Supabase
Data · Freemium
Overview
A ready made back end for web and mobile apps. It was founded in 2020 and is often described as an open source alternative to Google's Firebase. Each project comes with a full Postgres database, so data sits in a standard SQL system rather than a custom store. On top of that it adds user sign in, file storage, auto generated APIs, a realtime feature that pushes database changes to clients, and edge functions for custom server code. Developers can use the hosted service or run the whole stack themselves. The company also ships vector search features aimed at AI apps.
What people use it for
Developers use Supabase to stand up a database and login system for a new app without running servers. They query data straight from web or mobile code through the auto generated APIs. They handle sign up, passwords, magic links, and social logins with the built in Auth service. They store images, video, and documents in file storage backed by a CDN. They push live updates to clients for chat, dashboards, and presence features using Realtime. They run small pieces of server side logic as edge functions. They store embeddings for search and retrieval in AI features using the Postgres vector extension. They also set row level security rules so the database itself controls who can read and write each row.
Key capabilities
Every Supabase project is a dedicated Postgres database with full SQL access and the Postgres extension ecosystem, including pgvector for embeddings. Row Level Security policies run in the database and gate access per row. The Auth service supports email and password, magic links, and many social and enterprise providers. Storage serves files through a CDN. Realtime streams inserts, updates, and deletes to subscribed clients. Edge Functions run Deno based TypeScript close to users. APIs are generated automatically from the schema through PostgREST. The platform is open source and can be self hosted with Docker Compose. Pricing is a free tier plus a subscription, with usage based charges above set limits for bandwidth, monthly active users, edge function calls, and realtime messages. The free tier includes a 500 MB database, 1 GB storage, and 50,000 monthly active users, and pauses a project after a week of inactivity.
Limitations
The free tier pauses a project after seven days with no activity, which has drawn complaints and pushes some users to self host. Self hosting is possible but runs as a single project with no organizations, no multiple projects per instance, and no branching, so staging and production need two full stacks. Running it on managed Postgres is described as non trivial. Users report rough edges in the dashboard and a learning curve around Row Level Security and Auth. Documentation quality is uneven. Costs on the paid plan can climb with usage based overages as an app grows.
Insight
Supabase gets an app to a working database and login in an afternoon, and because it is plain Postgres the data is not locked in a strange format. That is the real value. The parts built directly on Postgres, the database, Auth, Storage, Realtime, and PostgREST, are widely reported as solid. The rough spots are the dashboard, uneven docs, and the gap between how easy self hosting looks and how much work it actually is. The free tier pausing projects after a quiet week trips people up and is a common source of annoyance. Self hosting drops useful features like multiple projects and branching. For getting a product off the ground quickly, or for a side project, it is hard to beat. Teams that expect to self host later should test that path early rather than assume it matches the hosted service.
Pricing
Freemium
Website
Last checked 2026-08-30