Supabase

Supabase is an open-source backend platform that positions itself as a Firebase alternative, built on the established PostgreSQL database. Rather than integrating many separate services individually, Supabase bundles database, authentication, storage, and other building blocks into one cohesive platform.

The database auto-generates REST and GraphQL APIs, plus a table and SQL editor, and ships with more than 40 preinstalled Postgres extensions. Authentication supports social logins, email/password, phone OTP, and magic links, secured via Postgres Row Level Security instead of a separate permissions layer. Supabase also offers S3-compatible object storage with a CDN and image transformation, Deno-based edge functions, realtime sync over WebSockets, and, with "Vector," an AI toolkit built on pgvector for embeddings.

Its main advantage over proprietary backend-as-a-service offerings: because everything runs on standard Postgres, Supabase can always be self-hosted, avoiding lock-in to a single vendor.

Supabase was founded in January 2020 by Paul Copplestone and Ant Wilson, and went through Y Combinator's summer 2020 batch. The company has since closed several large funding rounds, most recently at a valuation in the billions.

Following a funding round in spring 2025, Supabase has been valued at around $2 billion, driven in part by the trend toward so-called "vibe coding," where developers increasingly build applications in dialogue with AI tools rather than writing every line by hand.