PocketBase Alternatives for When You Outgrow One Server

If you like PocketBase but need managed hosting, Postgres or more than one server, the best PocketBase alternatives are StitchDB and Supabase (managed Postgres backends), Appwrite (open source, self-host or cloud), Nhost (Postgres with GraphQL) and Convex (TypeScript-first with reactive queries). If you just need PocketBase on a server you don't babysit, the honest answer may be "keep PocketBase and improve your backups." This article helps you tell those situations apart.

PocketBase deserves its popularity. One Go binary gives you SQLite, auth with e-mail and OAuth2, file storage on disk or S3, realtime subscriptions, an admin dashboard and Go or JavaScript hooks. It is MIT licensed and its FAQ notes it can hold 10,000+ persistent realtime connections on a small VPS. For many apps that is more than enough.

#Signs you are outgrowing PocketBase

PocketBase's own documentation is clear about its design limits. Its FAQ says it scales only vertically on a single server, uses embedded SQLite in WAL mode with no plans to support other databases, and is self-hosted only. The README says full backward compatibility is not guaranteed before v1.0. Those are fair trade-offs for its simplicity. They start to hurt when:

• You need high availability. A single server is a single point of failure. Litestream helps with recovery, not with zero downtime.
• You want point-in-time recovery. PocketBase has built-in backups (ZIP snapshots of pb_data, stored locally or in S3-compatible storage), but restoring to an exact minute is another matter.
• Several services need the data. A BI tool, a worker in another language or a data team want a network database connection.
• Your team grows. Preview environments per pull request, roles for teammates, audit logs.
• Upgrades worry you. Pre-1.0 releases can change behavior between versions.
• Nobody wants to be on call for the VPS.

If none of these apply, stay. A well-backed-up PocketBase server is a fine production setup.

#Comparison table

#The alternatives

#StitchDB: managed Postgres with the same "one place" feel

What PocketBase users usually like is that everything is in one place and you don't need a second vendor for files or auth. StitchDB keeps that and moves it to managed Postgres: each project gets its own database plus Auth, REST and GraphQL APIs, Realtime, Storage, Edge Functions and a Studio with a table editor, SQL editor and user management.

What changes for you:

• Point-in-time recovery is built in. Every project can be restored to any moment of the last 24 hours on Free, 7 days on Pro, 14 on Scale and 30 on Enterprise. See backups.
• Real connections. Any Postgres client, ORM or BI tool connects over TLS on port 5432 (session) or 6543 (transaction pooling). See connect.
• Preview branches on paid plans give each pull request its own database built from your migrations.
• Local development without Docker. stitchdb start runs Postgres, Auth, REST, Realtime, Storage, Functions and a local Studio as plain processes. That is close to the "just run the binary" feeling. See local development.

npm install -g stitchdb-cli
stitchdb start
# API on http://127.0.0.1:54321, Postgres on 127.0.0.1:54322

PocketBase hooks become Postgres triggers, database functions or Edge Functions in TypeScript. PocketBase's per-collection API rules become RLS policies.

Prices as of November 2026: Free $0, Pro $15.99/month, Scale $49/month. Free projects are not paused while you use your account; Free API services sleep after 60 minutes without requests and wake in a few seconds.

Trade-offs: you cannot self-host StitchDB, regions are EU-only (Germany and Finland), and a $5 VPS running PocketBase will always be cheaper in raw hosting cost. You pay for not running it.

#Supabase

Supabase gives you Postgres with Auth, Storage, Realtime and Edge Functions, either managed in 17 AWS regions or self-hosted with Docker Compose. If you want to keep the option to run it on your own hardware, this is the Postgres choice. Free projects pause after a week of inactivity; Pro starts at $25/month (as of November 2026).

#Appwrite

Appwrite is the closest to PocketBase in spirit: open source (BSD 3-Clause), one docker run to install, tables and documents behind one SDK, built-in auth and storage. Unlike PocketBase it also has a managed cloud and functions in many runtimes (Node.js, Python, Go, Dart, PHP and more). It runs as several containers, so self-hosting is heavier than one binary.

#Nhost

Nhost combines Postgres with Hasura's GraphQL engine, Auth, Storage and Node.js functions. Choose it if you want to move from PocketBase's REST API to GraphQL with subscriptions.

#Convex

Convex suits teams who like PocketBase's realtime but want everything in TypeScript. Queries and mutations are TypeScript functions, and clients re-render when the data they read changes. Professional is $25 per developer per month (as of November 2026).

#Moving PocketBase data to Postgres

PocketBase keeps everything in the pb_data directory, and the database there is a normal SQLite file. That makes the move simpler than from a document store:

1. Stop writes (or copy the file from a consistent backup).
2. Recreate the schema in Postgres. PocketBase record IDs are text. Keep them as text primary key, or add a new uuid and keep the old ID in a column for links.
3. Copy rows. Export each collection as CSV and load it with \copy:

sqlite3 -header -csv pb_data/data.db "select id, title, owner, created from posts;" > posts.csv
psql "$DATABASE_URL" -c "\copy public.posts (id, title, owner_pb_id, created_at) from 'posts.csv' csv header"

4. Rewrite rules as policies. A rule like owner = @request.auth.id becomes using (owner_id = auth.uid()).
5. Move users. Recreate them in Auth; if you cannot bring the password hashes, send a magic link or reset e-mail on first sign-in.
6. Move uploaded files (stored in pb_data or your S3 bucket) into buckets, for example with rclone and the S3 endpoint.

#What it costs to leave the VPS

A fair cost comparison has three lines, not one. The server: PocketBase runs on a small VPS for a few dollars a month. The managed plan: StitchDB Free is $0 and Pro is $15.99/month (as of November 2026). And your time: patching the OS, renewing certificates, checking backups, and handling the night the disk fills up. If that last line is close to zero for you, PocketBase stays cheaper. If one incident a year would cost you a day, the plan pays for itself.

#Who should pick what

• Happy on one server, small team: stay on PocketBase, schedule its backups off the server and test restores.
• Want managed Postgres and built-in app services: StitchDB.
• Want Postgres and the option to self-host: Supabase.
• Want open source with documents and many function languages: Appwrite.
• Want TypeScript everywhere: Convex.

For a deeper look, see StitchDB vs PocketBase and Supabase vs PocketBase.

#FAQ

#Is there a hosted PocketBase?

PocketBase's FAQ says it is self-hosted only. Some third parties offer hosting, but there is no official managed service.

#Can PocketBase use Postgres?

No. The FAQ says it uses embedded SQLite and there are no plans to support other databases.

#Is PocketBase production-ready?

Many apps run it in production. The README says it is still under active development and full backward compatibility is not guaranteed before v1.0, so pin versions and read release notes before upgrading.

#What is the cheapest PocketBase alternative?

Self-hosted options cost only your server. Among managed services, several have free tiers; StitchDB Pro is $15.99/month as of November 2026.

Want PocketBase-style simplicity on managed Postgres? Try StitchDB free.