Staxly

Kinde vs PocketBase

Flexible authentication, user management, and feature flags
vs. Open-source backend in a single Go binary

Kinde websitePocketBase (OSS)

Pricing tiers

Kinde

Free
10,500 MAU included. MFA, B2B orgs, custom domain, 2 custom roles, 1 webhook, 2 environments.
Free
Pro
Unlimited webhooks, roles, feature flags, API keys. Remove Kinde branding. SOC 2 attestation.
$25/mo
Plus
Unlimited enterprise SSO, API scopes, org-owned M2M apps, 6 environments.
$75/mo
Scale
11 environments, custom domain per org, SCIM, MFA triggers, 30-day audit logs.
$250/mo
Enterprise
Custom. Dedicated infra option, volume discounts, custom SLAs.
Custom
Kinde website

PocketBase

Self-Hosted
MIT-licensed single binary. Run on any VPS / Docker / bare metal. No usage caps — only limited by your server.
$0 base (usage-based)
PocketBase (OSS)

Free-tier quotas head-to-head

Comparing free on Kinde vs self-hosted on PocketBase.

MetricKindePocketBase
custom roles2 roles
environments2 envs
feature flags10 flags
mau included10500 users/month
webhooks1 webhooks

Features

Kinde · 14 features

  • API ScopesOAuth scopes for your APIs, enforced server-side (Plus+).
  • B2B OrganizationsMulti-tenant orgs with user roles, invitations, feature flags per org.
  • Custom DomainHost auth at auth.yourbrand.com. Free tier includes this.
  • Enterprise SSOSAML 2.0 + OIDC enterprise connections (Plus unlimited).
  • Feature FlagsBuilt-in feature flags with per-user/org overrides. No separate service needed.
  • Kinde AIAI-assisted query and insights over your Kinde data.
  • Kinde Billing (preview)Built-in subscription billing linked to users/orgs. Stripe under the hood.
  • Machine-to-MachineClient credentials grant for service-to-service auth.
  • Multi-Factor AuthTOTP authenticator apps, SMS, email, passkey.
  • PasswordlessEmail code + passkey (WebAuthn).
  • Roles & PermissionsRBAC with roles → permissions. Assigned per user or per organization.
  • SCIM ProvisioningDirectory provisioning from IdPs (Scale tier).
  • Sign-in WidgetHosted pages + themeable widget for login/signup. Customizable with CSS.
  • WebhooksEvent webhooks: user.created/updated, organization events, MFA, etc.

PocketBase · 12 features

  • Access RulesRecord-level access rules (filter expressions) referencing @request and @collect
  • Admin DashboardBuilt-in web UI for schema + data management.
  • AuthEmail+password, OAuth2 (Google, GitHub, Facebook, Apple, Discord, Microsoft, etc
  • BackupsBuilt-in backup/restore with S3 upload option.
  • Built-in MailerSMTP integration for verification, password reset, magic link emails.
  • CollectionsSchema-defined record types with fields, validations, and record/admin/auth acce
  • Embedded JS EngineJavaScript VM (goja) lets you write hooks in JS without recompiling.
  • Extend as Go LibraryEmbed PocketBase in a larger Go app, add custom routes and events.
  • File StorageLocal filesystem or S3-compatible storage with access rules.
  • HooksServer-side Go or JavaScript hooks that run on CRUD events (OnRecordBeforeCreate
  • MigrationsJS/Go migration scripts applied on startup.
  • Realtime SubscriptionsSSE-based subscriptions to collection changes.

Developer interfaces

KindKindePocketBase
SDKKinde Android / Kotlin, Kinde Flutter SDK, Kinde Go SDK, Kinde iOS / Swift, @kinde-oss/kinde-auth-nextjs, @kinde-oss/kinde-auth-react, @kinde-oss/kinde-nodejs-sdk, Kinde Python SDKGo API (extend as library), pocketbase (Dart), pocketbase (JS SDK)
RESTKinde Management APIREST API
MCPKinde MCP
OTHERAdmin Dashboard, Realtime SSE
Staxly is an independent catalog of developer platforms. Outbound links to Kinde and PocketBase are plain references to their official websites. Pricing is verified against vendor pages at publication time — reconfirm before buying.

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