Is Supabase worth the price?
Supabase is the open-source Firebase alternative that developers actually want to use — Postgres database, authentication, storage, edge functions, and real-time subscriptions in one platform.
The Free tier (2 projects, 500MB database, 50K MAUs) is enough to build and launch an MVP. Pro at $25/mo is where production starts: 8GB database, 100K MAUs, and usage-based overages that keep costs predictable for small-to-medium apps.
Most production apps pay $35-75/mo on Pro — genuinely cheap for a managed Postgres + auth + storage platform. The Team plan at $599/mo is steep but adds SOC 2 compliance, priority support, and daily backups.
The biggest gotcha: free projects pause after 7 days of inactivity, and egress charges ($0.09/GB) can surprise high-traffic apps.
Pricing Plans
Free
Free
- Unlimited API requests
- 50,000 monthly active users
- 500 MB database size
- 5 GB egress
- 1 GB file storage
- Community support
- Max 2 active projects
Pro
$25/month
- 100,000 MAUs included
- 8 GB database
- 250 GB egress
- 100 GB file storage
- Email support
- 7-day automatic backups
- $10 compute credits
Team
$599/month
- Everything in Pro
- SOC2 certification
- HIPAA add-on available
- SSO for dashboard
- Priority email support
- 14-day backup retention
Enterprise
Custom
- Designated support manager
- Uptime SLAs
- BYO Cloud
- 24x7 support
- Custom security
Hidden Costs & Gotchas
Free projects pause after 7 days of inactivity
your app goes offline until someone visits it again. Not suitable for any production use — only for development and demos
Database egress at $0.09/GB adds up
an app serving 100GB/mo of database reads pays $9/mo in egress. Apps with heavy API traffic or large dataset queries can see $50-200/mo in egress alone
MAU pricing on Pro
100K MAUs included, then $0.00325/MAU. An app with 500K MAUs pays $25 (base) + $1,300 (400K overage MAUs) = $1,325/mo — not the $25 headline price
File storage egress
$0.09/GB on Pro. An app serving 500GB/mo of images or files pays $45/mo in storage egress on top of the base plan
Realtime connections are limited
Free gets 200 concurrent, Pro gets 500. High-traffic real-time apps (chat, collaboration) need Team ($599/mo) for higher connection limits
Edge Function invocations
Free gets 500K/mo, Pro gets 2M. Overages at $2/1M. An app making 10M edge function calls/mo pays $16/mo extra
Compute add-ons for larger database instances
the Pro plan includes a shared instance. Dedicated compute starts at $5/mo (small) to $1,200/mo (16XL). Production apps with heavy queries need dedicated compute
Branching (preview environments) costs $0.32/hour per branch with a Compute Add-On. Running 5 preview branches 8 hours/day: $256/mo extra
How Supabase Compares
SaaS app with 50K MAUs, 20GB database, 200GB storage, 12 months
Which Plan Do You Need?
500MB Postgres database, 50K MAUs, 1GB file storage, Edge Functions, real-time subscriptions. Enough to build and launch a product. Projects pause after 7 days of inactivity (wake on request).
8GB database, 100K MAUs, 100GB file storage, daily backups (7 days), no project pausing. Usage-based overages mean you only pay for what you use. Most apps stay under $75/mo.
SOC 2 compliance, priority support, daily backups (14 days), org-level billing, read replicas, and PITR (point-in-time recovery). Required for B2B SaaS handling sensitive data.
HIPAA compliance, 99.9%+ SLA, dedicated support, custom instance sizes, VPC peering. For healthcare, finance, and regulated industries.
Our Recommendation
Worth it if...
You want a managed Postgres backend with auth, storage, and edge functions in one platform — and you value the open-source foundation that means you can self-host or migrate anytime. Pro at $25/mo is exceptional value for what you get. The developer experience (dashboard, SQL editor, type generation) is best-in-class among BaaS platforms.
Skip if...
You need NoSQL/document database (use Firebase or MongoDB Atlas), your app is mobile-first with offline sync requirements (Firebase is better), or you only need a database without auth/storage (Neon is cheaper). Also reconsider the Team plan ($599/mo) — it is a steep jump from Pro ($25/mo) and many teams stay on Pro while self-managing SOC 2 compliance through other means.
Negotiation tips
Enterprise pricing is negotiable. Key levers: annual commitment, higher compute tiers, and multi-product bundling. Startups in Y Combinator, Techstars, or similar programs get Supabase credits through partner programs. The Pro-to-Team jump is not negotiable — there is no mid-tier option between $25 and $599.
