Head-to-head · Identity & Authentication (IAM)
Clerk vs Hanko
Which one to pick in 2026 — comparing 🇺🇸 Clerk with the European alternative 🇪🇺 Hanko on the things that actually decide who can read your data.
🇺🇸 Clerkvs🇪🇺 Hanko
Verdict
Who has stronger privacy guarantees by law?
Hanko — GDPR-native and outside the US CLOUD Act / FISA 702 reach.
Which one encrypts your data end-to-end by default?
Neither ships full E2E by default — check the table for nuance.
Which one tracks you for ads?
Clerk relies on ad tracking. Hanko doesn't.
Which one is open source?
Hanko is open source. Clerk is proprietary.
Side-by-side
Clerk vs Hanko — full comparison
Criteria
🇪🇺 Hanko
🇺🇸 Clerk
Headquarters
Kiel, Alemanha
United States
Jurisdiction
Germany (EU)
United States (US CLOUD Act)
Data location
Frankfurt, Alemanha (UE) ou self-hosted
United States
GDPR-native
Yes
No
CLOUD Act / FISA exposed
No
Yes
Ad tracking
No
Yes
End-to-end encryption
No
No
Open source
Yes
No
Ownership
Hanko GmbH
US Corporation
Founded
2018
0
Make the switch
Try Hanko instead of Clerk
Autenticação moderna e sem passwords orientada à era das passkeys.