Same developer‑loved Postgres & Studio experience—delivered in your cloud with enterprise RBAC, instant cloning, and Git‑style branching.
Compare terms faster with the Glossary.
Supabase is an open-source Firebase alternative built on PostgreSQL. It combines vanilla Postgres with PostgREST (auto-generated REST/GraphQL API), GoTrue (authentication), Realtime (WebSocket subscriptions), and an S3-compatible file storage layer. The managed cloud service starts free with 500 MB database storage, 5 GB bandwidth, and 2 active projects. The Pro plan costs $25/month per organization (8 GB database, 7-day PITR, custom compute add-ons from $10/month). The Team plan runs $599/month with SSO and priority support. Enterprise pricing is custom.
Self-hosting Supabase (github.com/supabase/supabase) means running approximately 7 services: PostgreSQL, PostgREST, GoTrue, Realtime, Storage API, Studio dashboard, and Kong API gateway. Docker Compose is the recommended self-hosted path; Kubernetes support is community-maintained. Self-hosting eliminates SaaS fees but requires your team to manage upgrades, HA, backups, and monitoring across all services.
Teams look for Supabase alternatives when they need capabilities Supabase OSS doesn't include: instant database cloning (Supabase branches provision new empty databases, not copy-on-write snapshots), BYOC with a managed control plane (self-hosted Supabase requires full ops ownership), or enterprise org-wide RBAC beyond what Supabase's project-level permissions offer. See the full Supabase pricing breakdown and self-hosting comparison below.
What changes when you bring Supabase OSS‑style Postgres into your cloud
Keep data in your account and region. Simplify residency and compliance.
Copy‑on‑write clones let CI & QA test on production‑like data in seconds.
Org‑wide roles, SSO, quotas, and guardrails for large teams.
See how Vela compares across what matters
Current pricing for Supabase's managed cloud service
| Plan | Price | Database | Bandwidth | Projects | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Free | $0/mo | 500 MB | 5 GB/mo | 2 active | Pauses after 1 week inactivity · 50K MAU · 500K Edge Function calls |
| Pro | $25/mo per org | 8 GB | 100 GB/mo | Unlimited | 7-day PITR · no pausing · dedicated compute from $10/mo add-on |
| Team | $599/mo | Custom | Custom | Unlimited | SSO · priority support · advanced security · SOC 2 Type II |
| Enterprise | Custom | Custom | Custom | Unlimited | Dedicated infrastructure · SLA · custom contracts · HIPAA/BAA available |
Supabase free tier limits: 500 MB database · 5 GB bandwidth/month · 2 active projects · 50K monthly active users · projects pause after 1 week of inactivity. Not suitable for production without upgrading to Pro ($25/mo).
Supabase is fully open source and self-hostable — here's what that looks like in practice
| Aspect | Supabase OSS (self-hosted) | Vela (BYOC) |
|---|---|---|
| Deployment method | Docker Compose (recommended), Kubernetes (community-supported) | Kubernetes-native with managed control plane |
| Components to run | PostgreSQL, PostgREST, GoTrue (Auth), Realtime, Storage API, Studio, Kong gateway | PostgreSQL cluster with built-in control plane; Studio included |
| Branching / cloning | Not included in OSS; each environment is a separate project | Copy-on-write instant cloning; unlimited branches |
| Operational overhead | High — managing 7+ services, migrations, upgrades independently | Managed by Vela control plane; automated upgrades |
| Enterprise RBAC | Row-level security (PostgreSQL RLS); no org-level multi-tenant RBAC | Org-wide RBAC, quotas, SSO/SAML/LDAP |
| Data residency | You choose — runs wherever you deploy Docker/K8s | BYOC — stays in your account and region |
Bottom line: Self-hosting Supabase gives you full control at infrastructure cost only, but requires managing 7+ services and significant operational expertise. Vela's BYOC model keeps data in your cloud while handling the operational complexity — the sweet spot for regulated industries and enterprises needing more than a DIY stack.
