Why I Refused to Pay Auth0 $96,000/Year (And Built My Own Auth Instead)
"Just use Auth0," they said.
"Don't reinvent the wheel," they said.
So I opened Auth0's pricing page. Entered my target user count: 50,000 MAUs.
$96,000 per year.
For authentication. Before a single dollar of revenue.
Six months later, I've saved $48,000. I have complete control over my auth system. Zero vendor lock-in. Here's why building my own was the obvious business decision.
📖 This is a condensed version. Read the full article with detailed cost breakdowns, 5-year projections, and implementation details at stackinsight.dev/blog/why-i-built-my-own-auth
The Hidden Costs Nobody Mentions
Auth0's "Free" Tier: The Bait
What they advertise: 25,000 MAUs, "Perfect for startups!"
What they don't tell you:
- ❌ No MFA (security requirement for B2B SaaS)
- ❌ No role-based access control
- ❌ Only 5 organizations (multi-tenancy? Forget it)
- ❌ No separate dev/prod environments
- ❌ No audit log streaming
The moment you need any production feature, you're paying $35-$150/month minimum (depending on B2C vs B2B).
Clerk's Add-On Trap
Clerk looked better until I added up what I actually needed:
- Base Pro: $25/month
- MFA: +$100/month
- SAML: +$100/month + $50/connection
- Enhanced B2B features: +$100/month
Total before any users: $425/month ($5,100/year)
The Growth Penalty
Here's what made me angry: the better my product did, the more I'd pay.
Auth0 has hard caps:
- B2C plans max at 30,000 MAUs
- B2B plans cap at 10,000 MAUs
Exceed those? Forced into enterprise pricing. I found Reddit threads where founders shared:
"We went from ~$500 to ~$2,500/month just because of a price increase. Auth0 increased prices by 300% and we couldn't do anything about it."
This is predatory pricing. They get you hooked on the free tier. You integrate deeply. You grow. You hit their caps. Then they have you.
The Vendor Lock-In Trap
Getting out is nearly impossible. I talked to founders using Auth0 for 2+ years. All said the same: "We're stuck."
Why migration is a nightmare:
- Proprietary Rules and Actions (not portable)
- Custom user database structure (can't just export)
- Complex integrations woven throughout your app
One founder told me:
"We estimated 3 months of engineering time to migrate. That's $60,000 in developer salaries. Cheaper to just keep paying Auth0's increasing prices."
This isn't a service. It's a subscription you can never cancel.
What I Built (3 Weeks)
Total time: 3 weeks of focused development
Total cost: $0 (my time at pre-revenue stage)
Features implemented:
- ✅ Email/password with secure token management
- ✅ Email verification & password reset
- ✅ OAuth (Google, GitHub, Twitter) with account linking
- ✅ Two-factor authentication (TOTP) with backup codes
- ✅ Magic links & passwordless OTP
- ✅ Session management across devices
- ✅ Rate limiting & security hardening
90 hours of development saved $96,000/year in ongoing costs.
Six Months Later: The Results
| Metric | Value |
|---|---|
| Current users | 12,847 MAUs |
| Auth0 equivalent cost | $2,055/month |
| My actual cost | $0/month |
| Money saved so far | $12,330 |
| Maintenance time (6 months) | 14 hours total |
Cost per hour of maintenance: $880 saved per hour spent.
Pretty good hourly rate.
The "But Security!" Argument
Auth0 doesn't make you secure automatically. You can still:
- Misconfigure CORS
- Leak API keys
- Implement weak password policies
- Fail to enable 2FA
The tools are the same: bcrypt/argon2, JWTs, TLS, rate limiting, OAuth 2.0. They don't have magic security pixie dust.
I had my auth system audited after 3 months. Cost: $5,000. Found 2 minor issues, fixed in a day.
$5,000 one-time vs. $96,000/year ongoing.
When You Should (and Shouldn't) Build Your Own
Build Your Own If:
- ✅ You're a technical founder
- ✅ You're pre-revenue (time > money)
- ✅ Targeting >10,000 users
- ✅ You want data ownership
- ✅ You need custom auth flows
Use Auth0/Clerk If:
- ❌ You're non-technical
- ❌ Need SOC 2 certification immediately
- ❌ Building a quick side project
- ❌ Have funding where $100k/year isn't a concern
Final Thoughts
Every time I see the $0 line item for "authentication" in my expenses, I feel smart.
Auth0 wants your growth to fund their growth.
I chose to fund my own growth instead.
The "don't roll your own auth" meme is outdated. It's 2026. The tools are mature. The docs are excellent. The libraries are battle-tested.
You can do this. And when you do, you'll save hundreds of thousands over the lifetime of your product.
📖 Want the full breakdown? Read the complete article with 5-year cost projections, detailed feature comparisons, and my complete implementation journey at stackinsight.dev/blog/why-i-built-my-own-auth
Have you built your own auth? Regret using Auth0? Drop a comment below—I'd love to hear your story.
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