Free
Prototypes, experiments, and early MVPs
$0
/ month
Good place to prove the app before real traffic or serious team workflows show up.
- 2 active projects
- Shared CPU with modest databaseand storage limits
- Community support
Tool Review
Supabase
The Postgres development platform: database, auth, storage, realtime, and edge functions in one dashboard. A Firebase-like developer experience powered by Postgres and open source building blocks.
Updated on May 19, 2026 Best for: Builders who want Postgres power plus auth, storage, and policies in one platform. Backend & Database AI Dev Tools
Builders who want Postgres power plus auth, storage, and policies in one platform.
Pricing
Supabase pricing
Supabase starts with clear base plans, then pushes into usage-based math through MAUcounts, storage, egress, backups, and compute once the app grows up.
Pro Featured
Production apps and serious side projects
Default paid tier
$25
/ project / month
The default paid tier once the app needs better limits, backups, and support.
- Daily backups
- More database, storage, and egress headroom
- Email support
Team
Teams that need SSO, stronger controls, and compliance help
$599
/ organization / month
Adds org-level workflow and support features for larger teams and regulated environments.
- SAML SSO
- Priority support and higher limits
- More governance-friendly team controls
Enterprise Contact sales
Larger companies with compliance, residency, or dedicated support needs
Custom
Custom contracts, support, and platform configuration for bigger infrastructure requirements.
Pricing notes
- The sticker price is only part of the story. Watch MAUs, bandwidth egress, storage, and compute.
- Supabase pricing is friendlier when you actually want the bundled auth, storage, and edge tooling.
- Self-hostingis still an option, but it trades SaaS spend for infrastructure and ops work.
Capabilities
Feature highlights
Core platform
- Dedicated Postgres with extensions, SQL, and relational modeling that still feels modern to ship on.
- Auth, Storage, Realtime, and Edge Functions live in the same product instead of becoming a vendor scavenger hunt.
- Row Level Security lets permissions live next to the data instead of hiding in random API glue.
AI and advanced workflows
Comparison-friendly facts
Supabase in one screen
Database model
Postgres-first, relational, SQL-native, and much easier to grow into without a data-model rewrite.
Auth and permissions
Built-in auth paired with Row Level Security. Strong default when app permissions should live near the data.
Storage and files
Integrated object storage with policy controls that can reference auth and databasecontext.
Server-side logic
Edge Functions are great for webhooks, background-ish tasks, and keeping secrets off the client.
Realtime
Strong for subscriptions, presence, and “show the latest database change now” workflows.
Local development
CLIand Docker-based local flows are solid, especially if you are comfortable thinking in migrations.
Self-hosting
Yes. That matters if you care about optionality or eventually want more infrastructure control.
Observability
Good platform visibility, but not the same built-in product analytics and crash tooling stack Firebase gives you.
AI builder fit
Excellent if you want an AI-friendly backend that still leaves you with a real Postgres core when the prototype grows up.
Recent updates
Supabase updates to track
May 8, 2026 Supabase integration medium impact
Supabase became an official ChatGPT app
Supabase launched an official ChatGPT app so builders can inspect projects and work with Supabase context from ChatGPT more directly.
Source →May 4, 2026 Supabase feature high impact
Branching without Git became the default
Dashboard-native branching no longer requires a GitHub connection, which makes schema iteration much friendlier for prototypes and AI-assisted workflows.
Source →Next best read
Compare before you commit
Supabase is what happens when Postgres gets a product brain.
It gives you the “one dashboard backend” feeling people like about Firebase, but the center of gravity is a real relational database instead of a NoSQL-first document model. That matters more than it sounds like it should.
Why I keep recommending it
For web apps, internal tools, SaaS products, and AI-flavored side projects, Supabase usually lands in the sweet spot between:
- fast enough to ship
- structured enough to age well
- flexible enough that you do not immediately regret the first version
If your app is going to need users, permissions, storage, webhooks, and a database that can survive success, Supabase makes a strong case for being the default.
Where people get tripped up
Supabase is not “easy mode forever.”
The product is approachable, but the best parts of it are still database-shaped:
- permissions want real thought
- schema changes want a bit of discipline
- costs want occasional adult supervision
That is not a knock. It is just the trade: you get a stronger long-term foundation because the product does not pretend data modeling is fake.
When I would pick something else
I would lean away from Supabase when:
- the team wants maximum Google ecosystem leverage
- mobile app telemetry and post-launch tooling matter more than SQL purity
- you only need a narrow hosted database instead of an all-in-one backend product
That is where tools like Firebase, Neon, or a more specialized stack can make more sense.
Further reading
| supabase.com | Supabase pricing | |
| supabase.com | Platform overview | |
| supabase.com | Auth guide | |
| supabase.com | Storage guide | |
| supabase.com | Realtime guide | |
| supabase.com | Edge Functions guide | |
| supabase.com | Vector database | |
| supabase.com | Self-hosting with Docker |
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Firebase
Google’s app development platform for building, shipping, and monitoring web and mobile apps. Batteries-included backend services: databases, auth, hosting, storage, functions, analytics, crash reporting, and more.
Neon
Serverless Postgres platform with autoscaling, branching, read replicas, restore history, and modern developer workflows. A strong option when you want Postgres infrastructure without adopting a whole all-in-one backend platform.
Turso
Distributed SQLite database platform built around libSQL, hosted databases, embedded sync, and lightweight app data workflows. Interesting when your app fits SQLite ergonomics but still needs a cloud deployment and scaling story.
Clerk
Hosted authentication and user management for modern web apps. The polished default when you want sign-in, account management, organizations, and session handling to feel real quickly.
Projects
