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Clerk vs WorkOS: AI Search & MCP Readiness
Category: Developer Auth vs Enterprise SSO & SCIM · Measured UTC via aso-live-probe
Measured verdict: WorkOS leads Clerk by 12 points (78/100 B+ vs 66/100 B) across ASO Studio’s 47-check HTTP, 29-crawler robots.txt, Markdown (/llms.txt, /pricing.md), MCP, OpenAPI, and Schema.org JSON-LD benchmark. Full individual grade-cards: clerk.com (66/100) · workos.com (78/100).
Scope & limits: Side-by-side HTTP status codes and HTML structured data captured 2026-11-14 UTC; independent audit not affiliated with Clerk or WorkOS. Technical readiness does not guarantee AI citations or sales.
1. Side-by-Side HTTP & Agent Discovery Telemetry
| Signal / Endpoint | clerk.com | workos.com |
|---|---|---|
| ASO Score & Grade | 66/100 (B) | 78/100 (B+) |
| Cohort Rank | #22 | #47 |
| Edge TTFB · HTML | 130ms · 254 KB (41 scripts) | 46ms · 254 KB (23 scripts) |
/robots.txt (29 Bots) | 200 · 29/29 (0 explicit) | 200 · 29/29 (4 explicit) |
/sitemap.xml | 200 | 200 |
/llms.txt | 200 | 200 |
/llms-full.txt | 200 | 200 |
/pricing.md | 200 | 200 |
/.well-known/ai.txt | 404 | 404 |
/ai/summary.json | 404 | 404 |
/.well-known/mcp.json | 404 | 200 |
/.well-known/agent-card.json | 404 | 404 |
/.well-known/openapi.json | 404 | 404 |
JSON-LD @types | Organization, ImageObject, ContactPoint, PostalAddress, WebSite | Organization, WebSite |
2. Where Clerk Leads vs Where WorkOS Leads
Where Clerk (clerk.com) leads:
- Richer root Schema.org JSON-LD (5 types vs 2)
Where WorkOS (workos.com) leads:
- Overall 47-check readiness score (78/100 B+ vs 66/100 B)
- Faster root edge response (46ms TTFB vs 130ms)
- Serves live
/.well-known/mcp.json(HTTP 200vsHTTP 404) - Explicitly allowlists 4 AI crawlers in
/robots.txt(vs 0)
Shared discovery gaps: Both clerk.com and workos.com currently return non-200 responses on /.well-known/ai.txt (404/404), /.well-known/agent-card.json (404/404), /.well-known/openapi.json (404/404).
One-time $49 · 26 files · Base USDC or Monero · no signup
Download free 3-file starter for clerk.com (.txt) · EdgeScreen x402 ($0.002)
23 remaining production files
/.well-known/mcp.json, agent-card.json, openapi.json, llms-full.txt, pricing.md, answers.md, ai/*.json
Schema.org JSON-LD bundle, Cloudflare Worker edge headers, comparisons, GitHub Action CI verifier.
3. Compare Against Your Own Domain (Free Live Probe)
4. Self-Serve 26-File ASO Pack ($49)
Generate a tailored 26-file /llms-full.txt, /pricing.md, 29-crawler robots.txt, Schema.org @graph, and 14-route Edge Router .zip for clerk.com or any domain you operate. Instant browser download via USDC on Base (Chain 8453), or Monero (XMR — verified within 24h) via non-custodial Trocador AnonPay. Inspect free sample .zip · Terms · EdgeScreen x402 ($0.002 USDC).
5. More Head-to-Head Readiness Comparisons
- Clerk vs Privy (66/100 vs 42/100)
- Clerk vs Supabase (66/100 vs 79/100)
- Privy vs WorkOS (42/100 vs 78/100)
- Cloudflare vs Vercel (89/100 vs 73/100)
- Supabase vs Neon (79/100 vs 30/100)
- Supabase vs Convex (79/100 vs 75/100)
- Turso vs Upstash (76/100 vs 74/100)
- Fly.io vs Render (76/100 vs 87/100)
All 60 head-to-head comparisons → · All 40 platform grade-cards →