Authentication

Authentication tools are for handling sign-up, login, and sessions — the kind of work every indie hacker eventually hits and would rather not build from scratch. 8 tools are listed here, each picked and written up individually rather than pulled from an affiliate feed. Auth0 is usually the first one people try: the battle-tested default for customer identity; heavier and pricier than newer options, but nobody gets fired for picking it. Better Auth takes a different angle — own your user table instead of renting it — a framework-agnostic TypeScript auth library that's fast becoming the default for new projects. And Clerk is worth a look too: drop-in sign-up/sign-in components plus a real user management backend, so you stop hand-rolling auth screens for the tenth time. Every listing below includes the actual tradeoff, not marketing copy, so you can pick based on what you're building instead of what ranks highest in a sponsored roundup elsewhere.