Mathesar vs Supabase
| Tagline | Spreadsheet-like UI for collaborative PostgreSQL data management | Open-source Firebase alternative built on PostgreSQL with realtime and auth |
| Category | Databases & Spreadsheets | Databases & Spreadsheets |
| Replaces | Airtable, Google Sheets, Smartsheet | Airtable, Google Sheets, Retool |
| GitHub stars | 5.1k | 107k |
| Language | Docker | TypeScript |
| License | GPL-3.0 | Apache-2.0 |
| Self-host difficulty | 3/5 Moderate | 3/5 Moderate |
| Deploy options | Docker Docker Compose Manual | Docker Docker Compose Kubernetes |
| Managed hosting | ||
| Last updated | 6 days ago | 5 days ago |
| View repo | View repo |
Where each falls short
The honest trade-offs — what you give up with each, versus the proprietary tools they replace.
Mathesar
- PostgreSQL only; no support for MySQL, SQLite, or other databases
- No formula engine comparable to Airtable's or Google Sheets' calculated fields
- Automations and integrations with external services are not yet implemented
- Relatively young project; some UI rough edges and missing power-user features
Supabase
- Self-hosted Docker Compose stack is complex: 8+ services including Kong, GoTrue, PostgREST, Realtime
- Studio table editor is less polished than Airtable UX for non-technical users
- Edge Functions are limited to Deno; no Node.js runtime in the self-hosted edition
Bottom line
Both are a similar lift to self-host; choose Supabase for the larger community and ecosystem. Supabase has seen more recent development. Open each guide below for deploy steps and the full feature gap.
Supabase
Open-source Firebase alternative built on PostgreSQL with realtime and auth