Supabase is an open-source, Apache-2.0 licensed Postgres development platform that bundles a dedicated Postgres database with authentication, auto-generated APIs, realtime subscriptions, file storage, and edge functions for developers building web, mobile, and AI applications.

What it is

Supabase is a combination of enterprise-grade open source tools assembled into a single backend platform. The project describes its goal as building the features of Firebase using open source products: where an MIT, Apache 2, or equivalent licence exists in the ecosystem, Supabase adopts and supports that tool, and where one does not exist, the project builds and open sources it. The stack is written primarily in TypeScript and lives in the Postgres and JavaScript ecosystem, with modular client libraries implemented per language.

The concrete problem it solves is backend assembly. Building an application normally means wiring together a REST or GraphQL layer, a JWT-based authentication service with sign-ups, logins, and session management, a websocket channel for database change notifications, and a file storage service with its own permission model. Supabase replaces that assembly work with pre-integrated components that all sit on one Postgres database, so authorization rules and application data live in the same place. The specific thing it replaces is Firebase, which the README names directly as the product whose developer experience Supabase aims to reproduce on open source foundations.

Key capabilities

• Hosted Postgres database as the single data store, with a web dashboard for administration.
• Auto-generated APIs, covering REST through PostgREST and GraphQL through the pg_graphql PostgreSQL extension.
• Authentication and authorization through GoTrue, a JWT-based authentication API for sign-ups, logins, and session management.
• Realtime subscriptions via the Realtime server, an Elixir service that polls Postgres replication, converts inserts, updates, and deletes to JSON, and broadcasts them over websockets to authorized clients.
• File storage through a RESTful API that manages files in S3 while Postgres handles permissions.
• Functions in two forms: database functions inside Postgres and Edge Functions on Deno.
• AI and vector/embeddings toolkit, supported by the pgvector and Postgis topics listed for the repository.
• postgres-meta, a RESTful API for managing Postgres that can fetch tables, add roles, and run queries, with Envoy serving as the edge and service proxy.

Who uses it and how

• Application teams building web and mobile products on Next.js and similar frameworks who want Firebase-style development speed while keeping their data in Postgres.
• AI application builders who need embeddings and vector search, using the pgvector extension and the AI toolkit alongside the same database that holds application records.
• Self-hosting teams running the full stack on their own infrastructure rather than the hosted platform.
• Organizations with production database and infrastructure problems, which the README routes to a dedicated business support channel, while general build questions and database best practices go to the community forum and Discord.
• Developers who run the whole platform locally during development before deploying.

Getting started

Sign up on the hosted platform at supabase.com/dashboard and start without installing anything, or follow the self-hosting guide and the local development guide to run the stack yourself.

How it compares

The registry positions this project as the open alternative to Supabase (hosted): same platform capabilities, but under Apache-2.0 with the source available, so a team can run it on its own infrastructure and keep control of its data. The hosted offering removes that operational burden and is documented as the path that requires no installation, which makes it the faster route for teams without infrastructure capacity. The trade is between licensing and data ownership on one side and managed convenience on the other.

When to use it — and when not to

Self-hosting means operating a multi-service stack: Postgres, the Realtime Elixir server, GoTrue, the storage API with its S3 dependency, PostgREST, postgres-meta, and Envoy as the proxy, so a team without ops capacity should take the hosted path instead. The repository carries 1,128 open issues, and the README excerpt is thin on in-repo setup, pointing readers to external documentation and a separate developers guide for contribution. Anyone who wants a backend without running or paying for a Postgres-based platform should look elsewhere.