The open source Firebase alternative
Supabase is an open-source backend-as-a-service platform built on Postgres. Provides a complete backend with database, authentication, instant APIs, edge functions, realtime subscriptions, and storage. Known for excellent developer experience and generous free tier.
Best for: Developers wanting a complete, open-source backend with Postgres and excellent DX
Key Features
- ✓Postgres database with Row Level Security
- ✓Built-in authentication (email, OAuth, magic links)
- ✓Auto-generated REST and GraphQL APIs
- ✓Realtime subscriptions
- ✓Edge Functions (Deno)
- ✓Storage with CDN
Integrations
VercelNetlifyNext.jsFlutterReactVueStripeResend
Pricing: Free tier (500MB database, 1GB storage, 50K MAU), Pro at $25/month, Team at $599/month
Serverless Postgres with branching
Neon is a fully managed serverless Postgres with a generous free tier. Features database branching for development workflows, autoscaling, and scale-to-zero. Built by Postgres contributors with a focus on developer experience and modern cloud-native architecture.
Best for: Developers wanting serverless Postgres with branching for preview environments and development
Key Features
- ✓Database branching (like Git for databases)
- ✓Autoscaling compute
- ✓Scale-to-zero (pay only when active)
- ✓Instant provisioning
- ✓Point-in-time recovery
- ✓Postgres 14, 15, 16 support
Integrations
VercelNetlifyRailwayPrismaDrizzleDjangoLaravel
Pricing: Free tier (3GB storage, unlimited projects), Launch at $19/month, Scale at $69/month
The database for developers
PlanetScale is a MySQL-compatible serverless database platform built on Vitess. Features non-blocking schema changes, database branching, and horizontal scaling. Known for zero-downtime migrations and excellent performance at scale.
Best for: Teams needing MySQL with zero-downtime schema changes and horizontal scaling capabilities
Key Features
- ✓Non-blocking schema changes
- ✓Database branching with deploy requests
- ✓Horizontal sharding (Vitess)
- ✓Query insights and analytics
- ✓Automatic backups
- ✓MySQL compatibility
Integrations
VercelNetlifyPrismaRailsLaravelDjangoClerk
Pricing: Scaler at $29/month (10GB storage), Team at $39/month, Enterprise custom
App development platform by Google
Firebase is Google's comprehensive app development platform. Offers Firestore (NoSQL), Realtime Database, Authentication, Cloud Functions, Hosting, and more. Deeply integrated with Google Cloud and excellent for mobile and web applications.
Best for: Mobile and web developers wanting a complete Google-backed platform with excellent SDKs
Key Features
- ✓Firestore (NoSQL document database)
- ✓Realtime Database
- ✓Authentication with multiple providers
- ✓Cloud Functions (serverless)
- ✓Hosting with CDN
- ✓Cloud Messaging (push notifications)
Integrations
Google CloudBigQueryGoogle AnalyticsFlutterReact NativeUnity
Pricing: Generous free tier (Spark), Pay-as-you-go (Blaze) with no upfront costs
Serverless data for modern developers
Upstash provides serverless Redis, Kafka, and QStash (message queue). Features per-request pricing, global replication, and excellent edge computing support. Perfect for caching, rate limiting, and real-time features in serverless applications.
Best for: Developers needing serverless Redis for caching, rate limiting, and session storage at the edge
Key Features
- ✓Serverless Redis with REST API
- ✓Serverless Kafka
- ✓QStash (HTTP-based messaging)
- ✓Global replication
- ✓Per-request pricing
- ✓Edge-compatible REST API
Integrations
VercelNetlifyCloudflare WorkersNext.jsDenoRemix
Pricing: Free tier (10K commands/day), Pay-as-you-go from $0.2/100K commands, Pro at $10/month
The multi-cloud developer data platform
MongoDB Atlas is the fully managed cloud database service for MongoDB. Features automatic scaling, global clusters, and built-in search and analytics. The leading document database with flexible schemas and powerful querying.
Best for: Teams needing a flexible document database with powerful querying and global distribution
Key Features
- ✓Document database with flexible schemas
- ✓Atlas Search (full-text search)
- ✓Multi-cloud deployment
- ✓Auto-scaling and sharding
- ✓Charts and analytics
- ✓Data API (REST/GraphQL)
Integrations
AWSAzureGCPVercelNetlifyNode.jsPythonRealm
Pricing: Free tier (512MB), Serverless from $0.10/million reads, Dedicated from $57/month
Turso is a SQLite-compatible database built on libSQL, designed for edge deployment. Features embedded replicas for ultra-low latency reads, global distribution, and excellent developer experience. Perfect for edge-first applications.
Best for: Developers building edge-first applications needing SQLite with global replication
Key Features
- ✓SQLite-compatible (libSQL)
- ✓Embedded replicas for edge
- ✓Global distribution
- ✓Branching and point-in-time recovery
- ✓Low-latency reads anywhere
- ✓Works offline
Integrations
VercelNetlifyCloudflareFly.ioDrizzlePrismaSvelteKit
Pricing: Free tier (9GB storage, 500 databases), Scaler at $29/month, Pro at $79/month
The cloud-native distributed SQL database
CockroachDB is a distributed SQL database designed for global scale and resilience. Features automatic sharding, multi-region deployment, and strong consistency. PostgreSQL-compatible with built-in survivability across zones and regions.
Best for: Enterprises needing globally distributed SQL with strong consistency and resilience
Key Features
- ✓Distributed SQL with auto-sharding
- ✓Multi-region active-active
- ✓PostgreSQL wire compatibility
- ✓Automatic failover and recovery
- ✓Serializable isolation
- ✓Built-in change data capture
Integrations
AWSAzureGCPKubernetesPrismaSequelizeTypeORM
Pricing: Serverless free tier, Dedicated from $295/month, Self-hosted available
The fullstack TypeScript development platform
Convex is a reactive backend-as-a-service with a TypeScript-first approach. Features automatic reactivity, ACID transactions, file storage, and scheduled functions. All backend logic in TypeScript with real-time sync built-in.
Best for: TypeScript developers wanting a reactive backend with automatic real-time sync
Key Features
- ✓Reactive queries (automatic updates)
- ✓TypeScript backend functions
- ✓ACID transactions
- ✓File storage
- ✓Scheduled functions (cron)
- ✓Authentication integration
Integrations
Next.jsReactClerkAuth0TwilioResendOpenAI
Pricing: Free tier (generous), Pro at $25/month, Team at $99/month
Build like a team of hundreds
Appwrite is an open-source backend-as-a-service platform. Provides database, authentication, storage, functions, and messaging. Self-hostable or cloud-hosted with a focus on security and developer experience.
Best for: Developers wanting an open-source, self-hostable alternative to Firebase
Key Features
- ✓Document database with relationships
- ✓Authentication (30+ methods)
- ✓Storage with image transformations
- ✓Serverless functions
- ✓Realtime subscriptions
- ✓Self-hostable
Integrations
FlutterReact NativeNext.jsVueAngularAppleAndroid
Pricing: Free tier (75K MAU), Pro at $15/month, Scale at $599/month, Self-hosted free