8 Best Supabase Alternatives in 2026: Neon, PlanetScale, Convex, and More

Q: What is the best Supabase alternative?

It depends on why you're leaving. Neon is the best alternative if you mainly wanted hosted Postgres and don't need Supabase's auth/storage bundle. Firebase is the best alternative if you're mobile-first and in the Google ecosystem. Appwrite is the best self-hosted alternative for teams that want the full BaaS bundle without vendor lock-in. PocketBase is the best lightweight option for small apps.

Q: Is there an open-source alternative to Supabase?

Yes. Appwrite and PocketBase are both fully open source and self-hostable. Supabase itself is also open source — you can self-host the entire Supabase stack using Docker Compose. Nhost is open source as well. The difference between them is the feature surface and operational complexity of the self-hosted deployment.

Q: Is Neon a Supabase alternative?

Neon is a partial Supabase alternative — specifically for teams that wanted Supabase's hosted Postgres but not its auth, storage, and realtime services. Neon is a database-only platform with serverless autoscaling and database branching. If you need the full BaaS bundle (auth + database + storage), Neon is not a direct replacement; look at Appwrite or Nhost instead.

Q: When should I choose Firebase over Supabase?

Choose Firebase when you're building mobile-first apps, using other Google Cloud services, or need Firebase's mature mobile SDKs, offline sync, and real-time database capabilities. Firebase's Firestore is a document database, not SQL — the data model is fundamentally different from Supabase's Postgres. If relational data, standard SQL, and Postgres compatibility matter to you, Supabase is the stronger fit.

Neon, PlanetScale, Turso, Convex, Firebase, Appwrite, PocketBase, and self-hosted Postgres compared — by your real reason for switching: pricing, RLS performance, lock-in, or wanting a lighter BaaS. Honest tradeoffs.

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TL;DR: Neon if you mainly needed Postgres. Firebase for mobile-first or Google-centric apps. Appwrite for a self-hosted open-source BaaS. PocketBase for a lightweight single-binary alternative for small apps. Nhost for GraphQL-first teams. Convex for reactive TypeScript workflows. Planetscale-style alternatives via our managed relational guide if you’re exploring branching databases. And — don’t switch unless the trigger is real. Supabase is still the right choice for most teams that want the full Postgres + auth + storage bundle.

The Best Supabase Alternatives — Quick Picks by Migration Trigger

Why you’re leaving	Best alternative	Data model
Only needed hosted Postgres	Neon	PostgreSQL
Want self-hosting and control	Appwrite	Postgres / custom
Mobile-first or Google ecosystem	Firebase	Document (Firestore)
Lightweight app, minimal ops	PocketBase	SQLite (embedded)
GraphQL-first workflows	Nhost	PostgreSQL + Hasura
Reactive TypeScript, no backend code	Convex	Document (reactive)

Why Teams Look for a Supabase Alternative

Supabase is a strong product. Teams that reach for alternatives usually have a specific reason — not a general dissatisfaction.

”We only needed Postgres”

Supabase is a Backend-as-a-Service platform. Its value proposition is Postgres plus authentication, object storage, edge functions, and realtime subscriptions in one service. If you came to Supabase specifically for managed Postgres and find yourself not using auth, storage, or realtime — you’re paying for bundle features you don’t use.

For this use case, Neon is the cleanest replacement: serverless Postgres, database branching, full PostgreSQL compatibility, no BaaS overhead. See our full comparison in Neon vs Supabase.

”We want self-hosting and more control”

Supabase is open source and self-hostable — but self-hosting Supabase requires running multiple services (PostgREST, GoTrue, Kong, Realtime) with Docker Compose. It’s manageable but not trivial.

Appwrite and PocketBase are designed to be simpler to self-host, with smaller operational footprints. PocketBase is a single binary. Appwrite is a more complete BaaS with a larger service surface but cleaner Docker-based deployment than Supabase self-hosted.

”We need a different API or runtime model”

Supabase’s auto-generated REST API (via PostgREST) and JavaScript/TypeScript SDK are solid but opinionated. Teams that need a GraphQL-first API might prefer Nhost (which wraps Postgres with Hasura). Teams building reactive TypeScript applications with real-time state sync might prefer Convex, which handles backend state as reactive functions rather than REST or GraphQL endpoints.

”We’re worried about cost or platform sprawl”

Supabase’s free tier pauses inactive projects after 1 week and limits you to 2 projects. The Pro plan ($25/month) removes pausing and increases limits, but some teams find they’re paying for more than they need. PocketBase at self-hosted cost (essentially zero for small apps) or Firebase Spark (free tier) can be more cost-appropriate for early-stage projects.

