PocketBase

License stamp: Open source. MIT (OSI-approved, whole repository)
GitHub says: MIT
Self-host difficulty: unrated No docker-compose file at the repository root, so we do not score it.
Activity: ★ 61,598 stars · last push 2026-10-26 · archived on GitHub · checked 2026-11-10
Repository: github.com/pocketbase/pocketbase
GitHub description: "Open Source realtime backend in 1 file"

GitHub repo archived 2026-10-26; development continues at ganigeorgiev.com/pocketbase (the maintainer's own host). Still MIT.

Self-host vs Firebase

Self-hosting saves about $780 a year for 20 seats: SaaS $2,400 vs self-host $1,620 (server $144, backups $36, admin time $1,440). Break-even at about 14 seats at these numbers.

Admin hours start from our guess for difficulty unrated and are yours to edit. Firebase price: No per-seat price (Blaze). Spark free; Blaze pay-as-you-go with $0 base fee and metered usage. No per-seat price. Source: vendor pricing page, checked 2026-11-10.

Other Firebase alternatives

Pl. 01

OPEN SOURCE

Appwrite

replaces Firebase

BSD-3-Clause (OSI-approved, whole repository)

★ 58k●●●●●push 2026-11-10

Pl. 02

OPEN SOURCE

Supabase

replaces Firebase

Apache-2.0 (OSI-approved, whole repository)

★ 115k●●●●●push 2026-11-10