Better Auth

TypeScript-first, self-hosted authentication framework with a plugin system and full ownership of your user data.

Overview

Better Auth is a TypeScript-native auth framework that runs on your own infrastructure. You own the user data — no third-party dashboard required. It supports email/password, social OAuth, MFA, and a rich plugin ecosystem.

Scaffolded File

src/
  lib/
    auth.ts    # Better Auth initialization

`src/lib/auth.ts`

import { betterAuth } from 'better-auth'

export const auth = betterAuth({
  database: {
    // Configure your database adapter here
    // e.g., drizzleAdapter(db, { provider: 'pg' })
  },
  emailAndPassword: {
    enabled: true,
  },
  socialProviders: {
    github: {
      clientId: process.env.GITHUB_CLIENT_ID!,
      clientSecret: process.env.GITHUB_CLIENT_SECRET!,
    },
  },
})

API Route

Add a catch-all route to handle all auth endpoints:

// src/app/api/auth/[...all]/route.ts
import { auth } from '@/lib/auth'
import { toNextJsHandler } from 'better-auth/next-js'

export const { GET, POST } = toNextJsHandler(auth)

Client Setup

// src/lib/auth-client.ts
import { createAuthClient } from 'better-auth/react'

export const authClient = createAuthClient({
  baseURL: process.env.NEXT_PUBLIC_APP_URL!,
})

export const { signIn, signOut, signUp, useSession } = authClient

Using Auth in Components

'use client'
import { useSession, signOut } from '@/lib/auth-client'

export function UserMenu() {
  const { data: session } = useSession()

  if (!session) return <a href="/sign-in">Sign in</a>

  return (
    <div>
      <p>{session.user.email}</p>
      <button onClick={() => signOut()}>Sign out</button>
    </div>
  )
}

Database Adapter

Better Auth requires a database to persist users. Install and configure an adapter:

# With Drizzle + Postgres
pnpm add drizzle-orm @auth/drizzle-adapter

Better Auth can auto-generate the schema tables — run npx better-auth generate after configuration.

Hono Integration

If you selected Hono as your backend, Better Auth can be used directly with the Hono adapter:

import { betterAuth } from 'better-auth'
import { toNodeHandler } from 'better-auth/node'

app.on(['GET', 'POST'], '/api/auth/**', (c) => toNodeHandler(auth)(c.req.raw, c.res))

On this page