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Database software · 11 alternatives

Supabase alternatives: 11 compared

Sebastiaan Smits Editor Sebastiaan Smits · Published October 19, 2026 · Updated October 19, 2026

Teams look past Supabase when the bill depends on compute size and usage, when the free plan pauses an idle project, or when backups, SSO and log drains sit on paid tiers. Most move to Neon or plain PostgreSQL to keep Postgres, to Firebase for a Google backend, or to PlanetScale and CockroachDB for scale.

Short answer: The closest replacements for Supabase in our database software ranking are Neon, Firebase and PostgreSQL. Choose Neon if you want Postgres billed by compute-hour with branches, and can live with a younger backend bundle. All 11 alternatives below are ranked products from Best Database Software in 2026, and each says where it differs from Supabase and when Supabase is still the better choice.

Visibility in our rankings can be paid for. Payment moves a vendor's position within the shortlist; it never adds a vendor, and it never changes a word of the review or of this page. The first three alternatives go to challengers, vendors outside the best-known brands in a category, wherever the category has them; the established names follow in their ranked order. How it works: placement disclosure · editorial process.

Supabase at a glance

  • Headquarters: Singapore
  • Pricing model: Flat monthly + compute add-ons
  • Pricing: Free plan at $0 (500 MB database, 50,000 monthly active users); Pro from $25 per month, Team from $599 per month, plus compute add-ons from $10 per month.
  • Free option: Free plan
  • Built for: Small teams building a web or mobile app
  • Wrong for: Teams that want a bare database with no bundled authentication or API layer, and large enterprises that need dedicated infrastructure from day one. PostgreSQL on your own servers or Neon is the closer fit there.
  • Place in our ranking: #1 of 12
  • Website: supabase.com

Facts from our database software ranking, last checked October 19, 2026.

Why buyers look past Supabase

  1. The bill follows compute and usage

    Pro starts at $25 per month, with $10 of compute credit covering one Micro instance. The first dedicated size is Large at $110, and the ladder runs to 16XL at $3,730. With the spend cap off, usage beyond the quota is charged per unit, so a traffic spike changes the invoice.

  2. The free plan is a trial tier

    The pricing page says free projects are paused after one week of inactivity and that only two projects may be active. The database is 500 MB. A paused project can be restored from Studio for one year, which suits prototypes and not a site that must always answer.

  3. Safety features cost extra

    Pro keeps daily backups for 7 days. Point in Time Recovery starts at $100 per month and needs at least a Small compute add-on. SSO, 14-day backups and the SOC 2 and ISO 27001 listing begin on Team at $599, and each log drain adds $60.

11 alternatives at a glance

Closest replacement first. The last column is our place in the full 12-product ranking.

#AlternativeHeadquartersPricingKey differenceSwitch ifOur rank
1NeonUnited StatesUsage-based; free planServerless Postgres with scale to zero and branchesyou want Postgres billed by compute-hour with branches, and can live with a younger backend bundle#3
2FirebaseUnited StatesUsage-based; free planGoogle's app backend with document databases and authyour app is mobile first and you accept a document model tied to Google Cloud billing#5
3PostgreSQLCanadaOpen source (free); open sourceThe open source relational database behind half this listyou have the people to run servers and want no vendor between you and Postgres#2
4PlanetScaleUnited StatesResource-based; noneManaged MySQL-compatible Vitess and Postgres with shardingyour problem is database scale or high availability, not the backend features around it#8
5CockroachDBUnited StatesUsage-based (vCPU-hour); free trialDistributed SQL that survives regional failuresyou need Postgres-style SQL that keeps running when a whole region fails#9
6MongoDBUnited StatesUsage-based + free tier; free planDocument database with a managed cloud serviceyour data is naturally nested documents and you are willing to leave relational SQL#4
7Amazon DynamoDBUnited StatesUsage-based; free planServerless NoSQL key-value database from AWSyour access patterns are simple key lookups at high volume and you already run on AWS#12
8MariaDBUnited StatesOpen source + quote only; open sourceMySQL-compatible open source database with paid platformsyour stack is MySQL-flavored and you want an open source server with paid support available#6
9RedisUnited StatesUsage-based + free tier; free planIn-memory data store for caches, sessions and queuesthe part of Supabase you use is realtime or session state and you can keep the main data elsewhere#10
10SQLiteUnited StatesFree (public domain); open sourcePublic domain database library in a single fileyou build a single-server or local app and want no database service to pay for#7
11ClickHouseUnited StatesUsage-based; free trialColumn store for real-time analytics at large scalethe workload is dashboards and event analytics and Postgres is too slow for it#11

What each alternative does differently

1. Neon

Serverless Postgres with scale to zero and branches · United States

Serverless Postgres with scale to zero and branching, now with managed auth, object storage and functions on its own pricing page. Billing is per compute-hour and per gigabyte-month, with no flat plan fee. Realtime is still labeled beta, so the bundle is thinner than Supabase.

