Supabase

Supabase is what happens when Postgres gets a modern product suit: a clean dashboard, instant APIs, auth, storage, realtime, and edge functions, all sitting on top of a real database you actually own.

If you like the Firebase “move fast” vibe but want SQL, portability, and grown-up data modeling, Supabase is a ridiculously solid default.

Pricing Tiers

Supabase pricing is a mix of plan + usage. You start free, then pay for higher limits and whatever you scale past (MAUs, storage, egress, compute, etc.). Exact quotas and overages live on the pricing page.

Core Features & Capabilities

• Postgres as the foundation
  Every project is a dedicated Postgres database, so you get real relational power, extensions, and the ability to grow up without rewriting your backend.

• Auto-generated APIs
  Supabase can expose your database via instant APIs so you can ship CRUD fast, then get fancy later.

• Auth that plays nice with your database
  Email/password, magic links, OAuth providers, and more. The real magic is pairing Auth with Row Level Security (RLS) so your permissions live in the database.

• Storage with database-grade access control
  File uploads with fine-grained policies that can reference users, metadata, and any business rules you can express in SQL/RLS.

• Realtime (the good kind)
  Subscribe to Postgres changes, broadcast events, and track presence over websockets. Great for live feeds, dashboards, collaborative UI, and “someone just did a thing” moments.

• Edge Functions
  Server-side TypeScript functions (Deno-based) that are great for webhooks, integrations (Stripe, email), scheduled-ish backend tasks, and keeping secrets off the client.

• Vector database (pgvector)
  Store embeddings right next to your app data, query them, and keep your AI features close to the rest of your product.

Pros & Cons

Pros:

• “One dashboard backend” without giving up Postgres.
• RLS makes authorization sane (and auditable).
• Great dev ergonomics: quick setup, clear docs, solid client libraries.
• Fits nicely with AI apps because you can store embeddings and app data together.

Cons:

• You can accidentally speedrun into higher bills if you ignore usage (egress + MAUs are the usual culprits).
• RLS is powerful, but it rewards careful thinking and testing.
• A lot of the power is “database power,” which means you’ll eventually want to learn a few SQL basics (worth it).

Summary

Further Reading

	supabase.com	Supabase pricing
	supabase.com	Platform overview (what comes with every project)
	supabase.com	Auth guide
	supabase.com	Storage guide
	supabase.com	Realtime guide
	supabase.com	Edge Functions guide
	supabase.com	Vector database (pgvector) feature page
	supabase.com	Self-hosting with Docker