Team Cost Scenario
Team of 3, 12 months: SaaS startup with 50K MAUs, 20GB database, 200GB file storage. Pro plan with compute add-on.
| pro Plan | Pro base: $25/mo = $300/yr |
| mau Overage | 50K MAUs within included limit = $0 |
| compute Addon | Small dedicated compute: $5/mo = $60/yr |
| egress Overage | ~100GB/mo database + storage egress = ~$9/mo = $108/yr |
| storage Overage | 200GB - 100GB included = 100GB × $0.021 = $2.10/mo = $25/yr |
| database Overage | 20GB - 8GB included = 12GB × $0.125 = $1.50/mo = $18/yr |
| Annual Total | $511/yr ($42.60/mo) — remarkably cheap for managed Postgres + auth + storage + edge functions |
Overage & Usage Pricing
maus
$0.00325/MAU beyond included (Free: 50K, Pro: 100K)
database
$0.125/GB-month beyond included (Free: 500MB, Pro: 8GB)
branching
$0.32/hour per branch with Compute Add-On
file Storage
$0.021/GB-month beyond included (Free: 1GB, Pro: 100GB)
compute Addons
$5/mo (Small) to $1,200/mo (16XL) for dedicated database compute
edge Functions
$2/1M invocations beyond included (Free: 500K, Pro: 2M)
storage Egress
$0.09/GB beyond included (Free: 5GB, Pro: 200GB)
database Egress
$0.09/GB beyond included (Free: 5GB, Pro: 50GB)
realtime Connections
Free: 200, Pro: 500, Team: higher. No per-connection overage
Recent Pricing Changes
2024-2026
Supabase kept the $25/mo Pro pricing stable since launch. The Team plan was introduced in 2024 at $599/mo to fill the gap between Pro and Enterprise.
Free tier limits were tightened: project pausing after 7 days was introduced, and the 2-project limit was enforced (previously more relaxed). Compute Add-Ons were restructured with clearer instance sizing.
Branching (preview environments) was added in 2024-2025 with per-hour pricing. The overall trend: base prices stable, more features and infrastructure options added at usage-based rates.
How Supabase Compares to Competitors
Firebase (Spark free, Blaze pay-as-you-go) is the direct competitor as a backend-as-a-service. Firebase uses NoSQL (Firestore) vs Supabase's Postgres — a fundamental architectural difference. Firebase's free tier is more generous for small apps, but costs escalate faster at scale. Supabase wins on: SQL (Postgres), open source, data portability, and self-hosting option. Firebase wins on: real-time sync, mobile SDKs, and Google ecosystem integration. PlanetScale ($0 free, $39/mo Scaler) is a managed MySQL alternative. Better for MySQL-native teams. PlanetScale's branching and schema change workflow is more mature. But PlanetScale is database-only — no auth, no storage, no edge functions. Supabase is a full backend platform.
Neon ($0 free, $19/mo Launch, $69/mo Scale) is the closest database-specific competitor — serverless Postgres with branching and auto-scaling. Neon is cheaper for database-only needs and has true scale-to-zero. But Neon doesn't include auth, storage, or edge functions. Choose Neon if you only need a database; Supabase if you need a full backend.
Appwrite (open source, free self-hosted, Cloud free tier) is another open-source BaaS alternative. Similar feature set (database, auth, storage, functions) but uses a document database instead of Postgres. Less mature but completely free when self-hosted.
Supabase Pricing FAQ
How much does Supabase cost?
Supabase starts at $25/month on the Pro plan. It offers 2 paid tiers ranging from $25/month up to $599/month. A free plan is also available with limited features.
Does Supabase have a free plan?
Yes. Supabase offers a free plan called "Free". It includes: Unlimited API requests, 50,000 monthly active users, 500 MB database size.
What is the cheapest Supabase paid plan?
The cheapest paid plan for Supabase is "Pro" at $25/month. Key features include: 100,000 MAUs included, 8 GB database, 250 GB egress.
Is there a cheaper alternative to Supabase?
Yes. Popular alternatives to Supabase include Firebase, AWS Amplify, Appwrite, Pocketbase. Free alternatives include Firebase, AWS Amplify, Appwrite. Compare them side-by-side on Toolradar.
Cheaper alternatives to Supabase
4 of 6 direct competitors below offer a free plan. Per-seat pricing varies up to 60% across this set.
