Supabase
The Postgres development platform. Supabase gives you a dedicated Postgres database to build your web, mobile, and AI applications.
Last verified:
What is Supabase?
Supabase is an open source Firebase alternative built on Postgres that provides a complete backend platform for building web and mobile applications. It offers a dedicated Postgres database for every project, along with integrated tools including authentication, storage, Edge Functions, real-time sync, and vector embeddings for AI applications. All core tools are open source and self-hostable, giving developers full control over their infrastructure.
Key features include a dedicated Postgres database with auto-generated REST and GraphQL APIs, built-in authentication with 20+ social login providers and Postgres Row Level Security authorization, S3-compatible object storage with a global CDN across 285+ cities, globally distributed TypeScript/Deno Edge Functions, WebSocket-based real-time sync with database change listeners/presence/broadcast, and an AI toolkit powered by pgvector for storing and querying vector embeddings. The platform auto-generates REST, GraphQL, and Realtime APIs from your database schema without code generation.
Supabase is designed for developers building web, mobile, and AI applications who want a production-ready backend without managing infrastructure. It is ideal for startups and teams who value open source software, need Postgres' industry-standard reliability, want to avoid vendor lock-in, and require features like real-time updates, user management, and file storage. The platform is SOC2 Type 2 compliant and available in 16+ global regions.
Supabase pricing
Pricing model: Freemium
Supabase offers four plans: Free ($0/month), Pro ($25/month), Team ($599/month), and Enterprise (custom pricing). All plans include unlimited API requests. Free tier includes 50,000 monthly active users, 500 MB database, 5 GB egress, 5 GB cached egress, 1 GB file storage, 500,000 Edge Function invocations, 2 Million real-time messages, and 2 active projects maximum. Free projects pause after 1 week inactivity. Pro includes 100,000 MAUs ($0.00325 per extra MAU), 8 GB disk ($0.125/GB extra), 250 GB egress ($0.09/GB extra), 100 GB storage ($0.0213/GB extra), daily backups for 7 days, 7-day log retention, and email support. Team adds SOC2 & ISO 27001 compliance, HIPAA available as add-on, SSO for Dashboard, priority email support with SLAs, 14-day backups, and 28-day log retention. Enterprise includes designated support manager, uptime SLAs, BYO Cloud, 24x7x365 premium support, and private Slack. Compute is billed separately per project starting at $10/month for Micro instance. Pro and Team include $10/month compute credits covering one Micro instance.
Supabase pros
- Open source core tools that are self-hostable
- Dedicated Postgres instance for every project, not shared
- Auto-generated REST and GraphQL APIs from database schema
- Built-in authentication with 20+ social OAuth providers
- Postgres Row Level Security for fine-grained authorization
- S3-compatible storage with global CDN in 285+ cities
- TypeScript/Deno Edge Functions with Node.js compatibility
- Real-time WebSocket sync with database listeners, presence, and broadcast
- pgvector integration for AI vector embeddings in Postgres
- 40+ preinstalled database extensions
- Unlimited API requests on all plans
- 50,000 monthly active users on free tier
- 1 GB file storage on free tier
- 500,000 Edge Function invocations included free
- 2 Million real-time messages per month on free tier
- No vendor lock-in, fully portable Postgres
- SOC2 Type 2 compliant
- Available in 16+ global regions
- Daily backups on Pro plan (7 days retention)
- Table Editor and SQL Editor included in Dashboard
Supabase cons
- Free projects pause after 1 week of inactivity
- Free tier limited to 2 active projects
- Only 500 MB database size on free tier
- No automatic backups on free tier
- Compute costs separate from plan subscription
- Pro plan only includes 7 days of log retention
- Log Drains cost extra $60 per drain per project
- No SOC2 or ISO 27001 compliance on Free or Pro plans
- Team plan starts at $599/month which is expensive
- Point-in-Time Recovery costs $100 per month per 7 days
- Custom Domains cost $10 per domain per month per project
- Advanced MFA (Phone) costs $75/month for first project
- Database Branching billed per branch per hour
- Free tier has basic CDN only, not Smart CDN
- No BYO Cloud support below Enterprise tier
Frequently asked questions about Supabase
Can I cap my usage so my bill doesn't run over?
Yes. Spend caps are on by default on the Pro Plan. You can turn spend caps off from your dashboard to enable pay as you grow pricing for usage beyond plan limits.
What happens if I cancel my subscription?
The organization is allocated credits for unused time during the billing month. Those credits can be used for other projects within your organization.
Can I self-host Supabase for free?
Yes, you can use the Docker setup or the Supabase CLI to self-host. Supabase Studio is also available in the Docker setup, giving you full control over your infrastructure.
What if I need one project for development and one for production?
For now, you can create separate projects for development and production backends. The Free Plan gives you 2 free projects, so you can have both a development and production server for free.
Can I pause a free project?
Yes, you can pause a project at any time. The Free Plan gives you 2 free projects, but you can have as many paused projects as you want. Just pause and unpause them as needed.
Do I get a notification if I am approaching my usage limits?
Yes, Supabase will email you when you are within 20% of your plan limits so you can monitor your usage and avoid unexpected charges.
When will I be billed?
The Pro Plan is charged upfront and billed on a monthly basis. Additional usage costs beyond plan limits are also billed at the end of the month.
Does Supabase charge sales tax, VAT or GST?
Supabase applies sales tax, VAT, GST, and other indirect taxes where required by law, based on your billing address. The specific taxes depend on your location.
Are you going to change your pricing in the future?
The pricing is currently in Beta. While pricing may change in the future, the team of developers is committed to keeping pricing as developer friendly as possible.
Is Supabase really open source?
Yes, all core Supabase tools are open source and self-hostable. You can host Supabase yourself using Docker or the CLI, giving you full control without vendor lock-in since it is built on standard Postgres.