Better Auth

Better Auth has become a go-to self-hosted auth library for TypeScript teams that want Clerk-level features without vendor lock-in or SaaS pricing — email/password, social OAuth, magic links, passkeys, 2FA, organizations, and multi-tenancy in a database-agnostic package. Framework adapters for Next.js, Hono, Astro, Nuxt, and Express reduce integration friction. Plugin system extends functionality. Confidence is docs-derived.

npm install better-auth. betterAuth({database: adapter, emailAndPassword: {enabled: true}, socialProviders: {github: {clientId, clientSecret}}}). Framework adapters: toNextJsHandler(auth), toHonoHandler(auth). Client: createAuthClient() provides auth.signIn.email(), auth.signIn.social(), auth.signOut(). Session: auth.api.getSession() for server-side session retrieval. Organization plugin for multi-tenant support. 2FA plugin for TOTP/SMS.

No Better Auth API key — open-source library. Application-level auth: social provider credentials in config. Session stored in database (database adapter: Prisma, Drizzle, Mongoose). Cookie/session-based auth management. Open-source MIT license.

Session expiry and rotation handled by library. Database adapter failures surface as auth errors. OAuth2 errors (provider down, invalid credentials) surface with descriptive error codes. Active GitHub (better-auth/better-auth) with rapid release cadence. Well-tested across supported framework adapters.

better-auth.com/docs covers framework quickstarts, plugin library, database adapter setup, social provider configuration, and advanced patterns. Getting started: npm install better-auth, configure adapter and providers, first auth endpoint in under 15 minutes. Open-source MIT. Active Discord community.