IdeaWell

Project ideas from Hacker News discussions.

From Supabase to Clerk to Better Auth

Original Article

Hacker News Discussion

📝 Discussion Summary (Click to expand)

3 Dominant Themesin the Discussion

1️⃣ Own your auth data – self‑hosted libraries win

"you get all of your auth data in your own db in 1 cli command. You are not tied to any on db provider." – azyc
"Better auth stores everything in your DB. It’s the equivalent of Django auth for the Typescript ecosystem." – jonas21

2️⃣ SaaS‑based auth brings lock‑in, reliability worries, and hidden costs

"Clerk is just a mess… their JS blob is slow, they’re cramming Web3, Stripe, etc., and debugging their libraries is an unreliably obfuscated mess." – cyberax > "I’ve been through the exact same migration path and I'm so incredibly happy with Better Auth… It just works." – vevoe

3️⃣ Modern auth libraries let you focus on core product, not auth plumbing

"We were able to add a plugin to allow auth via iframe postMessage and everything worked seamlessly." – supermdguy
"Laravel (or Rails, Django, ASP.NET Core) can provide all those auth features OOTB, free and lives in my database wherever I want." – giancarlostoro

These three threads capture the community’s main take‑aways: prefer libraries that keep data under your control, be skeptical of vendor‑managed auth services that introduce complexity and downtime, and leverage today’s mature open‑source frameworks for simpler, faster development.

🚀 Project Ideas

Generating project ideas…

Unified Multi-App Auth Bridge

Summary

  • Provide a lightweight, self‑hosted auth layer that syncs user sessions, roles, and token data across multiple independent applications.
  • Eliminates the need for separate auth services per app, reducing duplication and improving UX.

Details| Key | Value |

|-----|-------| | Target Audience | SaaS founders, developers building multiple related web services, multi‑tenant platforms | | Core Feature | Single sign‑on with shared user table, role propagation, and session sharing via lightweight API | | Tech Stack | Node.js (TypeScript), Prisma ORM, PostgreSQL, GraphQL, Docker | | Difficulty | Medium | | Monetization | Hobby |

Notes

  • HN commenters repeatedly mention “multiple apps need the same users” and frustration with “vendor lock‑in” (e.g., mooreds, sky…).
  • Would appeal to those tired of managing auth per app, offering a drop‑in solution that works with existing DB schemas.

Offline Mobile Auth Kit

Summary

  • A tiny SDK that enables mobile apps to authenticate users offline by persisting JWTs and handling token refresh without network access.
  • Addresses the “offline auth on mobile” gap highlighted by cyanax and others.

Details

Key Value
Target Audience Mobile developers (iOS/Android), cross‑platform frameworks like Flutter/React Native
Core Feature Persistent token storage, automatic offline login verification, graceful reconnect handling
Tech Stack Kotlin Multiplatform / Swift, Rust (for token crypto), Firebase Remote Config (optional)
Difficulty Low
Monetization Hobby

Notes

  • Directly references cyanax’s complaint about lack of offline auth, which many developers cited as a blocker for enterprise mobile apps.

Auth Plugin Marketplace for Popular Frameworks

Summary

  • A curated marketplace of ready‑to‑install authentication plugins that bring “Better Auth” capabilities (social login, passwordless, role‑based access) to frameworks like Laravel, Django, Rails, ASP.NET Core, and Phoenix.
  • Simplifies adoption for developers who prefer framework‑native solutions.

Details

Key Value
Target Audience Backend developers using Laravel, Django, Rails, ASP.NET Core, Phoenix
Core Feature One‑click plugin install, auto‑generation of migration files, built‑in support for OAuth providers, SSO, and passwordless flows
Tech Stack Framework‑specific plugin ecosystems, Docker for dev containers, CI/CD via GitHub Actions
Difficulty Low
Monetization Revenue-ready: Subscription $9/mo per plugin or bundle

Notes

  • Frequent references to “framework OOTB auth” (e.g., scarbutt, giancarlostoro) indicate demand for plug‑and‑play auth that integrates seamlessly with existing codebases.

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