Switch from Supabase if you want Postgres billed by compute-hour with branches, and can live with a younger backend bundle.

Pricing: Free at $0 (100 projects, 1 GB storage per project); Launch usage-based at $0.106 per CU-hour and $0.35 per GB-month; Scale at $0.222 per CU-hour. (free plan)

Full review: #3 of 12 in our ranking · Visit Neon →

2. Firebase

Google's app backend with document databases and auth · United States

Google's app backend built on document databases rather than Postgres. The Spark plan needs no payment method and Blaze bills beyond quotas through Google Cloud. Moving means rewriting queries from SQL to document access, and Supabase documents a Firestore migration path in the other direction.

Switch from Supabase if your app is mobile first and you accept a document model tied to Google Cloud billing.

Pricing: Spark plan at no cost with daily quotas (Firestore: 1 GiB stored, 50,000 reads and 20,000 writes per day); Blaze pay-as-you-go beyond that, billed through Google Cloud. (free plan)

Full review: #5 of 12 in our ranking · Visit Firebase →

3. PostgreSQL

The open source relational database behind half this list · Canada

The database itself, with no auth service, API layer or storage attached. The code is free under the PostgreSQL licence, so you pay only for servers and for whoever runs them. Backups, upgrades and failover become your work, and so does every feature Supabase bundled around it.

Switch from Supabase if you have the people to run servers and want no vendor between you and Postgres.

Pricing: Free to download and use under the PostgreSQL License, with no vendor charge; hosting and operations are your own cost. (open source)

Full review: #2 of 12 in our ranking · Visit PostgreSQL →

4. PlanetScale

Managed MySQL-compatible Vitess and Postgres with sharding · United States

A managed database platform that sells Postgres and MySQL-compatible Vitess clusters. Pricing is by resources, from $5 per month for a single node, and no free plan is listed. It offers no bundled login or file storage, so authentication has to come from elsewhere.

Switch from Supabase if your problem is database scale or high availability, not the backend features around it.

Pricing: Resource-based billing: PlanetScale Postgres single node from $5 per month, Metal with local NVMe from $50 per month, high availability as one primary plus two replicas; no free plan. (none)

Full review: #8 of 12 in our ranking · Visit PlanetScale →

5. CockroachDB

Distributed SQL that survives regional failures · United States

A distributed SQL database that speaks the Postgres wire protocol, with multi-region clusters and a 99.999% availability target on the top edition. Billing is per vCPU-hour, and the cost example on its pricing page is above $1,500 per month. A 30-day trial replaces a free plan.

Switch from Supabase if you need Postgres-style SQL that keeps running when a whole region fails.

Pricing: Standard at $0.092 per vCPU-hour (about $203 per month for 2 vCPU and 100 GB); Mission Critical at $0.162 per vCPU-hour; 30-day trial with $400 credit. (free trial)

Full review: #9 of 12 in our ranking · Visit CockroachDB →

6. MongoDB

Document database with a managed cloud service · United States

A document database, so the schema and queries change from tables and SQL to JSON-like documents. Atlas has a free 512 MB cluster, Flex up to $30 per month and Dedicated from $56.94. The self-managed Community Edition is under the Server Side Public License.

Switch from Supabase if your data is naturally nested documents and you are willing to leave relational SQL.

Pricing: Atlas Free at $0 (512 MB); Flex up to $30 per month (5 GB); Dedicated from $0.08 per hour, starting at $56.94 per month; Community Edition is free to download. (free plan)

Full review: #4 of 12 in our ranking · Visit MongoDB →

7. Amazon DynamoDB

Serverless NoSQL key-value database from AWS · United States

A serverless key-value and document store inside AWS. It bills per read and write request or per provisioned capacity, plus storage, and a free tier exists. The unit prices render client-side, so we cannot quote them. Joins and ad hoc SQL are not what it is for.

Switch from Supabase if your access patterns are simple key lookups at high volume and you already run on AWS.

Pricing: Billed per read and write request unit on demand, or per provisioned capacity unit per hour, plus storage; a free tier exists. The unit prices render client-side on the page we fetched. (free plan)

Full review: #12 of 12 in our ranking · Visit Amazon DynamoDB →

8. MariaDB

MySQL-compatible open source database with paid platforms · United States

A MySQL-compatible server, so a move from Postgres is a data and syntax migration. Community Server is free under GPL version 2, and the cloud and enterprise products are priced through sales on the pages we fetched. No login, API or storage layer comes with it.

Switch from Supabase if your stack is MySQL-flavored and you want an open source server with paid support available.

