Serverpod vs Supabase

Serverpod is an open-source Supabase alternative for Dart-first teams, giving you an owned PostgreSQL backend with type-safe endpoints and a generated client on top.

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Serverpod vs Supabase at a glance

Both are open-source options for running a PostgreSQL backend. The difference lies in architecture: Supabase lets clients query the database directly, with queries secured by SQL policies. Serverpod puts a typed Dart API between your app and the data.

What is Supabase?

Supabase is an open-source backend platform built around PostgreSQL, providing instant APIs over your tables, authentication, real-time subscriptions, storage, and Edge Functions. Its dashboard and SQL editor are strong, and it serves clients on many platforms. It suits teams that want to work close to SQL.

What is Serverpod?

Serverpod is an open-source backend framework for Flutter and Dart, and a Supabase alternative for teams that want their server logic in Dart. You write endpoint methods, Serverpod generates a type-safe client, and your data lives in PostgreSQL managed through models and migrations.

How they compare

Both give you PostgreSQL you own. The real decision is where your backend logic lives. In SQL policies and TypeScript functions, or in Dart next to your Flutter code.

Full-stack Dart or SQL and TypeScript

In Supabase, business rules live in row-level security policies written in SQL, with more complex logic implemented in TypeScript Edge Functions on a Deno-based runtime. In Serverpod, everything is Dart: endpoint methods handle the logic, share models with your Flutter app, and are checked by the same analyzer.

Working with PostgreSQL

Supabase exposes the database to clients, where the app queries tables through the SDK, and policies decide row access. It is a fast way to put an API on an existing database. Serverpod treats the database as the server’s concern, using YAML models that become tables, typed queries, and versioned migrations, while clients only see endpoints.

Type safety across the stack

Supabase generates types for TypeScript, Go, Swift, and Python, but not for Dart, so a Flutter app must work with untyped rows or use community tooling. Serverpod generates the Dart code on both sides.

final orders = await supabase
    .from('orders')
    .select('*, customer(*)');

final country = orders.first['customer']['country'];

The Serverpod equivalent returns typed models, checked at compile time:

final orders = await Order.db.find(
  session,
  include: Order.include(customer: Customer.include()),
);

final country = orders.first.customer?.country;

Authentication

Supabase’s authentication is a real strength: social providers, SAML single sign-on, multi-factor authentication, and Web3 sign-in. Serverpod ships sign-in with email, Google, Apple, Facebook, GitHub, Microsoft, and passkeys. Firebase Authentication is also supported as an identity provider. Users and sessions are stored in your own database and exposed through the same typed client as the rest of your API.

Real-time

Supabase Realtime offers Postgres Changes, Broadcast, and Presence, which can be subscribed to from the client SDK. Serverpod’s model is a typed stream: an endpoint method returns a Stream of your models over a managed WebSocket. Fan-out across servers runs through Redis.

Pricing

Supabase Cloud has a free tier and a Pro plan at $25 per month (which includes a $10 compute credit), with usage-based charges beyond the included quotas. A spend cap is on by default. Serverpod is free to self-host, and Serverpod Cloud offers flat monthly tiers starting at $19 per month. Both can be self-hosted with Docker, which keeps the bill structural rather than per-request. Current Supabase rates are on the Supabase pricing page.

Migrating from Supabase

Both systems store plain PostgreSQL, so your data moves with standard dump and restore tools. The work is the API layer: client-side queries become endpoint methods, and row-level security policies become authorization checks in Dart. Your Flutter app swaps SDK calls for generated client methods, which usually deletes parsing code.

Everything you get with Serverpod

Why teams choose Serverpod

Frequently asked questions