supabase

The Postgres development platform. Supabase gives you a dedicated Postgres database to build your web, mobile, and AI applications.

⭐ 101,848 stars on GitHub · 🍴 12,294 forks · 📜 License: apache-2.0 · 💻 Language: TypeScript

What is supabase?

A Firebase-style backend with Postgres at the center, Supabase gives you the speed of a managed app platform without forcing you into a proprietary database model. Its differentiator is simple: you get auth, APIs, realtime, storage, functions, and vector search built around standard PostgreSQL.

Main components

• Dedicated PostgreSQL database for web, mobile, and AI application backends
• Built-in authentication and authorization using JWT-based GoTrue
• Auto-generated REST APIs through PostgREST
• GraphQL API support via the pg_graphql PostgreSQL extension
• Realtime subscriptions for Postgres inserts, updates, and deletes over WebSockets
• File storage API with Postgres-backed permissions and S3-compatible storage workflows
• Edge Functions and database functions for server-side logic
• Dashboard and metadata APIs for managing schemas, roles, queries, and project configuration
• AI and embeddings toolkit using Postgres vector capabilities

Clear use cases

• Build a SaaS backend with Postgres, user auth, file uploads, and instant APIs
• Replace Firebase for apps that need SQL, relational data modeling, and stronger data portability
• Ship a mobile or web app quickly without writing a custom CRUD API layer
• Add realtime collaboration, dashboards, notifications, or live activity feeds on top of Postgres
• Prototype AI features such as semantic search, recommendations, or RAG pipelines using embeddings
• Run a local development stack that mirrors production and can be self-hosted when needed

The biggest strength is Postgres-first developer velocity — Supabase wraps mature open source components into a cohesive platform while keeping your data in a database you can inspect, tune, migrate, and operate independently. Compared with commercial backend-as-a-service platforms, the value is not just lower lock-in; it is that your core application model stays in PostgreSQL instead of being reshaped around a vendor-specific document store or opaque API layer.

Supabase is not the lightest thing to self-host, and teams should expect to operate several moving parts: Postgres, Realtime, Auth, Storage, Kong, functions, and the dashboard. But that complexity buys you a serious backend platform rather than a toy starter kit. For teams already comfortable with containers, SQL, migrations, and infrastructure monitoring, self-hosting Supabase can provide a strong balance between fast product development and long-term architectural control.

Best for product teams, full-stack developers, and platform engineers who want a Firebase-like experience while keeping PostgreSQL, open source infrastructure, and self-hosting options at the core.

Topics: the project is tagged with popular topics:

• 🏷️ ai
• 🏷️ alternative
• 🏷️ auth
• 🏷️ database
• 🏷️ deno
• 🏷️ embeddings
• 🏷️ example
• 🏷️ firebase
• 🏷️ nextjs
• 🏷️ oauth2

📸 Screenshots

Quick install

See the README for detailed install instructions. Most projects support Docker — if the repo has a Dockerfile, use:

git clone https://github.com/supabase/supabase.git
cd supabase
docker build -t supabase .
docker run -d -p 8080:8080 supabase

Minimum system requirements

⚡ Deploy fast on VSIS

Use the VSIS VPS Standard 4GB RAM / 2 vCPU / 50GB SSD (~150k/tháng) plan from VSIS.NET — high-speed VN-based VPS, 24/7 support, ideal for running supabase smoothly.

🎯 Benefits:

• One-command docker compose up -d deploy in 2 minutes
• Dedicated IPv4, root access, unmetered domestic bandwidth
• Daily snapshot backup
• Free install assistance from the VSIS team

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Resources

• 🔗 GitHub: supabase/supabase
• 🌐 Homepage: https://supabase.com
• 📚 Official docs: see README in the repo
• 💬 Community: GitHub Issues + Discussions

Article compiled from GitHub data on 05/05/2026. Star/fork counts may have changed — see live numbers via the GitHub link.