Supabase Alternatives at a Glance

Platform	Free tier	Pricing	Postgres?	Auth included	Self-host?
Neon	Yes (0.5 GB)	$19/mo	Yes (native)	No	No
Firebase	Yes	$0 (Spark)	No (Firestore)	Yes	No
Appwrite	Cloud free tier	$15/mo (Pro)	Yes	Yes	Yes
PocketBase	Free	Free	SQLite only	Yes	Yes (required)
Nhost	Yes	$25/mo	Yes (Hasura)	Yes	Yes
Convex	Yes	$25/mo	No (reactive)	Via integration	No
Supabase	Yes (2 projects)	$25/mo	Yes	Yes	Yes

1. Neon — Best if You Mainly Want Modern Postgres

Neon is a serverless Postgres platform focused on two things: autoscaling compute (including scale-to-zero) and database branching. It does not include auth, storage, realtime, or edge functions. It is a database service, not a BaaS.

What Neon does well:

Full PostgreSQL compatibility: every extension, every ORM, every psql tool works without modification
Autoscaling: compute scales up to handle load and scales to zero during inactivity — you don’t pay for idle time
Database branching: create instant copy-on-write branches from any database state — use them for staging environments, PR previews, or safe schema migration testing
Fast provisioning: new databases spin up in seconds
Serverless driver: a lightweight HTTP-based Postgres driver for edge runtimes where standard TCP connections are impractical

Neon pricing:

Free: 1 project, 0.5 GB storage, 190 GB-hours compute/month
Launch: $19/month — 10 GB storage, 300 GB-hours compute
Scale: $69/month — 50 GB storage, 750 GB-hours compute

What Neon doesn’t replace: Neon has no auth, storage, realtime, or auto-generated API layer. You’ll bring your own auth (Auth.js, Clerk, Lucia) and your own API framework (Next.js API routes, Hono, Fastify). If you want those Supabase-bundled features, Neon is the wrong replacement.

2. Firebase — Best for Mobile-First and Google-Centric Apps

Firebase is Google’s Backend-as-a-Service platform. It is not a Postgres replacement — Firestore, Firebase’s primary database, is a document database with a fundamentally different data model. But Firebase is the strongest BaaS alternative for teams building mobile apps or working in the Google Cloud ecosystem.

What Firebase does well:

Mobile SDKs: mature iOS, Android, React Native, and Flutter SDKs with offline sync support
Firestore: a real-time NoSQL document database with automatic offline persistence — excellent for mobile app state
Firebase Auth: supports email/password, phone, Google, Apple, Facebook, and SAML/OIDC providers
Firebase Storage: file storage with security rules and CDN delivery
Google Cloud integration: connects naturally to Cloud Functions, Cloud Run, BigQuery, and Vertex AI
Realtime Database: Firebase’s original JSON tree database — simpler than Firestore but still widely used

Firebase pricing:

Spark (free): 1 GB Firestore storage, 50K reads/day, 20K writes/day, 10 GB storage
Blaze (pay-as-you-go): $0.06/100K Firestore reads, $0.18/100K writes, $0.026/GB storage

See our detailed Supabase vs Firebase comparison for a full breakdown of tradeoffs.

What Firebase doesn’t replace: Firebase Firestore is not SQL. If your application relies on relational queries, JOINs, or Postgres-specific features, Firebase is a category switch, not a drop-in replacement.

3. Appwrite — Best Self-Hosted Supabase Alternative

Appwrite is an open-source Backend-as-a-Service platform designed as a direct Supabase competitor with a focus on self-hosting. It covers databases, authentication, storage, functions, and realtime — the same feature surface as Supabase, but with a simpler self-hosted deployment and a more portable architecture.

What Appwrite does well:

Clean self-hosted deployment: Docker Compose setup is simpler than Supabase’s self-hosted configuration
Multi-database support: Appwrite’s database abstraction can back onto different database engines
Authentication: OAuth providers, email/password, magic links, phone OTP, and team-based permissions
Storage: file upload, CDN delivery, and image transformations
Functions: serverless function execution with multiple runtime support (Node.js, Python, PHP, Ruby, Swift, etc.)
Realtime subscriptions: WebSocket-based realtime for database and storage events
Appwrite Cloud: managed hosted version with a free tier if you don’t want to self-host

Appwrite pricing:

Free (Cloud): 75K monthly active users, 2 GB storage, 750K function executions
Pro: $15/month — 200K MAU, 150 GB storage, priority support

What Appwrite doesn’t replace: Appwrite’s database is not native Postgres — it abstracts the underlying storage engine. You won’t get direct psql access, Postgres extensions, or Postgres-specific query capabilities. If raw Postgres access matters, Neon or a managed Postgres service is the better path.

4. PocketBase — Best Lightweight Alternative for Small Apps

PocketBase is a single-file open-source backend that includes a database (SQLite), authentication, file storage, and a REST API — all in one portable binary. It is designed for small apps, indie projects, and prototypes where operational simplicity matters more than scale.

