Descope vs BuildBase: a flow builder for auth, or auth inside a backend
Descope is an auth platform with a drag-and-drop flow builder, SSO and mobile SDKs. BuildBase is one SDK for auth, billing and workspaces. Prices, sign-in methods and where each one wins.
In short
Descope is auth built on a visual flow builder, with SSO and mobile SDKs, free to 7,500 MAU and $799 a month for 25,000. BuildBase is one SDK for auth, billing, workspaces and email, free to 10,000 users and $19 a month for 25,000. Descope wins on enterprise identity and mobile, BuildBase on price and scope.
Descope and BuildBase both let you add passkeys, magic links and a Google button without writing the ceremony yourself. That is where the overlap ends. Descope is an authentication platform, and it goes deep on identity. BuildBase is a backend where authentication is one of 20 modules, and it goes wide.
The one-paragraph answer
If you sell to enterprises that will ask for SAML SSO and SCIM, ship native mobile apps, or want product people to edit the sign-in steps on a canvas, Descope is the stronger tool and it is not close. If you are building a web SaaS and need sign-in, workspaces, subscriptions and the emails around them to agree with each other, BuildBase does that in one SDK, and at list price it costs a fraction of Descope for the same user count.
Where each fits
Descope's centre is Flows: sign-up, sign-in and step-up sequences built in a drag-and-drop editor, connecting screens, conditions and third-party connectors, then embedded in your app or served as a hosted page. Around it sit SSO, SCIM, fine-grained authorization, an admin portal for your customers, and SDKs for web, mobile and backend.
BuildBase's centre is the workspace. A user signs in, belongs to workspaces with roles, and each workspace has a plan, quotas, credits and invoices. Auth is the front door to that, configured in the console and rendered on a hosted sign-in page in 8 languages. You do not design the screens on a canvas; you tick the methods each app offers, and the page draws them.
Sign-in methods, side by side
Both cover the methods most web apps want. The differences are in the paid tiers.
Descope's plans all include passkeys, email magic links, email codes, authenticator apps, social login and SSO. Google One Tap and a custom OIDC provider start on Pro, and anonymous users on Growth. Text message and voice codes go through Descope for up to 100 deliveries a month, then through your own connector.
BuildBase's sign-in methods are email and password, magic links, email codes, phone codes, passkeys, Google, LinkedIn, GitHub, Microsoft, Apple, one OpenID Connect or OAuth 2.0 provider of your own, Ethereum and Solana wallets, and enterprise SSO (Enterprise plan, through your own WorkOS account). Phone sign-in uses SMS sign-in codes through your own provider, Twilio or a signed webhook. Around those methods sit Google One Tap, usernames, guest users and device code sign-in for CLIs and TVs. Two-step sign-in is an authenticator app, single-use backup codes or text-message codes, under a policy of off, optional or required, and an authenticator app or a passkey is the stronger choice. Which plan includes which method is on the pricing page.
The SMS line deserves a second look, because both products push you to your own provider. Descope's 100 a month is a trial allowance: past it, phone sign-in stops until a connector is set up. BuildBase starts there, with no allowance at all, so the Twilio account is part of setup rather than a surprise in month two. Twilio's own price per code, on its Verify pricing page, is the same either way.
Pricing, verified 17 October 2026
Descope publishes four plans. Free is $0 for 7,500 MAU with no overages, so you upgrade to grow past it. Pro starts at $249 a month for 10,000 MAU and Growth at $799 a month for 25,000, both billed annually, with each extra MAU at $0.05. Enterprise is custom.
BuildBase has four published plans: Free at $0 with 10,000 monthly active users, Launch at $19 a month with 25,000, Grow at $49 with 100,000, and Scale at $99 with 500,000. Free has no trial and stops at its allowance; the paid plans start with a 7-day trial that does not ask for a card.
