Appwrite vs Supabase

Both are self-hostable, open-source Firebase alternatives — auth, a database, file storage, and serverless functions behind one API — and each already lists the other as an open-source alternative. The real difference is what's underneath the database layer.

Supabase is built on real Postgres. You get the full relational feature set (SQL, joins, extensions, row-level security enforced by Postgres itself), which matters if you already know SQL or need Postgres-specific tooling. It's also self-hostable or usable as a fully managed cloud service with no self-hosting at all.

Appwrite models data as collections of documents through its own API, backed by MariaDB internally — you work through Appwrite's SDKs and console rather than writing SQL directly. In exchange, Appwrite's feature surface reaches further out of the box: native push/email/SMS messaging and a broader set of first-party serverless function runtimes ship alongside auth, database, and storage.

In short: reach for Supabase when "it's just Postgres" is the point — you want SQL, Postgres extensions, or a managed cloud tier; reach for Appwrite when you want one platform that also covers messaging and a wider function-runtime catalog, and you're comfortable working through its document-style API instead of raw SQL.