Is Cerbos worth the price?
Cerbos offers a generous free tier and a Proof of Concept plan, making it highly accessible for evaluation and small-scale use.
The jump from the free PoC to the $25/month Development tier is reasonable, but the leap to the $933/month Production tier is significant, indicating a strong focus on enterprise-level customers. This pricing structure is best suited for startups and mid-sized companies scaling into enterprise, and large organizations requiring robust authorization.
Pricing Plans
Free TrialOpen source
Free forever
- YAML-based policy definition
- Audit logs
- CI/CD & IDE tooling
- Git, Disk, Cloud or DB-based storage
- Community support
Proof of Concept
$0/month
- Up to 100 monthly active principals
- 1 workspace, 2 developers
- 2 Playgrounds
- 2 simultaneous PDPs
- Up to 5 custom tenants
- 5 policy builds per week
- 1 week of unified audit logs
- In-browser/serverless authorization
- Managed CI/CD pipeline
- Community support
Development
From $25/month
- First 100 monthly active principals included
- 3 workspaces, 5 developers
- Up to 5 Playgrounds
- Up to 10 simultaneous PDPs
- Up to 20 custom tenants
- 100 policy builds per week
- 3 months of unified audit logs
- Uptime SLA
- Live Chat support
Production
From $933/month
- First 5000 monthly active principals included
- Unlimited workspaces & developers
- Unlimited Playgrounds
- Unlimited simultaneous PDPs
- Unlimited custom tenants
- Unlimited policy builds per week
- 1 year of unified audit logs
- Uptime SLA
- Live Chat support
Enterprise
Contact us
- SSO support
- Self-hosted Cerbos Hub
- Custom audit log retention
- Custom training support
- Enterprise support SLA
- Phone support
- Quarterly training
Hidden Costs & Gotchas
Overage fees for monthly active principals
Higher tiers required for advanced support
Enterprise features require custom quotes
Limited audit log retention on lower tiers
Which Plan Do You Need?
Developers evaluating authorization solutions
Startups needing scalable authorization
Enterprises requiring fine-grained control
How Cerbos Compares to Competitors
Compared to Auth0, which can start at $23/month for basic B2C and scale rapidly, Cerbos's $25/month Development tier is competitive for its feature set. While Open Policy Agent (OPA) is open-source and free, Cerbos offers managed services and a more opinionated, developer-friendly experience, justifying its paid tiers for those seeking a complete solution.
Cerbos Pricing FAQ
How much does Cerbos cost?
Cerbos starts at $25/month on the Development plan. It offers 2 paid tiers ranging from $25/month up to $933/month. A free plan is also available with limited features.
Does Cerbos have a free plan?
Yes. Cerbos offers a free plan called "Open source". It includes: YAML-based policy definition, Audit logs, CI/CD & IDE tooling.
Does Cerbos offer a free trial?
Yes, Cerbos offers a free trial. No credit card is typically required to start the trial, though this may vary.
What is the cheapest Cerbos paid plan?
The cheapest paid plan for Cerbos is "Development" at $25/month. Key features include: First 100 monthly active principals included, 3 workspaces, 5 developers, Up to 5 Playgrounds.
Is there a cheaper alternative to Cerbos?
Yes. Popular alternatives to Cerbos include Permit.io, Wiz, CyberArk. Free alternatives include Permit.io. Compare them side-by-side on Toolradar.
Cheaper alternatives to Cerbos
Direct competitors with similar features. Many offer free tiers or lower per-seat pricing.
