ✅ Built-in ✅ Built-in
Session Listing ✅ Built-in ✅ Built-in
Custom Session Expiration ✅ Built-in ✅ Built-in
Session Refresh ✅ Built-in ✅ Built-in

Security Features

Feature Better Auth Supabase Auth
Rate Limiting ✅ Built-in (configurable) ✅ Built-in
Password Hashing ✅ Built-in (bcrypt/argon2) ✅ Built-in
Have I Been Pwned ✅ Plugin ❌ Not available
CAPTCHA ✅ Plugin ✅ Built-in (Bot Detection)
Audit Logs ❌ Not available ✅ Built-in
IP Address Tracking ✅ Built-in ✅ Built-in
User Agent Tracking ✅ Built-in ✅ Built-in
CSRF Protection ✅ Built-in ✅ Built-in
XSS Protection ✅ Built-in ✅ Built-in
Secure Cookies ✅ Built-in ✅ Built-in
Password Security Policies ✅ Built-in ✅ Built-in

Authorization & Access Control

Feature Better Auth Supabase Auth
Row Level Security (RLS) ❌ Not available ✅ Built-in (PostgreSQL)
Column Level Security ❌ Not available ✅ Built-in
Custom Claims ✅ Plugin (JWT) ✅ Built-in
Role-Based Access Control (RBAC) ✅ Plugin (Admin) ✅ Built-in
Organization/Team Management ✅ Plugin ❌ Not available
API Key Authentication ✅ Plugin ❌ Not available
One-Time Tokens ✅ Plugin ❌ Not available

User Management

Feature Better Auth Supabase Auth
User CRUD Operations ✅ Built-in ✅ Built-in
User Profiles ✅ Built-in ✅ Built-in
User Metadata ✅ Built-in ✅ Built-in
Admin Dashboard ✅ Plugin ❌ Not available
User Impersonation ✅ Plugin (Admin) ❌ Not available
Bulk User Operations ❌ Not available ✅ Built-in
User Import/Export ❌ Not available ✅ Built-in
Last Login Tracking ✅ Plugin ❌ Not available

Developer Experience

Feature Better Auth Supabase Auth
TypeScript Support ✅ Full TypeScript ✅ Full TypeScript
Framework Agnostic ✅ Yes ⚠️ SDK-based
Plugin System ✅ Extensive ❌ Not available
Custom Hooks ✅ Built-in ✅ Built-in
CLI Tools ✅ Built-in ✅ Built-in
Database Migrations ✅ Built-in ✅ Built-in
Self-Hosted ✅ Yes ⚠️ Self-hosted option available
Open Source ✅ Yes ✅ Yes
Documentation ✅ Comprehensive ✅ Comprehensive
Community Support ✅ Growing ✅ Large
Customizable Email Templates ✅ Built-in ✅ Built-in
Custom SMTP ✅ Built-in ✅ Built-in
Webhooks ❌ Not available ✅ Built-in
Auth Hooks (Server-side) ✅ Built-in ✅ Built-in

Deployment & Infrastructure

Feature Better Auth Supabase Auth
Runs in Your App ✅ Yes ❌ Separate service
No Separate Infrastructure ✅ Yes ❌ Requires Supabase instance
Database Agnostic ✅ Yes (PostgreSQL, MySQL, SQLite, MongoDB, etc.) ❌ PostgreSQL only
Edge Runtime Support ✅ Yes ✅ Yes
Serverless Compatible ✅ Yes ✅ Yes
Docker Support ✅ Yes ✅ Yes
Managed Service Option ❌ Not available ✅ Yes (Supabase Cloud)
Local Development ✅ Easy setup ✅ Easy setup (Supabase CLI)

Pricing & Licensing

Feature Better Auth Supabase Auth
Open Source License ✅ MIT ✅ Apache 2.0
Free Tier ✅ Fully free ✅ Free tier available
Per-User Pricing ✅ No ❌ Yes (MAU-based)
Third-Party User Costs ✅ No ❌ Yes
SSO User Costs ✅ No ❌ Yes (Enterprise)
Advanced MFA Costs ✅ No ❌ Yes (add-on)
Data Ownership ✅ Full control ⚠️ Managed service option
Vendor Lock-in ✅ No ⚠️ Possible with managed service

Integration & Ecosystem

Feature Better Auth Supabase Auth
Next.js ✅ Full support ✅ Full support
React ✅ Full support ✅ Full support
React Native ✅ Full support ✅ Full support
SvelteKit ✅ Full support ✅ Full support
Nuxt ✅ Full support ✅ Full support
Remix ✅ Full support ✅ Full support
Astro ✅ Full support ✅ Full support
Express ✅ Full support ✅ Full support
Hono ✅ Full support ❌ Not available
Fastify ✅ Full support ❌ Not available
NestJS ✅ Full support ❌ Not available
Elysia ✅ Full support ❌ Not available
SolidStart ✅ Full support ❌ Not available
TanStack Start ✅ Full support ❌ Not available
Waku ✅ Full support ❌ Not available
Expo ✅ Full support ✅ Full support
Database Adapters ✅ Multiple (Prisma, Drizzle, raw SQL) ❌ PostgreSQL only
REST API ✅ Built-in ✅ Built-in
GraphQL ❌ Not available ✅ Built-in
Real-time Subscriptions ❌ Not available ✅ Built-in
Storage Integration ❌ Not available ✅ Built-in
Functions/Edge Functions ❌ Not available ✅ Built-in

Summary

Better Auth Advantages

  • Framework Agnostic: Works with any framework or runtime
  • No Infrastructure Overhead: Runs directly in your application
  • Extensive Plugin System: Highly extensible with 30+ plugins
  • No Per-User Costs: Completely free, no pricing based on users
  • Full Data Control: Users stay in your database
  • Multi-Session Support: Advanced session management features
  • More OAuth Providers: Supports more social providers out of the box
  • Passkeys Support: Modern WebAuthn authentication
  • Organization Management: Built-in team/organization features

Supabase Auth Advantages

  • Managed Service Option: Fully managed cloud service available
  • Row Level Security: Deep PostgreSQL RLS integration
  • Ecosystem Integration: Tight integration with Supabase ecosystem (Storage, Realtime, Functions)
  • GraphQL Support: Built-in GraphQL API
  • Real-time Features: Real-time subscriptions for auth events
  • Audit Logs: Built-in audit logging
  • Webhooks: Server-side webhook support
  • Enterprise SSO: Enterprise-grade SSO features
  • Large Community: Established community and ecosystem

When to Choose Better Auth

  • You want full control over your authentication infrastructure
  • You need framework flexibility and don't want vendor lock-in
  • You want to avoid per-user pricing
  • You need advanced features like multi-session, passkeys, or organization management
  • You prefer a plugin-based architecture for extensibility
  • You want to self-host everything

When to Choose Supabase Auth

  • You're already using Supabase for database, storage, or other services
  • You need Row Level Security (RLS) for authorization
  • You want a fully managed authentication service
  • You need real-time features and GraphQL
  • You require enterprise SSO features
  • You prefer an all-in-one backend solution

References

Last updated: Based on documentation as of 2024