Supabase vs PocketBase
Both are alternatives to Firebase. Here's how they stack up — verified facts, no spin.
Also searched as PocketBase vs Supabase — same comparison, one verdict.
Supabase
TOP PICKPostgres with Firebase's ergonomics — and you can take the database with you.
Supabase wraps a real Postgres database in the things that made Firebase pleasant: instant REST and GraphQL APIs, row-level security, authentication, file storage, realtime subscriptions and edge functions. The difference that matters is underneath. Your data is in Postgres, so you get SQL, joins, transactions, extensions like PostGIS and pgvector, and the ability to pick up the database and run it on any host on earth. It is Apache-2.0 and self-hostable with Docker Compose, and the hosted tier exists for people who would rather not. Around 107k GitHub stars and pushed to daily.
PocketBase
The entire backend is one file you can copy to a server.
PocketBase is a single Go binary containing an embedded SQLite database, authentication, file storage, realtime subscriptions and an admin UI. There is no Docker, no cluster, no dependency list — you download one executable, run it, and you have a backend. For a side project, an internal tool or an MVP it is the least ceremony available anywhere, and the fact that your entire production database is a file you can copy is a real feature rather than a limitation. MIT, about 60.4k stars. The honest constraint is SQLite: superb up to a point, and that point is a single machine.
Side by side
| Supabase | PocketBase | |
|---|---|---|
| Sovereignty Score | 91 | 95 |
| Open source | Yes | Yes |
| Self-hostable | Yes | Yes |
| Local-first | Yes | Yes |
| License | Apache-2.0 | MIT |
| Pricing | Free tier for small projects; hosted Pro from about $25/month. Fully self-hostable at no licence cost. | Free and open source. You pay for a server, and a very small one will do. |
Supabase is Macrostack's recommended Firebase alternative, so it's our pick here.
Supabase
Strengths
- +Real Postgres — SQL, joins, transactions and the whole extension ecosystem
- +Genuinely portable: the database runs anywhere, hosted or not
- +Apache-2.0 with a complete self-host path, not a crippled community edition
- +pgvector built in, so AI features do not need a second database
Trade-offs
- −You now have a Postgres database to think about — indexes, connections, vacuum
- −Mobile offline sync is weaker than Firebase's SDKs
- −Self-hosting the full stack is more moving parts than the hosted product suggests
- −Younger than Firebase; some edges are still being filed off
PocketBase
Strengths
- +One binary, no dependencies — the simplest deployment in this comparison
- +Your whole database is a file you can copy, back up and version
- +Extremely fast for read-heavy workloads on modest hardware
- +MIT, no enterprise edition, no upsell path
Trade-offs
- −SQLite means one machine — no horizontal scaling story
- −Smaller feature surface than Firebase or Supabase
- −Effectively a single-maintainer project, which is a real risk to weigh
- −Not the right choice for an app expecting millions of concurrent users
Related alternative guides
Facts verified 2026-07-31. Licenses and pricing change — spotted something out of date? That's a correction we want.