Pricing: Community Server is free under GPL version 2; MariaDB Cloud and Enterprise Platform pricing is handled through sales on the pages we fetched. (open source)

Full review: #6 of 12 in our ranking · Visit MariaDB →

9. Redis

In-memory data store for caches, sessions and queues · United States

An in-memory store used for caches, sessions and queues rather than a system of record. Cloud has a free 30 MB tier, Essentials from about $5 per month and Pro with a $200 monthly minimum. It complements a main database more often than it replaces one.

Switch from Supabase if the part of Supabase you use is realtime or session state and you can keep the main data elsewhere.

Pricing: Redis Cloud Free at $0 (30 MB); Essentials from $0.007 per hour (about $5 per month); Pro from $0.014 per hour with a $200 monthly minimum. (free plan)

Full review: #10 of 12 in our ranking · Visit Redis →

10. SQLite

Public domain database library in a single file · United States

An embedded library, not a hosted service: the database is one file inside your application, in the public domain. There is no network server, no dashboard and no authentication. It costs nothing and removes hosting, and it also removes concurrent multi-server access.

Switch from Supabase if you build a single-server or local app and want no database service to pay for.

Pricing: Free, dedicated to the public domain; optional paid support and SQLite Consortium membership are sold by Hwaci. (open source)

Full review: #7 of 12 in our ranking · Visit SQLite →

11. ClickHouse

Column store for real-time analytics at large scale · United States

A column store for analytics, not for app transactions. Cloud bills storage at $25.30 per terabyte-month and compute per unit-hour, with a 30-day trial. It answers questions over huge event tables quickly, and it is a poor home for user rows that change often.

Switch from Supabase if the workload is dashboards and event analytics and Postgres is too slow for it.

Pricing: ClickHouse Cloud Basic and Scale bill storage at $25.30 per TB per month and compute from $0.2181 per unit-hour; 30-day trial with $300 in credits. (free trial)

Full review: #11 of 12 in our ranking · Visit ClickHouse →

When Supabase is still the right choice

Supabase remains the right choice for a small team that wants a Postgres database with login, an API, file storage and realtime in one dashboard, with every plan and compute size published. The core repository is Apache-2.0, backups come daily on paid plans, and the spend cap limits surprises on Pro. If your app uses most of that bundle, moving means rebuilding the parts around the database.

What to expect when you switch from Supabase

  1. Export the database with standard tools

    Supabase's own migration guides use pg_dump and psql, and its terms say you may export customer data at any time through the service. For a database above 6 GB the docs advise at least a Large compute add-on during a move. A Postgres target takes the dump; a document or MySQL target needs a schema rewrite.

  2. Storage files and logins move separately

    Daily backups do not include objects in the Storage API, only their metadata, so files need their own copy. Daily backups also omit passwords for custom roles. User accounts handled by Supabase Auth have to be exported and mapped to the new login system.

  3. Plan the billing end of the move

    Downgrades take effect at once and unused prepaid time becomes credit, not a refund, because the terms make fees non-refundable. Usage is billed in arrears, so a final invoice can follow the downgrade. Deleting a project removes its backups for good, so delete last.

Questions and answers

Can I export my Supabase database?

Yes. The terms say you may export customer data at any time, and the docs use pg_dump and the CLI db dump command. Storage objects are not in the database backup, so copy those separately.

Can I self-host Supabase instead of paying for the cloud?

Yes, with Docker, and the main repository is Apache-2.0. Self-hosting is community-supported, runs a single project, and lacks managed backups, point-in-time recovery, branching and the Management API.

Can I get a refund when I cancel Supabase?

No. The terms say fees are non-refundable, and the billing docs say downgrades produce credits for unused time rather than money back. Cancellation is self-serve and immediate.

What happens to a free Supabase project that sits idle?

It is paused after one week of inactivity. The docs give a one-year window to restore it from Studio. Paid projects are not paused for inactivity.

Does Supabase give notice before changing prices?

Not on the pages we fetched. The terms say fees are those stated by Supabase from time to time, so check the pricing page at each renewal and keep a current dump.

Which alternative keeps my Postgres code unchanged?

Neon, PlanetScale Postgres, CockroachDB (wire compatible) and plain PostgreSQL. MongoDB, Firebase and DynamoDB use other data models and need application changes.

Sources

Prices, plan limits and product facts about Supabase on this page were checked against the vendors' own pages on October 19, 2026. Vendors change both without notice, so treat the figures as of that date.

Who wrote this

Sebastiaan Smits Sebastiaan Smits, Founder, wrote, edited and fact-checked this page. Founder of The Interregnum and of 2 Steps Ahead, an AI search visibility agency. Editorially responsible for every page here; research and drafting are AI-assisted. Last reviewed October 19, 2026. How we review.