Authgear is an open-source CIAM platform with passkeys, SSO and MFA. Compare 2026 pricing, features, pros and cons, and top alternatives.
Authgear is an open-source customer identity and access management (CIAM) platform designed to give developers a plug-and-play way to handle sign-up, login, and account security for consumer-facing web and mobile applications. Rather than building authentication logic in-house, teams integrate Authgear's SDKs and pre-built UI to get passwordless login, passkeys, social login, and multi-factor authentication out of the box.
The product is built by SkyMakers Digital Group, a software studio with roots going back to 2009 and offices spanning Hong Kong, Taiwan, the UK, Canada, and the US. The company positions itself as bootstrapped and profitable, explicitly contrasting itself with venture-backed competitors that it says must eventually prioritize growth and valuation over long-term product stability.
Authgear can be deployed two ways: as Authgear Cloud, a fully managed SaaS product, or as Authgear ONCE, a self-hosted package sold as a one-time license so organizations that need to keep identity data on their own infrastructure can still use the same core platform.
Authgear's core feature set covers the full authentication lifecycle: passwordless and passkey-based login, biometric authentication on supported devices, social login, and traditional email or phone plus password flows.
For organizations with more complex identity needs, it supports enterprise single sign-on through SAML and OIDC, multi-factor authentication via SMS, WhatsApp, TOTP, and authenticator apps, role- and permission-based access control, and bot or credential-stuffing protection.
Operational features include pre-built, customizable login UI widgets so teams do not need to build their own auth screens, audit logs for compliance reviews, and dashboards for managing applications, project members, and usage across environments.
Authgear Cloud offers a free plan with unlimited monthly active users, up to 100 SMS or WhatsApp messages per month, and support for two applications and two project members, making it usable for early-stage products at no cost.
The paid Developers plan starts at fifty dollars per month and adds metered SMS/WhatsApp pricing and priority email support, while the Business plan starts at five hundred dollars per month for twenty-five thousand included MAUs, five applications, longer log retention, and a dedicated Slack channel. Enterprise pricing is custom and adds data residency options, custom SMS gateways, and dedicated support.
Organizations that prefer to self-host can instead buy Authgear ONCE for a flat two hundred ninety-nine dollar one-time fee, which includes unlimited applications and MAUs plus two years of software updates; an Enterprise ONCE tier with high-availability support is available at custom pricing.
Authgear is used by development teams to add login, sign-up, and account security to web and mobile applications without building authentication infrastructure from scratch.
Yes, Authgear's core server is open source, and it can also be self-hosted through the Authgear ONCE package.
Authgear Cloud has a free plan, paid plans starting at fifty dollars per month, and custom Enterprise pricing; the self-hosted Authgear ONCE option starts at a one-time fee of two hundred ninety-nine dollars.
Yes, Authgear supports passkeys and biometric login alongside traditional password and social login options.
Authgear is built and operated by SkyMakers Digital Group, a bootstrapped software studio with offices in Hong Kong, Taiwan, the UK, Canada, and the US.
Authgear is commonly positioned as an Auth0 or Firebase Authentication alternative, offering similar core authentication features with simpler pricing and a self-hosting option.
Yes, Authgear supports SAML and OIDC-based single sign-on for connecting business applications to enterprise identity providers.
Yes, Authgear Cloud offers a free plan with unlimited monthly active users and limited SMS or WhatsApp messaging.