Supabase
by Supabase Inc
Open-source Firebase alternative with PostgreSQL, auth, Edge Functions, and vector embeddings Supabase is an open-source application backend that packages a managed PostgreSQL database with built-in authentication, object storage, realtime subscriptions, edge functions, and vector search. Founded in 2020 by Paul Copplestone and Ant Wilson, the company is the most prominent Postgres-first alternative to Firebase, positioning around "every project starts with a Postgres database" rather than treating the database as a peripheral concern.
Performance Scores
1 ranking evaluated
Score range: 6.5 – 6.5
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#7Best Spreadsheet & Data Automation Tools 2026
Score: 6.5 · Best for: Developer teams replacing spreadsheet-based workflows with a proper relational database backend
Key Facts
pricing
| Attribute | Value | As of | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| Free tier (May 2026) | 500 MB Postgres, 50K monthly active users, 1 GB storage, 5 GB egress (paused after 7-day inactivity) | May 2026 | Supabase pricing page |
business
| Attribute | Value | As of | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| Last disclosed valuation | $2B valuation, $80M Series C (April 2024, Felicis Ventures led) | May 2026 | Supabase Series C announcement |
community
| Attribute | Value | As of | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars (May 2026) | 78,000+ stars on the supabase/supabase repository | May 2026 | Supabase GitHub repository |
General
| Attribute | Value | As of | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| GitHub Stars | 78,000+ | May 2026 | GitHub |
| Database | PostgreSQL (full SQL support, extensions, Row Level Security) | May 2026 | Documentation |
| Edge Functions | Deno-based Edge Functions for serverless automation logic | May 2026 | Documentation |
| AI/Vectors | pgvector extension for AI/ML vector similarity search | May 2026 | Documentation |
| Realtime | Realtime pub/sub via WebSockets for database change streams | May 2026 | Documentation |
| Free Tier | Free: 500MB database, 1GB storage, 50,000 monthly active users | May 2026 | Official Website |
| Funding | $116M total funding (Series B, 2022) | May 2026 | Company Blog |
| License | Apache 2.0 (self-hostable via Docker) | May 2026 | GitHub |
| Auth | 30+ OAuth providers, email/password, phone, magic link | May 2026 | Documentation |
| Storage | S3-compatible object storage with CDN and image transformations | May 2026 | Documentation |
Strengths
- ●Open-source with self-hosting option
- ●Real-time subscriptions for live data updates
- ●PostgreSQL foundation provides full SQL power
Limitations
- ●Requires technical setup — not a drop-in spreadsheet replacement
- ●No built-in visual spreadsheet interface
- ●Edge function complexity for non-developers
Based on evaluations in 1 ranking: Best Spreadsheet & Data Automation Tools 2026
Pricing Plans
Free
- ✓500MB database
- ✓1GB storage
- ✓50,000 monthly active users
- ✓Edge Functions
- ✓Realtime subscriptions
- ✓Community support
- !500MB DB
- !1GB storage
- !50K MAU
Pro
$25/mo per project
- ✓8GB database
- ✓100GB storage
- ✓100,000 monthly active users
- ✓Daily backups
- ✓Email support
- ✓No project pausing
- !8GB DB
- !100GB storage
Team
$599/mo per organization
- ✓Unlimited database size
- ✓200GB storage
- ✓SOC 2 Type II
- ✓Priority support
- ✓SSO/SAML
- ✓Role-based access
- ✓28-day log retention
- !200GB storage (expandable)
Enterprise
Custom pricing
- ✓Dedicated infrastructure
- ✓Custom SLA
- ✓Unlimited storage
- ✓Premium support with SLA
- ✓Custom contracts
- ✓Data residency options
- !Custom
About Supabase
Supabase is an open-source application backend that packages a managed PostgreSQL database with built-in authentication, object storage, realtime subscriptions, edge functions, and vector search. Founded in 2020 by Paul Copplestone and Ant Wilson, the company is the most prominent Postgres-first alternative to Firebase, positioning around "every project starts with a Postgres database" rather than treating the database as a peripheral concern. The core repository on GitHub passed 78,000 stars in May 2026, ranking it among the most-starred developer tools published in the last five years.
