head to head

Supabase (hosted) vs Directus

Directus is the open source alternative to Supabase (hosted) — firebase alternative with postgres, auth, and storage. Here is the honest comparison.

Yes — Directus is a viable free replacement for Supabase (hosted). Directus is open source under its own open-source terms, written in TypeScript, with 37,947 GitHub stars, 4,944 forks and 402 open issues; it was last pushed 3 hours ago. Supabase (hosted) costs from $25, while self-hosting Directus carries no licence fee — the trade is your operational time instead of a subscription. 3 other open source Supabase (hosted) alternatives are tracked here, led by Supabase at 109,900 stars. Directus ranks #4 of 4 tracked open source Supabase (hosted) alternatives by stars. The tracked set, by adoption: Supabase (109,900 stars), PocketBase (61,070 stars), Appwrite (57,400 stars). Replacement criteria on this page: 4 reasons to move to Directus and 3 reasons to stay on Supabase (hosted).

Directus stars ★ 38K license Custom / other self-host yes Supabase (hosted) pricing $25-$599/month

choose Directus if

  • Your Supabase (hosted) bill is growing with seats or usage
  • You need your data in a format and server you control
  • Your compliance posture requires auditing the code that touches sensitive data
  • You have (or can rent) a server and basic Docker comfort

full Directus profile →

stick with Supabase (hosted) if

  • You need the polished onboarding and support SLAs of a commercial vendor
  • Your team has zero capacity to operate software, even self-hosted-simple
  • You depend on a Supabase (hosted) integration ecosystem that the OSS alternatives have not replicated

Side by side

Directus (open source) Supabase (hosted)
Price Free (self-hosted) $25-$599/month
License Custom / other Proprietary
Source code Public, auditable Closed
Self-hosting Yes — directus/directus Cloud only
Data ownership Your server, your format Vendor's cloud
Community ★ 38K · ⑂ 4.9K
Built with TypeScript

Why people look for a Supabase (hosted) alternative

Supabase is open source (self-hostable) but the hosted Pro plan at $25/month caps at 8GB database. Team plan at $599/month adds SOC2 compliance. Self-hosting requires significant DevOps investment.

About Directus

Directus is an open source data platform that wraps any SQL database with a REST and GraphQL API layer and a visual management interface. It lives in the developer tools and frameworks ecosystem, specifically targeting teams needing a flexible backend for content management, admin panels, or custom applications without writing boilerplate code.

read the full Directus overview →

Other open source alternatives to Supabase (hosted)

Supabase ★ 110K PocketBase ★ 61K Appwrite ★ 57K

last updated nightly · ranking method: github stars, live-tracked

Frequently asked questions

Is Directus a good replacement for Supabase (hosted)?

Directus is an open source alternative to Supabase (hosted) (Firebase alternative with Postgres, auth, and storage). It is written in TypeScript and licensed under its own terms, with 37,947 GitHub stars.

Is Directus free compared to Supabase (hosted)?

Yes. Directus is open source — there is no licence fee, and you can self-host it. Supabase (hosted) is typically a paid subscription, so the trade-off is licence cost against the operational work of running it yourself.

How do I migrate from Supabase (hosted) to Directus?

Migration effort depends on the data formats involved. Check Directus's documentation for import options, and compare the feature table above to confirm the capabilities you depend on are covered before switching.