What PocketBase does well:

Single binary: no Docker, no multi-service setup — run ./pocketbase serve and you have a backend
Built-in admin UI: manage collections, records, users, and permissions through a web interface
SQLite underneath: fast for small to medium data, zero-dependency database included
Auth: email/password, OAuth2 (Google, GitHub, Discord, etc.), and custom auth rules
File storage: local disk or S3-compatible object storage
Real-time: WebSocket subscriptions for record changes
Extendable: JavaScript VM embedded for hooks and custom logic without compiling Go

PocketBase pricing: Completely free and open source. You pay for the server you run it on.

What PocketBase doesn’t replace: SQLite doesn’t scale horizontally and is not suited for high-write-concurrency production applications. PocketBase is excellent for small apps, dashboards, and internal tools — not for applications that will grow to thousands of concurrent writes. It also has no managed cloud version; self-hosting is the only option.

5. Nhost — Best GraphQL-First Alternative

Nhost is an open-source Backend-as-a-Service built on PostgreSQL + Hasura GraphQL Engine + Auth + Storage. It is the most direct Supabase alternative for teams that want GraphQL as their primary API layer rather than PostgREST’s auto-generated REST API.

What Nhost does well:

Hasura GraphQL Engine: automatic, type-safe GraphQL API generated from your Postgres schema
Real-time GraphQL subscriptions: live data sync via GraphQL subscriptions, not polling
Postgres underneath: full Postgres access, migrations, extensions — same as Supabase
Auth: JWT-based auth with social providers and role-based access control via Hasura permissions
Storage: file storage with Hasura-integrated access rules
Self-hostable: full open-source stack deployable on any infrastructure

Nhost pricing:

Free: 1 project, 0.5 GB storage, 1 GB database
Pro: $25/month — removes limits, adds custom domains and priority support

What Nhost doesn’t replace: Nhost’s complexity is higher than Supabase for teams unfamiliar with Hasura’s permission model, which is powerful but requires learning. If your team doesn’t need GraphQL, Nhost adds complexity without benefit.

6. Convex — Best for Reactive TypeScript Workflows

Convex is a backend platform built around reactive server functions — TypeScript functions that run server-side and automatically re-execute when their data dependencies change. It is not a Postgres database and does not use SQL. It is the right alternative for teams building highly interactive TypeScript applications where backend state and frontend state need to stay in sync automatically.

What Convex does well:

Reactive queries: queries re-run automatically when data changes, and connected clients receive updates without polling or WebSocket management code
TypeScript-native: the entire backend — queries, mutations, actions — is TypeScript; end-to-end type safety without schema codegen
ACID transactions: all mutations are transactional; no partial state visible to clients
File storage, cron jobs, and scheduled functions included
No server to manage: Convex handles scaling, replication, and availability

Convex pricing:

Free: 1M function calls/month, 512 MB storage, 1 GB bandwidth
Pro: $25/month — 25M function calls, 4 GB storage

What Convex doesn’t replace: Convex uses its own document-style data model, not Postgres or SQL. If your application relies on relational data, SQL queries, or Postgres compatibility, Convex is a full data model switch.

When You Should Stay on Supabase

Supabase still wins when you want the whole Postgres + auth + storage bundle

Supabase’s strongest position is for teams that actually use the full bundle: Postgres for their relational data, Row Level Security for auth-integrated data access, Supabase Auth for user management, and Supabase Storage for files — all in one managed service with a consistent security model.

If you’re using 3 or 4 of those features, the alternatives that replace only one piece of the stack (like Neon for Postgres-only) will require you to wire together multiple services yourself. Supabase bundles that work so you don’t have to.

Migration is not free; avoid switching for the wrong reason

Every database migration carries real risk: data migration scripts, application code changes, new auth provider integration, and potential downtime. Switching from Supabase to a competitor because of a pricing concern, a feature complaint, or “I heard X is better” should require a clear ROI calculation — not just frustration.

If you’re considering switching because of Supabase’s free tier pause behavior, the $25/month Pro plan removes that. If you’re considering switching because of pricing concerns beyond that, model your actual usage before assuming a competitor is cheaper.

See our database software guide for a broader view of where Supabase fits in the full application database landscape.

FAQ

What is the best Supabase alternative? Depends on why you’re leaving. Neon for Postgres-only, Firebase for mobile-first, Appwrite for self-hosted BaaS, PocketBase for small apps and indie projects.

Is there an open-source alternative to Supabase? Yes — Appwrite, PocketBase, and Nhost are all fully open source and self-hostable. Supabase itself is also open source.

Is Neon a Supabase alternative? Partially. Neon replaces Supabase’s hosted Postgres but not its auth, storage, or realtime features. It’s the right replacement when you only needed the database.

When should I choose Firebase over Supabase? Choose Firebase for mobile-first apps, Google Cloud ecosystem integration, or when you prefer a document database (Firestore) over relational SQL. Don’t choose Firebase expecting SQL — Firestore’s document model is fundamentally different.