10 Best PocketBase Alternatives & Competitors (2026)

Hasura auto-generates GraphQL APIs over Postgres and other sources with strong authorization rules. It excels at GraphQL but does not include Supabase-style Edge Functions, Storage, or Realtime subscriptions in the same integrated way. Hasura is preferred when GraphQL is the required API paradigm.

Firebase is Google's backend platform centered on Firestore and Realtime Database rather than Postgres. It offers strong mobile SDKs, serverless functions, and hosting but uses a NoSQL model that requires data restructuring for relational use cases. Supabase appeals to teams wanting standard SQL and easy migrations, while Firebase suits projects already inside Google Cloud that prioritize Firestore scalability over relational integrity.

Render offers managed Postgres, web services, and static sites with simple deployment. It provides the database but leaves auth, realtime, and APIs to additional tools, unlike Supabase's integrated developer platform. Render is considered when teams already host other workloads on the same PaaS.

PlanetScale provides serverless MySQL with branching and deploy requests, targeting teams that need MySQL instead of Postgres. It lacks built-in auth and realtime out of the box, requiring extra services, whereas Supabase bundles Postgres, RLS auth, and realtime in one platform. PlanetScale is chosen when MySQL tooling or Vitess scaling is mandatory.

Neon delivers serverless Postgres with instant branching and scale-to-zero. It focuses on the database layer and leaves auth, storage, and functions to other tools, unlike Supabase's all-in-one Postgres platform. Neon is often evaluated by developers who want Postgres but prefer separate services for authentication and realtime.

Appwrite is an open-source backend that can run self-hosted or via its cloud, offering databases, auth, storage, and functions. It supports multiple databases but does not center on a managed Postgres instance with RLS like Supabase. Teams choose Appwrite for full self-hosting control or when they want a broader set of non-Postgres storage engines.

MongoDB Atlas is a fully managed document database with strong search and vector capabilities. It lacks native relational joins and Postgres compatibility, so teams needing SQL or easy Postgres migrations typically prefer Supabase. Atlas is selected when flexible JSON schemas and global distribution are priorities.

Fauna is a serverless document-relational database with its own query language and built-in auth. It removes infrastructure management but requires learning FQL instead of standard SQL. Supabase is favored by teams that want to stay with Postgres and leverage existing SQL skills and extensions.