The platform stitches together best-of-breed open-source components rather than building a single proprietary stack: PostgreSQL handles persistence, GoTrue handles auth (JWT-based with email, OAuth, magic links, MFA, and SSO), PostgREST exposes Postgres as an instant REST API, Realtime broadcasts WAL changes as websocket events, and Edge Functions runs Deno-based TypeScript at the edge for serverless compute. Storage uses S3-compatible buckets with row-level-security policies enforced through Postgres. Each component runs as a separate service inside the Supabase Cloud platform and is open-source under the Apache 2.0 or MIT license depending on the project.
Supabase Cloud is a managed offering with a free tier (500 MB Postgres, 50,000 monthly active users for auth, 1 GB storage, 5 GB egress, paused after 7 days inactivity) and paid plans starting at $25/month for Pro. The company raised a $80M Series C in April 2024 led by Felicis Ventures at a reported $2B valuation, following a $80M Series B in 2022. Investors include Coatue, Felicis, Founders Fund, Y Combinator, and Lightspeed. The company has stated public goals of profitability and has continued to expand the Edge Functions and AI/vector products through 2024-2026.
In 2024-2025 Supabase added pgvector-based vector search to the default Postgres extensions list, positioning the platform as a default substrate for retrieval-augmented generation (RAG) workloads alongside its general application-backend use case. The 2025 Supabase AI roadmap added embedding generation and a managed AI inference layer, putting it more directly into competition with hosted LLM-integration platforms.
flowchart LR
A[Client SDK] -->|REST or Realtime| B[Supabase Edge Gateway]
B --> C[GoTrue Auth]
B --> D[PostgREST API]
B --> E[Realtime WebSocket]
B --> F[Storage S3]
B --> G[Edge Functions Deno]
D --> H[(Postgres + RLS)]
E --> H
C --> H
F --> H
H --> I[pgvector for RAG]
Editor's Note: Across 6 ShadowGen Supabase deployments in 2024-26, the row-level-security (RLS) policy layer is where 80% of the time goes on day one and where 100% of the production bugs live in month one. The pattern that works: write a single
auth.uid() = user_idpolicy first, ship traffic against it, and only add finer-grained policies (organisation membership, role-based filters) once the simpler policy is in production. The most-overlooked Supabase Cloud bill driver in our experience: pgvector index size on RAG projects, which can outgrow the row data 3-5x and trigger Pro-to-Team upgrade earlier than capacity planning assumed. — Rafal Fila, ShadowGen
Integrations (8)
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Questions About Supabase
What are the Supabase free tier limits in 2026?
As of May 2026, the Supabase free tier includes 500 MB database storage, 1 GB file storage, 5 GB bandwidth, 50,000 monthly active users, two free projects, unlimited API requests within those limits, and 7-day log retention. Projects are paused after one week of inactivity on the free tier.
How to set up Supabase Edge Functions for AI workloads
Create the function with `supabase functions new ai-handler`, write a Deno handler that reads the user JWT, calls a model provider, and writes results back via the Supabase client with row-level security. Deploy with `supabase functions deploy ai-handler` and call from the frontend using `supabase.functions.invoke()` with the user's session token.
What is pgvector in Supabase?
pgvector is an open-source Postgres extension that adds a `vector` column type and similarity search operators (cosine, L2, inner product) for high-dimensional embeddings. Supabase enables pgvector with a single SQL command and as of May 2026 supports both IVFFlat and HNSW indexes for sub-100ms similarity search inside the same database that holds application data.
Best AI app builders for non-developers 2026
For non-developers building AI apps in 2026, the leading low-code platforms are Bardeen, Lindy, Gumloop, Relevance AI, and n8n on the workflow side, with Retool and Supabase as the closest "no-code adjacent" options for builders willing to write a small amount of SQL or JavaScript.
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Supabase + Vercel AI App Stack 2026: Auth, RLS, pgvector, Edge Functions
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Supabase (2020) is an open-source Postgres backend with pgvector, RLS, and self-host options from $25/month Pro. Firebase (2014, Google) is a proprietary NoSQL platform with Firestore and tight GCP integration. This 2026 comparison covers hosting, data model, AI/vector support, pricing, and vendor lock-in.