Supabase vs undb
| Tagline | Open-source Firebase alternative built on PostgreSQL with realtime and auth | Private-first, self-hosted no-code database and backend-as-a-service on SQLite |
| Category | Databases & Spreadsheets | Databases & Spreadsheets |
| Replaces | Airtable, Google Sheets, Retool | Airtable |
| GitHub stars | 107k | 3k |
| Language | TypeScript | TypeScript |
| License | Apache-2.0 | AGPL-3.0 |
| Self-host difficulty | 3/5 Moderate | 2/5 Easy |
| Deploy options | Docker Docker Compose Kubernetes | Docker Docker Compose Manual |
| Managed hosting | ||
| Last updated | 2 days ago | 1 year 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.
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
undb
- Far fewer features than Airtable; no automations marketplace or advanced views.
- Single-author project with a smaller community and less battle-testing.
- Real-time collaboration and permissions are basic.
- SQLite backend limits very large or high-concurrency workloads.
Bottom line
Choose undb if you want the lower-effort setup; 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.