Encourage more testing without surprise bills
| Scenario | Vela (BYOC) | Supabase OSS | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 5 developers, 10 test DBs | Predictable $/vCPU (no seat tax) | Infra costs based on your stack | Vela encourages more ephemeral branches |
| 20 developers, CI clones per PR | Flat infra cost in your cloud | Ops costs scale with usage | Frequent clones favor BYOC economics |
| 100+ developers, strict residency | Keep data in‑region, in‑account | Choose your own regions | Compliance simplified with BYOC |
A quick guide for choosing
Clear answers for platform teams and developers
Supabase’s managed cloud service has four tiers: Free ($0/mo, 500 MB database, 2 active projects), Pro ($25/month per organization, 8 GB database, 100 GB bandwidth, 7-day PITR), Team ($599/month with SSO and priority support), and Enterprise with custom pricing. Compute add-ons for dedicated instances start at $10/month. Check supabase.com/pricing for current rates.
Supabase’s free tier includes 500 MB database storage, 5 GB bandwidth per month, 1 GB file storage, 2 active projects, 50,000 monthly active auth users, and 500,000 Edge Function invocations per month. Projects that are inactive for 1 week are automatically paused and must be manually reactivated. No point-in-time recovery is available on the free tier. The free tier is suitable for development but Supabase recommends upgrading to Pro ($25/mo) for production.
Yes. Supabase is fully open source (github.com/supabase/supabase) and can be self-hosted using Docker Compose or Kubernetes at no licensing cost. You pay only for the underlying infrastructure. Self-hosting requires running and maintaining 7+ services: PostgreSQL, PostgREST, GoTrue (Auth), Realtime server, Storage API, Studio, and Kong API gateway. There is no official Kubernetes operator from Supabase; community-maintained options exist.
Supabase self-hosting with Docker Compose is reasonably straightforward for a single-node setup. Production-grade Kubernetes deployment is more complex — you must coordinate upgrades across 7+ microservices, handle persistent volume claims, configure networking for PostgREST and Realtime, and manage PostgreSQL backups independently. Teams without dedicated platform engineers typically find managed cloud (Pro at $25/mo) more cost-effective than DIY hosting once operational time is factored in.
Vela uses open‑source Supabase components and a Postgres core, with an enterprise wrapper adding RBAC, instant copy-on-write cloning, and BYOC deployment. Most Supabase‑native workflows and APIs feel familiar, but Vela is not affiliated with the Supabase project.
Teams with platform engineers who need BYOC/on‑prem, strict data residency, enterprise RBAC, and heavy QA/CI cloning at scale usually pick Vela. Teams that want a managed cloud backend for rapid application development, or a pure OSS stack they can self‑host, may prefer Supabase.
Vela uses storage‑level copy‑on‑write clones — instant regardless of dataset size, suitable for production-scale QA environments. Supabase’s managed cloud supports branching via separate project provisioning, which is slower and costs more per branch. Supabase OSS has no built-in branching; each environment is a separate deployment.
Yes. You can export your Postgres data from Supabase using pg_dump and restore it into Vela in your own cloud. Run both in parallel, validate schema and application behavior, then cut over. Supabase-specific services (Auth, Realtime, Storage) have equivalent open-source components available in Vela’s stack.
Beyond branching and BYOC, here’s what makes Vela stand out
| Benefit | Vela | Supabase OSS | Details |
|---|---|---|---|
| Commercial Support | ✓ | – | Direct support from the Vela core team; no tier gating. |
| Enhanced Deployment Options | ✓ | – | Deploy BYOC, on-prem, or hybrid; Supabase OSS is self-hosted. |
| Cloud-Native Design | ✓ | – | Built for Kubernetes, CI/CD, observability, and scaling out. |
| Predictable Pricing | ✓ | – | Flat $/vCPU pricing with unlimited seats; no hidden fees. |
| Live Migration & Resizing | ✓ | – | Scale vCPU, RAM, IOPS online; migrate workloads without downtime. |
| Enterprise RBAC | ✓ | Limited | Organization-wide RBAC, LDAP/SAML SSO; Supabase OSS requires you to implement these controls. |
See how Vela’s BYOC model, instant cloning, and enterprise RBAC reduce production mistakes and speed up releases.
Vela is built on the open‑source Supabase stack but is not affiliated with Supabase.
Learn more about Vela's developer workflows: Database branching· Branch per PR· Instant DB cloning· Staging environments