Developer Tools
Best Supabase Alternatives in 2026: 5 Backends Compared
Five Supabase alternatives compared: Firebase, Appwrite, Nhost, Convex and Neon, with licenses, free tiers and which one fits your stack.
Supabase is a hosted backend built on Postgres, with auth, file storage and realtime on top. Its code is Apache-2.0 and you can self-host it, and the Free plan gives you 500 MB of database, 50,000 monthly active users and 1 GB of file storage across 2 active projects.
People look elsewhere because the Free plan pauses a project after 1 week without activity, because they want a different data model, or because they would rather run a lighter stack on their own server.
If you want Postgres with GraphQL and a managed host, pick Nhost. If you want the biggest no-cost quotas on a managed NoSQL stack, pick Firebase. If you want a self-hostable backend with its own databases, pick Appwrite. If you only need a serverless Postgres database and will bring your own auth, pick Neon. For a single-binary SQLite backend, see best PocketBase alternatives instead. Facts checked November 2026 on each product's own site.
| Tool | Best for | Open source | Free tier |
|---|---|---|---|
| Firebase | Managed NoSQL, auth and hosting from Google | Not confirmed | Spark: 1 GiB Firestore, 50K auth MAU |
| Appwrite | Self-hostable all-in-one backend | BSD-3-Clause | Free plan, project freezes at limits |
| Nhost | Postgres plus GraphQL, managed | MIT | Starter: 1 GB database, $0 |
| Convex | Reactive database for app developers | Self-hostable | Free: 0.5 GB database, 1M function calls |
| Neon | Serverless Postgres only | Not confirmed | 100 projects, 100 CU-hours each |
1. Firebase: Google-managed with the widest no-cost quotas
Good for: teams that want a managed NoSQL database, auth and hosting with generous no-cost limits and no servers to run.
Not for: anyone who needs SQL or a self-hosted option. We did not confirm a license or self-hosting path on Firebase's pricing page.
On the no-cost Spark plan, Firestore includes 1 GiB stored, 20K writes per day and 50K reads per day, Authentication covers 50K monthly active users, and Hosting includes 10 GB of storage. Cloud Storage, Cloud Functions and Phone Auth need the pay-as-you-go Blaze plan, so a real backend usually means adding a billing account. Firebase also offers Postgres through Data Connect, with a 3-month no-cost Cloud SQL trial per project; after that, Cloud SQL pricing starts at $9.37/month on Blaze (varies by region and configuration).
Official site: Firebase.
2. Appwrite: the self-hostable all-in-one
Good for: developers who want auth, databases, storage, functions and messaging in one backend they can run on their own Docker host.
Not for: people who want plain Postgres access. Appwrite's README describes its own Databases feature, usable with managed PostgreSQL and MySQL, rather than a bare Postgres connection.
Appwrite is BSD 3-Clause licensed and, per its README, designed from the ground up for self-hosting, with an installer started by a single docker run command. The cloud Free plan is described as 100% free, but when you reach a resource limit the project freezes and the console goes read-only. We could not confirm the exact Free limits or the Pro price from the pages we fetched, so check the pricing page before committing.
Official site: Appwrite.
3. Nhost: Postgres and GraphQL, managed or self-hosted
Good for: teams that like Supabase's Postgres foundation but want an instant GraphQL API on top.
Not for: anyone who needs many free projects. The Starter plan is $0 for 1 project with 1 GB of database, 1 GB of storage and 5 GB of egress, and projects pause after 1 week of inactivity, the same as Supabase.
Nhost's README lists PostgreSQL, a Hasura GraphQL API, auth, storage and Node.js functions, under the MIT license, and says you can self-host the whole stack. Paid plans start at $25/month for Pro, which includes $15 of compute credits and 10 GB of database. Nhost states it never stops a project for exceeding limits and charges for the excess instead.
Official site: Nhost.
4. Convex: a reactive database with TypeScript functions
Good for: TypeScript developers who want queries that update live in the UI and prefer writing server functions to writing SQL.
Not for: teams that need to keep Postgres. Convex is its own database, not a Postgres host. Its GitHub page calls it the open-source reactive database for app developers and says the self-hosted product includes most cloud features, but we could not confirm the license type from the page.
The Free and Starter tier includes 0.5 GB of database storage, 1 GB of file storage and 1M function calls. Professional is $25 per developer per month.
Official site: Convex.
5. Neon: just the Postgres, serverless
Good for: developers who already have auth and storage covered and only want a managed Postgres database that scales to zero.
Not for: anyone who expects auth, storage or realtime in the box. Neon's pricing page describes a database, not a backend.
The Free plan allows 100 projects, with 100 CU-hours of compute and 1 GB of storage per project (20 GB total). Compute suspends after 5 minutes of inactivity and the free plan cannot turn that off. Paid plans are pay-as-you-go with no monthly minimum: $0.106 per CU-hour on Launch and $0.35 per GB-month of storage.
Official site: Neon.
Building the pieces yourself
Pairing a plain Postgres host with separate libraries is a valid route. Better Auth covers authentication in TypeScript and Drizzle ORM covers typed queries. For the hosting side, see free Postgres database hosting compared. If you would rather run everything yourself on one server, Coolify deploys apps and databases to a box you control, and PocketBase is the lightest self-hosted backend we track.
How to choose
- Want to stay on Postgres with GraphQL: Nhost.
- Want one backend you can self-host with Docker: Appwrite, or Supabase itself.
- Want the largest managed free quotas and are fine with NoSQL: Firebase.
- Want live-updating queries in TypeScript: Convex.
- Only need the database: Neon, plus your own auth.
- Free tiers that pause: both Supabase and Nhost pause after 1 week of inactivity, so a side project you do not open weekly will need un-pausing.
FAQ
Is there an open-source alternative to Supabase?
Yes. Appwrite is BSD-3-Clause and Nhost is MIT, and both can be self-hosted. Supabase itself is Apache-2.0, so it is also an option if your concern is only the hosted price.
Which Supabase alternative has the best free tier?
It depends on the unit. Firebase Spark has 50K auth MAU and 1 GiB of Firestore; Supabase Free has 50,000 MAU and 500 MB of Postgres; Neon Free allows 100 projects. They measure different things, so compare the resource your app grows on first.
Can I use Postgres without a full backend?
Yes. Neon sells Postgres alone, and you add auth and storage separately. This is a good fit if your framework already handles those.
For more backends and hosting, browse the Developer Tools directory, and for self-hosted automation see n8n alternatives.