Supabase vs. Clerk.dev: A Comprehensive Comparison for User Authentication in Web Development
Dive into the Supabase vs Clerk.dev debate. Uncover insights about their performance, custom tokens, user impersonation, cost dynamics, and more. Which tool will reign supreme for you?
When it comes to web development, the tools we choose can make or break our projects. They not only shape our workflow but also impact the final products we deliver to our users. For the longest time, Supabase was my go-to choice. Its robustness and versatility made it a reliable partner in my journey as a web developer. But as they say, change is the only constant. As I continued exploring, I stumbled upon another promising contender: Clerk.dev
If you're a fellow developer who's ever grappled with the decision to switch tools, or if you're simply curious about Clerk.dev, this post is for you. Whether you're considering a similar switch, or if you're just starting out in web development and are evaluating your options, I hope my experience will provide valuable insights to guide your decisions. Let's dive in.
The Supabase Advantage
Firstly, I want to champion Supabase as an exceptional choice for all. As a satisfied user for an extended period, I can confidently recommend it to anyone seeking a robust, comprehensive backend service. Let's delve into why Supabase has been my preferred choice.
Ease of implementation
Supabase released auth-helpers to make authentication and authorization quite easy to implement.
supabaseEasy to implement Supabase Auth Helpers
Big thanks to Jon from Supabase who keeps on producing excellent content on very "edge" (no pun intended) topics, such as server actions, auth middleware etc.
Row Level Secruity
Supabase also introduced me to the idea of row level security, the idea of creating a policy for every table that automatically adds a WHERE clause to every query to check for example for the user_id .
When you need granular authorization rules, nothing beats PostgreSQL's Row Level Security (RLS).
When using supabase-js or any postgres function auth becomes super simply and it just works out of the box.
Amazing User Dashboard with all Core Features
Finally, I really liked the auth management dashboard, where you can do the most important tasks, such as:
- Invite a new user via email
- Manually create a new user
- Send Password recovery
All in all Supabase has done a fantastic job when it comes to auth and it has been my go to choice.
Top 6 Reasons to Switch to Clerk.dev
So, what provoked the switch to Clerk.dev for authentication, especially when Supabase had already proven to be such a stellar product? The answer lies in Clerk.dev's specific focus and proficiency in delivering a slightly more robust authentication solution. It has managed to incorporate some truly innovative features, which are not only challenging to construct independently but also rare to find in other products.
Based on personal experience, I've noticed that the login and authentication processes tend to take somewhat longer with Supabase. Even simply accessing the Supabase dashboard or project seems to involve a more extended loading time than one might typically expect.
Clerk.dev has meticulously curated a page that demonstrates the integration of their edge middleware with Next.js. With this setup, I've experienced remarkably rapid response times, enhancing the overall user experience.
JWT Templates and Custom Session Tokens
Most often you want to share your user data with other services such as Canny.io (feature requests) or Plain.com. With JWT templates you can tailor each template to the data requirements of the provider, and get a signed token with a one liner and pass it to the provider. Check out this detailed step-by-step tweet of chronark_ on how to implement Plain seamlessly with the Clerk.dev JWT Teamplate:
An added convenience is the ability to select the information to display in my session token. This proves particularly useful for routing purposes - for instance, when a username is part of the route. Rather than continuously querying a specific field or table from the user, I can manually add this claim and gain immediate access, which is a significant time saver.
