Supabase
Postgres with auth, APIs, storage and functions on top, and open source

1/2Supabase is a backend platform built on Postgres: every project is a full Postgres database, with the pieces most applications need layered on top rather than assembled separately — authentication enforced by Row Level Security, instant REST and realtime APIs generated from your schema, file storage, Edge Functions and vector embeddings. The dashboard carries a table editor, a SQL editor and a policy editor over that same database, so schema work and queries happen in the browser rather than in a separate client. It is open source and can be self-hosted, and the free tier runs two projects on a 500 MB database, though free projects pause after a week of inactivity.
- Every project is a full Postgres database, portable and extensible
- Authentication with Row Level Security enforced in the database
- Instant REST and realtime APIs generated from your schema
- Edge Functions for custom code with no servers to deploy or scale
- File storage for images, video and other large files
- Vector storage, indexing and search for embeddings
- Table editor, SQL editor and RLS policy editor in the dashboard
- Open source and self-hostable, with branching for schema changes
Based on what people have said
Every answer links back to the mentions it came fromWhat are the common pitfalls when securing data in Supabase?
Users report that data leaks often stem from misconfigured Row Level Security (RLS) policies, such as forgetting to apply them to child tables or using overly permissive settings. Additionally, some warn that the service_role key bypasses all RLS policies and can cause security issues if accidentally included in client-side code.
5 mentions · r/buildinpublic · r/Supabase · r/Supabase · r/Supabase · Aug 2026 – Sep 2026
How does Supabase perform for larger projects or high-scale needs?
Experiences vary; while some find it capable of handling production marketplaces, others report hitting CPU and concurrency limits on the free tier. Some users have encountered performance bottlenecks with storage at scale, and others note that the platform's free tier projects pause after periods of inactivity.
6 mentions · r/Supabase · r/lovable · r/Supabase · r/Supabase · @lucamaraschi · Aug 2026 – Sep 2026
Is it better to use the managed cloud service or self-host?
Opinions are divided. Some users prefer the managed cloud for convenience and to avoid the complexity of self-hosting, while others consider self-hosting to gain more control or to avoid managed plan limits. However, some warn that self-hosting requires significant sysadmin expertise to avoid security misconfigurations.
7 mentions · r/Supabase · r/aws · r/lovable · r/webdev · Aug 2026 – Sep 2026
What do people say about Supabase's reliability and support?
Some users report frustration with occasional outages and slow support response times, particularly regarding billing issues. Others note that many perceived reliability problems are actually related to underlying infrastructure providers like AWS or user-side configuration errors rather than the platform itself.
8 mentions · r/Supabase · r/Supabase · r/webdev · Hacker News · Aug 2026 – Sep 2026
How does Supabase compare to other backend-as-a-service options?
It is frequently compared to Firebase, Appwrite, and Xano. Some users find Supabase preferable for its Postgres foundation and control, while others suggest alternatives like Pocketbase for simpler needs or Convex for newer projects. Some users also note that for very simple internal tools, built-in database options in frontend builders might be sufficient.
6 mentions · r/hackathon · r/webdev · r/nocode · @omkarships · @jamesdevonport · Aug 2026
These summarise counts and dates only. Read the quotes themselves under what people are saying.
What people are saying about Supabase
47% neutral“I build a Supabase security skill for Claude, and now I built its read-only MCP server (open source)”
“our Supabase dashboard can silently drift from your migrations. I built an open-source CI check for it”
“That's a solid stack switch, Cloudflare and Supabase direct gives you way more control than the default Lovable setup especially once health data gets involved.”
“I moved the full app to Cloudflare and used Supabase as the database, but this time I was connecting to Supabase directly and had control over the setup.”
“The extra charge is per supabase project, not per website. I'd keep the backend there and choose frontend hosting separately.”
“Increasingly thankful for Supabase. Their incredibly insecure defaults make data collection so easy :)”
“Am good fan of supabase but check out neo once. They opened storage recently with 5gb”
“Does anybody know a workaround or why I can't copy anything to clipboard from Supabase? Can't get my API keys, can't copy rows, can't get URL, can't do anything”
“Supabase is the backend (Postgres, Auth, Storage, Edge Functions). Your Next/static sites still go on Vercel, Cloudflare Pages, Netlify, or a VPS. People sometimes host a tiny static page from Storage, but that is not a real multi-site frontend setup.”
“Supabase pro is $25 per project. If you want pro features, you need to pay $25 for each project.”
“Je serais toi je prendrais Supabase en self-host dockerisé. Tu prends un petit VPS et adieu les limites (même du pro).”
“you've got it right, Supabase is backend only, frontend still needs Vercel/Netlify/Cloudflare regardless of plan.”
“My understanding is that Supabase handles the backend (database, auth, storage, edge functions) but doesn't host the websites themselves, so the frontends would still need to live somewhere like Vercel, Netlify or Cloudflare. Did I get that right, or is anyone here serving full sites straight from Supabase?”
“Verifying RLS is enabled for every table in a Supabase project”
“start with Supabase unless you already know you want to manage the whole stack yourself.”
“use supabase but keep it behind your own interfaces, so the app talks to your auth/data/storage layer and supabase is just the provider underneath. thats how i do it.”
“The main issue that I have is the pricing when it comes to scalability because if my app reaches 150k, Supabase becomes really expensive and it is a pain to move everything later. So, should I use it anyways or self host it on a VPS that will be cheaper?”
“Clerk vs Supabase auth is honestly the least interesting part of this, the org/membership DIY is where the actual pain lives and you skipped right past it”
“\- Auth pricing is attractive vs Clerk/Auth0 at scale”
“Supabase is Postgres with useful things bolted around it, and if you ever outgrow the platform the data can move.”
“Supabase will handle it fine if you route through the pooler (Supavisor) rather than a connection per request, and put your indexes and RLS policies on the seller and product tables from day one, retrofitting row level security once sellers are writing real data is genuinely painful.”
“I liked supabase as it saved me a lot of effort tbh as a solo developer”
“The only things I still use the supabase sdk for is user management, which, to my current knowledge, is the best way to manage users still. Supabase doesn't want us touching the user namespace in postgres so that they can make improvements without breaking application code.”
“The part that actually hurts is auth and storage, and most people using Supabase for those probably shouldn't be.”
“this is why you shouldn't use Supabase SDK and use a ORM and treat it like a Postgres instance on any VPS.”