jeremylongshore

clerk-cost-tuning

@jeremylongshore/clerk-cost-tuning
jeremylongshore
1,004
123 forks
Updated 1/18/2026
View on GitHub

Optimize Clerk costs and understand pricing. Use when planning budget, reducing costs, or understanding Clerk pricing model. Trigger with phrases like "clerk cost", "clerk pricing", "reduce clerk cost", "clerk billing", "clerk budget".

Installation

$skills install @jeremylongshore/clerk-cost-tuning
Claude Code
Cursor
Copilot
Codex
Antigravity

Details

Pathplugins/saas-packs/clerk-pack/skills/clerk-cost-tuning/SKILL.md
Branchmain
Scoped Name@jeremylongshore/clerk-cost-tuning

Usage

After installing, this skill will be available to your AI coding assistant.

Verify installation:

skills list

Skill Instructions


name: clerk-cost-tuning description: | Optimize Clerk costs and understand pricing. Use when planning budget, reducing costs, or understanding Clerk pricing model. Trigger with phrases like "clerk cost", "clerk pricing", "reduce clerk cost", "clerk billing", "clerk budget". allowed-tools: Read, Write, Edit, Grep version: 1.0.0 license: MIT author: Jeremy Longshore jeremy@intentsolutions.io

Clerk Cost Tuning

Overview

Understand Clerk pricing and optimize costs for your application.

Prerequisites

  • Clerk account active
  • Understanding of MAU (Monthly Active Users)
  • Application usage patterns known

Clerk Pricing Model

Pricing Tiers (as of 2024)

TierMAU IncludedPriceFeatures
Free10,000$0Basic auth, 5 social providers
Pro10,000$25/moCustom domain, priority support
EnterpriseCustomCustomSSO, SLA, dedicated support

Per-User Pricing (after included MAU)

  • Pro: ~$0.02 per MAU above 10,000

What Counts as MAU?

  • Any user who signs in during the month
  • Active session = counted
  • Multiple sign-ins = counted once

Cost Optimization Strategies

Strategy 1: Reduce Unnecessary Sessions

// lib/session-optimization.ts
import { auth } from '@clerk/nextjs/server'

// Use session efficiently - avoid creating multiple sessions
export async function getOrCreateSession() {
  const { userId, sessionId } = await auth()

  // Prefer existing session over creating new ones
  if (sessionId) {
    return { userId, sessionId, isNew: false }
  }

  // Only create session when absolutely needed
  return { userId, sessionId: null, isNew: true }
}

// Configure session lifetime appropriately
// Clerk Dashboard > Configure > Sessions
// Longer sessions = fewer re-authentications

Strategy 2: Implement Guest Users

// lib/guest-users.ts
// Use guest mode for non-essential features to reduce MAU

export function useGuestOrAuth() {
  const { userId, isLoaded, isSignedIn } = useUser()

  // Allow limited functionality without sign-in
  const guestId = useMemo(() => {
    if (typeof window === 'undefined') return null
    let id = localStorage.getItem('guest_id')
    if (!id) {
      id = crypto.randomUUID()
      localStorage.setItem('guest_id', id)
    }
    return id
  }, [])

  return {
    userId: isSignedIn ? userId : null,
    guestId: !isSignedIn ? guestId : null,
    isGuest: !isSignedIn && !!guestId,
    isLoaded
  }
}

// Use guest ID for features that don't require auth
export async function savePreference(key: string, value: any) {
  const { userId, guestId } = useGuestOrAuth()

  if (userId) {
    // Authenticated - save to user profile
    await saveToUserProfile(userId, key, value)
  } else if (guestId) {
    // Guest - save to localStorage (no Clerk MAU cost)
    localStorage.setItem(`pref_${key}`, JSON.stringify(value))
  }
}

Strategy 3: Defer Authentication

// Delay requiring sign-in until necessary
'use client'
import { useUser, SignInButton } from '@clerk/nextjs'

export function FeatureGate({ children, requiresAuth = false }) {
  const { isSignedIn, isLoaded } = useUser()

  // If feature doesn't require auth, show it
  if (!requiresAuth) {
    return children
  }

  if (!isLoaded) {
    return <Skeleton />
  }

  if (!isSignedIn) {
    return (
      <div className="p-4 border rounded">
        <p>Sign in to access this feature</p>
        <SignInButton mode="modal">
          <button className="btn">Sign In</button>
        </SignInButton>
      </div>
    )
  }

  return children
}

// Usage - only count MAU when user accesses premium features
function App() {
  return (
    <div>
      {/* Free features - no sign-in required */}
      <PublicContent />

      {/* Premium features - sign-in required */}
      <FeatureGate requiresAuth>
        <PremiumContent />
      </FeatureGate>
    </div>
  )
}

