Alternatives to Supabase
Supabase is Postgres with auth, storage, realtime and edge functions on top, and it is the most documented product in this category by a wide margin. Most people looking for an alternative are not unhappy with Postgres — they are hitting one specific edge of the product around it.
Published by Rebase, which is one of the tools on this page. Every other entry is described by what it is good at, several of the recommendations below are not us, and there are no prices anywhere — competitor pricing changes quarterly and a stale number is worse than none.
Start from why you are leaving
Almost nobody wants "the best alternative". They want the one that fixes the specific thing that broke. Find your row.
“The dashboard is a table editor, and my team needs a real admin panel”
RebaseGenerates a full back office — forms, roles, media, kanban, your own React components — from the same collection definitions that produce the API, so it stays in step with the schema instead of being maintained beside it.
“Writing and debugging RLS in a dashboard is painful”
RebaseSecurity rules are part of the TypeScript collection definition and compile to real Postgres policies, so a policy is reviewable in a pull request and visible in a diff. Enforcement is identical — it is Postgres either way.
“I want one binary and no infrastructure at all”
PocketBaseA single executable with SQLite, auth, storage and an admin UI. Nothing here is simpler to run.
“I want the Firebase shape, but self-hosted”
AppwriteClosest to Firebase's developer experience of anything you can run yourself, with SDKs across most platforms.
“I need GraphQL”
Hasura or NhostHasura if you are assembling the rest yourself or federating several sources; Nhost if you want Hasura with auth, storage and functions already wired together.
“I only ever wanted managed Postgres”
NeonPostgres with branching and scale-to-zero, and none of the platform around it. Put whatever you like on top.
9 alternatives to Supabase
Ordered roughly by how often each one turns out to be the answer, not by any score. Where a head-to-head exists, it is linked.
- 1
Rebase
That's usOpen source· BothBest for: Postgres plus an admin panel your whole team can use
A Postgres backend — REST API, typed SDK, auth, realtime, storage, functions, cron — plus an admin panel generated from the same TypeScript collection definitions. Row-level security is written in code and compiled to real Postgres policies, so authorization is enforced by the database rather than by the layer in front of it. Connects to a Postgres database that already exists.
- 2
Appwrite
Open source· BothBest for: A Firebase-shaped API you can self-host
A batteries-included backend with auth, databases, storage, functions and messaging, and client SDKs for most platforms. Closer to Firebase's shape than to a SQL backend — the database is document-oriented, which is the right call if that is what you wanted and the wrong one if you came for joins.
- 3
PocketBase
Open source· Self-hostBest for: One binary, one file, no infrastructure
A single Go executable with an embedded SQLite database, auth, file storage, realtime and an admin UI. Genuinely delightful for a small app or a prototype. The constraint is the same as the appeal: SQLite and one process, so horizontal scale and Postgres-specific features are not on the table.
- 4
Nhost
Open source· BothBest for: Postgres and GraphQL with auth already wired up
Bundles Postgres, Hasura, auth, storage and functions into one platform, so you get the GraphQL model without assembling it. A good fit if Hasura is what you wanted plus the parts around it.
- 5
Hasura
Open source (Apache-2.0)· BothBest for: GraphQL, especially federated across several sources
Generates a GraphQL API over Postgres and other sources with a permission system defined in metadata. The strongest option here if GraphQL is a product decision rather than a preference. It gives you an API and a console, not a back office for non-developers.
- 6
Directus
Source-available (MSCL)· BothBest for: A mature editorial interface over an existing database
Wraps a SQL database in a REST and GraphQL API and a well-built admin app, and it will work with a schema you already have. Permissions are enforced in the Directus layer rather than in the database, and the app owns a set of its own tables.
- 7
Neon
Open source (core)· HostedBest for: Serverless Postgres with branching, and nothing else
Managed Postgres with database branching and scale-to-zero, part of Databricks since May 2025. Deliberately not a backend — no auth, no API, no admin panel — which makes it a good foundation to put one of the other tools here on top of, including Rebase.
- 8
Convex
Source-available (FSL)· BothBest for: Reactive apps where queries are code, not SQL
A backend where queries and mutations are TypeScript functions and the client re-renders when their results change. A genuinely different model, and a pleasant one. It is not Postgres, so the reasons to want Postgres do not apply. The code is under the Functional Source License, which converts to Apache-2.0 two years after each release.
- 9
Firebase
Proprietary· HostedBest for: Mobile apps that must work offline
Client SDKs with offline persistence that remain the best in the category, on Google's operational scale. The database is a document store, so joins, transactions across collections and ad-hoc queries are the things you give up.
Rebase and Supabase, answered
What is the closest alternative to Supabase?
It depends which part you are replacing. Appwrite is the closest in shape — a self-hostable, batteries-included backend with client SDKs — though its database is document-oriented rather than relational. If it is specifically Postgres-with-a-platform you want, Nhost and Rebase are the nearest; Nhost leans GraphQL, Rebase leans REST plus a generated admin panel.
Is there a self-hosted Supabase alternative?
Several, and Supabase itself is self-hostable — it is open source, and running it yourself is a supported path, if an involved one. If the reason you are looking is that self-hosting Supabase is heavier than you wanted, PocketBase is the lightest option here and Rebase, Appwrite and Directus all run as a normal application next to a normal Postgres.
Do I have to migrate my database to switch?
Usually not, if you are moving to something Postgres-based. Your data is already in Postgres, and Rebase, Directus, Hasura and Nhost all connect to a database that already exists. What has to be rewritten is the client layer and anything using Supabase-specific services — their auth schema, storage buckets and edge functions are their implementations, not Postgres features.
Which alternative is best for row-level security?
Anything that leaves enforcement in Postgres, because a policy in the database applies to every client rather than only to the ones that go through the tool. Supabase and Rebase both do this. The difference is where the policy is written: Supabase in the dashboard as SQL, Rebase in the collection definition as code that compiles to the same policy.
Is Supabase still the right choice for some projects?
Often, yes. If you want the biggest community and the most third-party material, if the free tier matters while you are starting, or if you want edge functions at the CDN, Supabase is ahead. Nothing on this page beats it on ecosystem — the reasons to look elsewhere are specific ones, and if none of them is yours, you already have your answer.
Don't take our word for it.
The comparison that matters is the one you run. Point Rebase at a Postgres database you already have and see how it holds up next to Supabase.