Question 1

What does Stytch do?

Accepted Answer

Stytch is a modern authentication platform that specializes in passwordless authentication flows — magic links, OTPs (one-time passwords) via SMS, WhatsApp, email, and phone, passkeys, and OAuth social login — providing Nigerian developers with a comprehensive authentication API that covers the full range of modern login patterns without requiring teams to build authentication infrastructure from scratch. Stytch also provides session management, multi-factor authentication, and B2B authentication (SSO, SCIM) through a unified platform.

Nigerian applications face a distinctive authentication challenge: the user population is highly mobile-first, WhatsApp is the dominant communication platform, SMS is near-universally accessible, and passwords are widely considered a poor user experience due to reuse, forgetting, and the inconvenience of password managers. Nigerian fintech and consumer apps benefit enormously from passwordless authentication patterns that reduce friction and improve conversion — a user who can log in with a single SMS code is far more likely to complete onboarding than one who must create and remember a password.

Magic links send users a single-use authentication link to their email. When the user clicks the link, they are instantly authenticated in the app without ever entering a password. For Nigerian SaaS and e-commerce applications where users have reliable email access, magic links are the simplest and most frictionless authentication flow available. Stytch's magic link endpoint handles link generation, delivery, verification, and session creation with a few API calls.

SMS OTP (one-time password) sends a 6-digit code to the user's phone number via SMS. This is the most familiar authentication pattern for Nigerian users, who regularly receive OTPs from banks, fintech apps, and telecommunications companies. Stytch's SMS OTP supports Nigerian phone numbers in E.164 format (+234...), making it straightforward to authenticate Nigerian users with their mobile numbers.

WhatsApp OTP is a unique Stytch capability that delivers authentication codes via WhatsApp rather than traditional SMS. With WhatsApp used by over 80% of Nigerian smartphone users, WhatsApp OTP feels more familiar and accessible than SMS for many Nigerians — particularly for users whose SMS inbox is noisy with promotional messages. This is a significant differentiator for Nigerian consumer apps targeting the mass market.

Passkeys (WebAuthn) represent the future of authentication — users authenticate using biometrics (fingerprint, face ID) stored on their device rather than any password or code. For Nigerian mobile apps where users are accustomed to fingerprint authentication in their banking apps, passkey support provides a seamlessly secure login experience. Stytch's passkey implementation handles the complex WebAuthn protocol on the server side, exposing a simple enrollment and authentication API.

The free tier supports up to 25 monthly active users — sufficient for development and small-scale testing. Startup plans ($249/month) support production scale for most Nigerian applications in early growth stages. Complete SDKs for React, Next.js, React Native, iOS, and Android simplify frontend integration.

Stytch's fraud prevention features include device fingerprinting, IP reputation scoring, and behavioral analysis that identify suspicious authentication activity — account takeover attempts, credential stuffing attacks, and bot-driven registration campaigns. For Nigerian fintech and e-commerce applications that face significant fraud risk, these built-in fraud signals supplement application-level fraud detection without requiring a separate fraud prevention service.

The Stytch B2B authentication product extends the platform to enterprise use cases with organization-level user management, just-in-time provisioning, and SCIM directory synchronization. Nigerian B2B SaaS companies building for enterprise clients can use Stytch B2B to implement the enterprise authentication features (SSO, organization management, role-based access) that enterprise procurement teams require.

Question 2

How much does Stytch cost?

Accepted Answer

Stytch is free to start, with paid tiers for higher usage (freemium). Free: 25 MAU. Startup $249/mo. Growth $799/mo. Enterprise custom.

Question 3

How do I authenticate with the Stytch API?

Accepted Answer

API Key / PKCE OAuth

Question 4

Is there a rate limit on Stytch?

Accepted Answer

Varies by plan

Question 5

Does Stytch offer a sandbox or test mode?

Accepted Answer

Yes — Stytch provides a sandbox or test environment so you can integrate and test before going live.

Question 6

What is Stytch best suited for?

Accepted Answer

Nigerian developers building passwordless authentication (magic links, OTP, biometrics, passkeys) into their web and mobile apps without building auth infrastructure.

Question 7

Is there anything else I should know before integrating Stytch?

Accepted Answer

Stytch specializes in modern, passwordless authentication flows. Supports magic links, email OTP, SMS OTP, WhatsApp OTP, passkeys, OAuth, and TOTP. Strong API and SDK coverage.

Question 8

Where can I find Stytch's documentation?

Accepted Answer

The official API documentation is at https://stytch.com/docs. The provider's website is https://www.stytch.com.

Question 9

Does Stytch support Nigerian developers?

Accepted Answer

Yes — Stytch explicitly supports Nigerian developers/use cases.

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