Strategy 4: Reduce API Calls

// lib/batched-clerk.ts
import { clerkClient } from '@clerk/nextjs/server'

// Batch user lookups to reduce API calls
export async function batchGetUsers(userIds: string[]) {
  if (userIds.length === 0) return []

  const client = await clerkClient()

  // Single API call instead of multiple getUser calls
  const { data: users } = await client.users.getUserList({
    userId: userIds,
    limit: 100
  })

  return users
}

// Cache organization data
const orgCache = new Map<string, any>()

export async function getOrganization(orgId: string) {
  if (orgCache.has(orgId)) {
    return orgCache.get(orgId)
  }

  const client = await clerkClient()
  const org = await client.organizations.getOrganization({ organizationId: orgId })

  orgCache.set(orgId, org)
  return org
}

Strategy 5: Monitor and Alert

// lib/cost-monitoring.ts
import { clerkClient } from '@clerk/nextjs/server'

export async function getMonthlyUsageEstimate() {
  const client = await clerkClient()

  // Get unique users this month
  const startOfMonth = new Date()
  startOfMonth.setDate(1)
  startOfMonth.setHours(0, 0, 0, 0)

  const { totalCount } = await client.users.getUserList({
    limit: 1,
    // Note: You may need to track this yourself
  })

  // Estimate cost
  const includedMAU = 10000 // Pro tier
  const extraUsers = Math.max(0, totalCount - includedMAU)
  const estimatedCost = 25 + (extraUsers * 0.02)

  return {
    totalUsers: totalCount,
    includedMAU,
    extraUsers,
    estimatedCost,
    percentageUsed: (totalCount / includedMAU) * 100
  }
}

// Alert when approaching limits
export async function checkUsageAlerts() {
  const usage = await getMonthlyUsageEstimate()

  if (usage.percentageUsed > 80) {
    await sendAlert(`Clerk usage at ${usage.percentageUsed}% of included MAU`)
  }
}

Cost Reduction Checklist

  • Review session lifetime settings (longer = fewer re-auths)
  • Implement guest mode for non-essential features
  • Defer authentication until necessary
  • Batch API calls
  • Cache user/org data aggressively
  • Monitor MAU usage regularly
  • Remove inactive users periodically
  • Use webhooks instead of polling

Pricing Calculator

// Calculate monthly cost
function estimateMonthlyCost(
  tier: 'free' | 'pro' | 'enterprise',
  expectedMAU: number
): number {
  switch (tier) {
    case 'free':
      return expectedMAU <= 10000 ? 0 : Infinity // Upgrade required
    case 'pro':
      const includedMAU = 10000
      const basePrice = 25
      const extraUsers = Math.max(0, expectedMAU - includedMAU)
      return basePrice + (extraUsers * 0.02)
    case 'enterprise':
      return -1 // Contact sales
  }
}

// Examples
console.log(estimateMonthlyCost('pro', 5000))   // $25
console.log(estimateMonthlyCost('pro', 20000))  // $225
console.log(estimateMonthlyCost('pro', 100000)) // $1825

Output

  • Pricing model understood
  • Cost optimization strategies implemented
  • Usage monitoring configured
  • Budget alerts set up

Error Handling

IssueCauseSolution
Unexpected billMAU spikeImplement usage monitoring
Feature limitationsFree tier limitsUpgrade to Pro
API limitsHeavy usageImplement caching

Resources

Next Steps

Proceed to clerk-reference-architecture for architecture patterns.

More by jeremylongshore

View all
oauth-callback-handler
1,004

Oauth Callback Handler - Auto-activating skill for API Integration. Triggers on: oauth callback handler, oauth callback handler Part of the API Integration skill category.

rabbitmq-queue-setup
1,004

Rabbitmq Queue Setup - Auto-activating skill for Backend Development. Triggers on: rabbitmq queue setup, rabbitmq queue setup Part of the Backend Development skill category.

model-evaluation-suite
1,004

evaluating-machine-learning-models: This skill allows Claude to evaluate machine learning models using a comprehensive suite of metrics. It should be used when the user requests model performance analysis, validation, or testing. Claude can use this skill to assess model accuracy, precision, recall, F1-score, and other relevant metrics. Trigger this skill when the user mentions "evaluate model", "model performance", "testing metrics", "validation results", or requests a comprehensive "model evaluation".

neural-network-builder
1,004

building-neural-networks: This skill allows Claude to construct and configure neural network architectures using the neural-network-builder plugin. It should be used when the user requests the creation of a new neural network, modification of an existing one, or assistance with defining the layers, parameters, and training process. The skill is triggered by requests involving terms like "build a neural network," "define network architecture," "configure layers," or specific mentions of neural network types (e.g., "CNN," "RNN," "transformer").