List of open source, self hosted BaaS - Backend as a service

OpenSourceBaas.md

Backend as a Service

Supabase - ~52K stars

• Designed explicitly as an open source firebase alternative
• Typescript based
• Docker support

Appwrite - ~32K stars

• Written in JavaScript and PHP
• Docker based
• Realtime support across all services
• Advanced security features (virus-scanning, data encryption, auto SSL, rate-limiting)
• Cross-platform: supports Web, Flutter, Desktop, Mobile and backend - over 10 SDKs: https://appwrite.io/docs/sdks
• Cloud Functions with +15 runtimes in multiple languages

PocketBase - ~24k stars

• Go based, with Svelte frontend
• Doesn't seem to be an official dockerfile/image but there are unofficial images on dockerhub
• SQLite database
• Not used it but seems better for smaller projects

Parse Server - ~20K stars

• JavaScript based
• MongoDB or PostgreSQL
• Has dockerfile

nakama - ~7.2K stars

• Go based
• Has official Docker images
• CockroachDB (or another Postgres wire-compatible server)
• Designed for use with games

nhost - ~6.7K stars

• Written as a firebase alternative with GraphQL support
• Typescript based
• Includes docker-compose example
• See also Hasura Backend Plus

Kuzzle - ~1.3k stars

• JavaScript based
• Elasticsearch as a NoSQL document storage
• Has Docker Compose file

para - ~500 stars

• Java based
• Has official Docker images
• Database agnostic

LoopBack 4 - ~4k stars

• More of an api development platform than a BaaS, added here because could be good starting point if developing own BaaS
• TypeScript and JavaScript based

Conduit - ~300 stars

• TypeScript based
• Seems to still be in early development
• Database: MongoDB, PostgreSQL
• Database APIs: REST, GraphQL
• Storage: local, Azure Cloud, Google Cloud, Amazon S3 Cloud
• Auth: local, 2FA, Google, Facebook, Twitch, Slack, Figma, GitHub, GitLab, Microsoft, magic link
• Email: Mailgun, Sendgrid, Mandrill, SMTP
• Also has modules for: SMS, chat, forms, routing, push notifications

Other services

These services aren't exactly Backend-as-a-Service as I understand it, but might still be useful. For now I'll just add links, and I'll add summaries later on.

SurrealDB - ~21k stars

directus - ~22k stars

strapi - ~54k stars

Userbase - ~2.2k stars

Discontinued BaaS

CloudBoost - ~1.4k stars

• Last commit in Nov 2020
• JavaScript based
• Has Docker Compose file
• MongoDB database

Apache Usergrid - ~1k stars

• Last commit in Dec 2020
• Java based
• cassandra database

SkyGear - ~400 stars

• Last commit in Jun 2020
• Seems v. complete but not many users (harder to fix issues)
• Go based

Further notes

• Platform as a service? Is one needed alongside BaaS? Dokku markets itself as mini heroku, maybe a good one to try first (e.g. Flynn, tsuru, openshift, dokku, cloud foundry)

Hmm... What about strapi, kuzzle and maybe deployd?

Appwrite - ~15.7K stars

• Docker based
• Realtime support across all services
• Advanced security features (virus-scanning, data encryption, auto SSL, rate-limiting)
• Cross-platform: supports Web, Flutter, Desktop, Mobile and backend - over 10 SDKs: https://appwrite.io/docs/sdks
• Cloud Functions with +15 runtimes in multiple languages

https://appwrite.io

@eldadfux do you know when we should use Appwrite and when Strapi?

@gigabyteservice Appwrite is a BaaS, Strapi is a CMS. Appwrite is used by developers. Strapi is used by content editors and partially developers. You can use Appwrite to build a Strapi like product.

checkout supabase https://supabase.com/

check nhost as well

@eldadfux can you please give me 3-4 examples of when we should use Appwrite and Strapi. @alpap I know superbase but it's not supporting MongoDB or any other noSQL DB. @Guillux does nhost supports MongoDB? I have not found any other similar to rethinkdb which has built-in support for real-time syncing

Pocket base is another one!

@gigabyteservice Strapi, pocketbase, Directus are good if you want to just build a single application, while Appwrite and supabase are great when you have a multi tenancy or multiapp scenario. For example if you have a single app you could just use Strapi, but if you know you will build more projects and you don't want to spend time setting up pipelines and deploying more resources you should use Appwrite/supabase

supabase in its open source version is unfortunate, practically everything is limited! only the DB handler works

I would like to add PocketBase to the list

supabase in its open source version is unfortunate, practically everything is limited! only the DB handler works

Are you sure ?!

supabase in its open source version is unfortunate, practically everything is limited! only the DB handler works

Are you sure ?!

yer, that is true, tho i did love it but it is now close source to me, no point in it anymore, i wish caprover was still active, it was the best i have use so far that was truely open source

Can you link me any sources on this? From the documentation, it seems like you can still self host everything for free. I'll try self hosting it in the next couple weeks to confirm this, if so I'll add a note to the gist

Can you link me any sources on this? From the documentation, it seems like you can still self host everything for free. I'll try self hosting it in the next couple weeks to confirm this, if so I'll add a note to the gist

My mistake, I was actually talking of something else, my bad, supabase is really good tho, but it doesn't have much integration with other langs

check https://github.com/labring/laf plz

Appwrite - ~15.7K stars

• Docker based
• Realtime support across all services
• Advanced security features (virus-scanning, data encryption, auto SSL, rate-limiting)
• Cross-platform: supports Web, Flutter, Desktop, Mobile and backend - over 10 SDKs: https://appwrite.io/docs/sdks
• Cloud Functions with +15 runtimes in multiple languages

https://appwrite.io

@eldadfux why appwrite don't code backend with rust or zig for best speed, you use svelte for frontend and ui with best speed, so why?? is appwirte faster supabase?

Supabase vs. Appwrite. What are your experiences? I am building a medium size App, self hosting. Having a rust backend tightly connected to my DB.

supabase in its open source version is unfortunate, practically everything is limited! only the DB handler works

Are you sure ?!

yer, that is true, tho i did love it but it is now close source to me, no point in it anymore, i wish caprover was still active, it was the best i have use so far that was truely open source

Can you link me any sources on this? From the documentation, it seems like you can still self host everything for free. I'll try self hosting it in the next couple weeks to confirm this, if so I'll add a note to the gist

You can self-host superbase but you won't get all the features the cloud version is given like the project management.
As I know superbase is not a fully open-source project as some of the packages are closed source.

Hello @PARC6502,

Do you know Manifest? It's an open-source, self-hosted BaaS. It allows you to create a complete backend by defining your data structure in a single YAML file, making it quick and easy.

We've released a proof of concept (PoC) in June to validate our approach, which received over 400 stars and 2,500 downloads. We're now developing the MVP with the community.

Feel free to test it and add it to your list.

Manifest - ~500 stars

• TypeScript based
• In Proof-of-Concept (PoC) stage
• Database: PostgreSQL
• Database APIs: REST
• Storage: local
• Auth: local,

I learedn about Prisma, PouchDB and lowdb, mongodb realm. Now exactly sure how they fit in here but are probably worth checking out.

I learedn about Prisma, PouchDB and lowdb, mongodb realm. Now exactly sure how they fit in here but are probably worth checking out.

@iamhnxt, These are not the same types of solutions. For example, Prisma is an ORM, mongodb is a NoSQL document database...

Check out Convex! Taken from their readme, it's an open source, self host-able BaaS.

Instant is probably worth mentioning too, it might be useful for the list. The instruction to self host instant is in the server folder.

i think dokploy should be added to the list

I guess Coolify is missing?