Proof of Usefulness Report

SuperTokens

Analysis completed on 1/31/2026

+81
Proof of Usefulness Score
You're In Business

SuperTokens is a high-utility, open-source authentication project backed by Y Combinator (S20) with significant traction in the developer community (12k+ GitHub stars). However, the submission itself was of poor quality, containing unverifiable hyperbole ('everyone', 'most people') and lacking concrete metrics. While the project is technically sound and solves a genuine problem (auth vendor lock-in), the PoU score is constrained by the strict calibration against mass-market benchmarks (e.g., HackerNoon = 333) and the penalties applied for the low-effort submission evidence.

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Score Breakdown

Real World Utility+23.75
Audience Reach Impact+8.00
Technical Innovation+13.50
Evidence Of Traction+11.88
Market Timing Relevance+9.50
Functional Completeness+0.50
Subtotal+67.13
Usefulness Multiplierx1.2
Final Score+81

Project Details

Project URL
supertokens.com
Description
SuperTokens is building open source authentication (as an alternative to Auth0, Firebase and AWS Cognito). Add secure, hassle free authentication to your app in 1 day. We enable startups to launch quicker and focus on their core product offering\n\n1. We're easier to implement as we take a modular approach - making it possible to pick only the features you need for your use case. This means you need not worry about complications associated with other features (eg: SSO and OAuth if you don’t need it) and this in turn makes it easier to implement and manage SuperTokens.\n2. Developer's can own and manage their user's data. \n3. SuperTokens can be run on your premise for free and also has a generous hosted tier for those who dont want to manage it themselves.\n\nSuperTokens is being used by hundreds of developers across the globe. \n\nOur medium-term goal is to build an open-core authentication solution that is secure, flexible, and most importantly, is very simple to use.

Algorithm Insights

Market Position
Growing utility with room for optimization
User Engagement
Documented reach suggests active user community
Technical Stack
Modern tech stack aligned with sponsor technologies

Recommendations to Increase Usefulness Score

Document User Growth

Provide specific metrics on user acquisition and retention rates

Showcase Revenue Model

Detail sustainable monetization strategy and current revenue streams

Expand Evidence Base

Include testimonials, case studies, and third-party validation

Technical Roadmap

Share development milestones and feature completion timeline