PocketBase vs Supabase
Side-by-side — pricing, strengths, tradeoffs, and fit.
PocketBase
Open source backend in 1 file
Supabase
The open-source Firebase alternative with Postgres
At a glance
Open SourceFree Tier
● Established·From Free / Open Source
Open SourceFree TierEnterprise
● Established·From Freemium
Overview
One-liner
One-liner
Open source backend in 1 file
One-liner
The open-source Firebase alternative with Postgres
Maturity
Maturity
EstablishedMaturity
EstablishedOpen source
Open source
✓ YesOpen source
✓ YesPricing
Free tier
Free tier
✓ AvailableFree tier
✓ AvailableStarts at
Starts at
Free / Open Source
Starts at
Freemium
Model
Model
Flat rate
Model
Hybrid
Enterprise
Enterprise
✕ NoneEnterprise
✓ AvailableBest for
✓ Best for
Solo developers and small teams building side projects or internal tools who want a complete backend in a single binary
✓ Best for
Startup founders and indie developers who need a complete backend-as-a-service with auth, database, and storage in one place
Teams moving from Firebase who want a relational database with a generous free tier
Developers who want to self-host their database infrastructure while keeping a familiar UI
Not ideal for
✕ Not for
Large-scale applications with millions of users or multi-node database requirements
✕ Not for
Teams needing a horizontally sharded database for massive write throughput
Enterprises requiring SOC 2 on the free plan without upgrading to a paid tier
Strengths
↑ Strengths
SQLite backend
Auth system
File storage
Realtime subscriptions
↑ Strengths
Postgres database
Authentication
Auto-generated REST and GraphQL APIs
Realtime subscriptions
Weaknesses
↓ Weaknesses
—
↓ Weaknesses
Free tier projects are automatically paused after one week of inactivity, limiting continuous availability for hobby projects.
Custom SMTP integration for authentication emails fails with Microsoft Office 365 and Outlook, breaking standard email workflows.
The Supabase Node.js client causes ESM handling issues that break Vitest testing environments.
Extension version pinning is deprecated, forcing users to accept default versions and ignoring explicit version specifications.