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Enterprise12 December 2024·3 min read

Clerk pricing: How it works and compares to Paycux

Moving upmarket is usually described as a go-to-market decision.

Paycux engineering

Moving upmarket is usually described as a go-to-market decision. It arrives as an engineering one: a list of requirements attached to a contract, with a date.

This piece walks through how we think about it at Paycux, what we have changed our minds about, and where the sharp edges are.

Clerk’s pricing explained

Consider clerk’s pricing explained. The requirements look arbitrary until you map each one to a failure the buyer has already lived through. Single sign-on exists because someone left and kept access. Provisioning exists because a contractor's account outlived their contract.

Price the work honestly. A quarter spent building identity plumbing is a quarter not spent on the product the customer actually chose you for, and that trade should be made deliberately rather than by default.

Free plan

Free plan deserves its own treatment. The requirements look arbitrary until you map each one to a failure the buyer has already lived through. Single sign-on exists because someone left and kept access. Provisioning exists because a contractor's account outlived their contract.

The requirements look arbitrary until you map each one to a failure the buyer has already lived through. Single sign-on exists because someone left and kept access. Provisioning exists because a contractor's account outlived their contract.

  • Map each requirement to the failure it prevents
  • Count the long tail, not the first integration
  • Decide who owns the plumbing for the next three years
  • Make the buy-versus-build trade explicitly

Pro plan ($25/month)

Consider pro plan ($25/month). Price the work honestly. A quarter spent building identity plumbing is a quarter not spent on the product the customer actually chose you for, and that trade should be made deliberately rather than by default.

Price the work honestly. A quarter spent building identity plumbing is a quarter not spent on the product the customer actually chose you for, and that trade should be made deliberately rather than by default.

Enterprise plan (custom pricing)

That brings us to enterprise plan (custom pricing). The requirements look arbitrary until you map each one to a failure the buyer has already lived through. Single sign-on exists because someone left and kept access. Provisioning exists because a contractor's account outlived their contract.

Price the work honestly. A quarter spent building identity plumbing is a quarter not spent on the product the customer actually chose you for, and that trade should be made deliberately rather than by default.

The cost is not the first integration; it is the long tail.

How does Clerk's pricing compare to Paycux?

How does Clerk's pricing compare to Paycux? deserves its own treatment. The cost is not the first integration; it is the long tail. Providers disagree in small ways, certificates expire, tenants move, and each one becomes something you own indefinitely.

The cost is not the first integration; it is the long tail. Providers disagree in small ways, certificates expire, tenants move, and each one becomes something you own indefinitely.

Why Paycux is better

That brings us to why paycux is better. Price the work honestly. A quarter spent building identity plumbing is a quarter not spent on the product the customer actually chose you for, and that trade should be made deliberately rather than by default.

The cost is not the first integration; it is the long tail. Providers disagree in small ways, certificates expire, tenants move, and each one becomes something you own indefinitely.

Predictable pricing

Predictable pricing is where this gets concrete. Price the work honestly. A quarter spent building identity plumbing is a quarter not spent on the product the customer actually chose you for, and that trade should be made deliberately rather than by default.

Price the work honestly. A quarter spent building identity plumbing is a quarter not spent on the product the customer actually chose you for, and that trade should be made deliberately rather than by default.

Where this leaves us

None of this is exotic. It is the ordinary discipline of deciding what you own, writing down what you assume, and making the failures loud enough to notice.

If you are working through the same problem and want to compare notes, the docs cover the mechanics and the console shows the behaviour on your own data.

Everything here, already built

Sign-in, enterprise SSO, directory provisioning, roles and an audit trail behind one API. Start with the quickstart and have a working sign-in this afternoon.

Start selling to enterprise customers

Create an account, point sign-in at Paycux, and get back to the part of the product that is actually yours.