Put both on the same user counts, at list price:
| Monthly active users | Descope | BuildBase |
|---|---|---|
| 7,500 | $0 (Free) | $0 (Free) |
| 25,000 | $799 (Growth) | $19 (Launch) |
| 50,000 | $2,049 (Growth plus overage) | $49 (Grow) |
| 100,000 | $4,549 (Growth plus overage) | $49 (Grow) |
The overage rows are $799 plus $0.05 for each MAU above 25,000: $1,250 more at 50,000 and $3,750 more at 100,000. From 25,000 up, Descope's Pro plan would cost more than Growth.
Two caveats keep this honest. Descope's price buys SSO connections, the flow builder and compliance paperwork that ours does not. And at 7,500 users both are free, but only Descope's free plan includes SSO connections.
| Feature | BuildBase | Descope |
|---|---|---|
| Free plan | 10,000 MAU on Free; paid plans start with a 7-day trial without a card | 7,500 MAU, no overages |
| At 25,000 MAU | $19/mo (Launch) | $799/mo (Growth, billed annually) |
| Passkeys, magic links, email codes | Built in; plans on the pricing page | Included on every plan |
| Authenticator app second step | Two-step sign-in with backup codes, or text-message codes | Included on every plan |
| SMS and voice codes | Through your own Twilio or webhook only | 100 a month through Descope, then your own connector |
| SAML / OIDC enterprise SSO | Enterprise plan only, through your own WorkOS account | 3 to 10 connections by plan, more as an add-on |
| Designing the sign-in steps | Tick methods per app; hosted page in 8 languages | Drag-and-drop Flow Builder |
| Client SDKs | Next.js, Vite, React Router / Remix, TanStack Start | Web, Swift, Kotlin, Flutter and more |
| Billing, workspaces, email, workflows | Included, 20 modules in one instance | Not part of the product |
Where Descope wins
Descope does several things better, and if any of them is on your list, it should win.
Enterprise identity. Descope includes SAML and OIDC SSO connections even on its free plan, adds a self-service SSO setup for your customers' IT admins from Pro, and SCIM provisioning from Growth. Adaptive MFA and step-up authentication are on every plan. Our SAML and OIDC SSO is on the Enterprise plan only, through your own WorkOS account. If an enterprise buyer's security review includes SSO and a custom plan is not on the table, this comparison is over.
Mobile. Descope has SDKs for Swift, Kotlin, React Native and Flutter, plus Vue.js, Angular and SvelteKit on the web. Our SDK is for React-based web apps and JavaScript backends. If your product is a phone app, Descope covers ground we do not.
Editing the flow without a deploy. Flows let someone change the sign-up steps, add a condition or plug in a connector from a canvas. Our hosted page is configurable, not programmable: you choose the methods, the branding and the words, not the order of the screens.
Compliance paperwork. Descope's Pro and Growth plans include SOC 2 reports, and Growth offers a HIPAA BAA. A customer whose procurement checklist asks for either gets an answer from Descope today.
A free plan with SSO. 7,500 MAU and up to three SSO connections for nothing. Our Free plan covers more users, 10,000, but SSO is on our Enterprise plan only.
How to decide
Write down who signs in to your product a year from now. If the answer includes enterprise employees through their company's identity provider, or people on a native phone app, start with Descope and price the billing and workspace pieces separately.
If the answer is people and teams on a web app who will subscribe, invite colleagues and hit quotas, the auth decision is the small half of the problem. That is the case BuildBase is built for, and the reason the price above covers far more than sign-in. The Clerk comparison and the WorkOS comparison make the same trade from other angles, Frontegg is the other vendor that puts SSO connections on its free plan, and best auth for B2B SaaS sorts the field by whether you need SSO yet.
Sources
Descope figures verified 17 October 2026 on Descope's own pages: descope.com/pricing (plans, MAU allowances, the $0.05 overage, SSO connections per plan, 100 SMS or voice deliveries a month through Descope, SOC 2 reports and HIPAA BAA by plan, Google One Tap and custom OIDC provider from Pro), Descope getting started (supported SDKs) and Descope Flows (the drag-and-drop Flow Builder). BuildBase plans are our published pricing, last checked against the production plans on 31 October 2026 (PLAN_FACTS).