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Supabase is our best overall pick for teams that want managed Postgres alongside auth and storage. Firebase and PlayFab both list a $0 starting price, while Supabase and Convex list $25 starts and Xano lists $85. The right choice depends on your app: Convex is built around TypeScript, PlayFab targets live games, and Appwrite offers self-hosting. Appwrite’s paid starting price is not published on the vendor's site. We rank these platforms by broad fit, while flagging the pricing and product trade-offs buyers should check before committing.
Quick picksThe shortlist
01Compared at a glance
02The picks, in detail
- Best overall
SupabaseSupabaseSupabase is our best overall pick for teams that want managed Postgres with auth and storage in one backend. The pricing page gives it a 7.5 score and a $25 starting price, with a free plan. It suits hobby projects, prototypes and apps, but check that its limits and access model fit your use case.
What works
- Portable Postgres database
- Free plan for experiments
- Built-in Auth with Row Level Security
What doesn't
- Free plan limited to 2 active projects
- Free projects pause after a week inactive
- Usage overages can increase the bill
- Best for quick shipping
FirebaseFirebaseFirebase is a strong fit for small teams shipping apps quickly, teams already using Google Cloud, and projects that need built-in authentication. The listing gives it a 7.2 score and a $0 starting price with a free plan. Its usage-based bills and database trade-offs may not suit every team, so weigh those before choosing it.
What works
- Combines backend, monitoring, testing, and engagement tools
- Spark plan starts at $0 per month
- Firestore offers 50,000 daily reads on Spark
What doesn't
- Blaze bills for usage beyond free quotas
- Spark services stop when quotas are exceeded
- Firestore usage can add read, write, and storage charges
- Best for TypeScript
ConvexConvexConvex is a good match for TypeScript teams that want real-time updates and an integrated backend. It has the highest our score, 7.8, and lists a $25 starting price with a free plan. That score does not remove the need to check usage caps and team pricing: both can affect whether it remains a sensible fit as your project grows.
What works
- Database, functions, sync, search, and storage in one platform
- ACID transactions for concurrent writes
- Workflows can checkpoint, retry, and resume
What doesn't
- Free & Starter includes 40 deployments
- Professional is $25 per developer/month
- Professional includes 25M function calls and 50 GB database storage
- Best for self-hosting
AppwriteAppwriteAppwrite suits teams that want a broad backend toolkit and the option to self-host. The listing gives it a 7.1 score and notes a free plan, but does not publish a paid starting price. Free resource limits matter, and the published summary flags compute costs and function reliability as points to check before committing.
What works
- Free plan includes all platform services
- Supports Cloud and self-hosted environments
- Authentication covers email, SMS, OAuth, and more
What doesn't
- Pro subscription price isn't published in the published details
- Projects freeze when Free resource limits are reached
- Database compute adds $10 to $4,099 per database monthly
- Best for live games
PlayFabPlayFabPlayFab is aimed at live games that need managed backend services, built-in LiveOps and analytics. Its our score is 7.2, and the listing gives it a $0 starting price with a free plan. The main caution is meter-based billing: teams need to forecast service usage and track it closely rather than assume the free starting point will cover ongoing needs.
What works
- Covers multiplayer, accounts, economy, LiveOps and analytics
- Development Mode is free within stated limits
- Standard includes $400 monthly value of bundled meters
What doesn't
- Pay-as-you-go includes $0 in bundled meters
- Usage beyond plan allowances is billed at standard rates
- Annual billing prices are not published
- Best for release controls
XanoXanoXano is for teams building production apps and agents that want AI-assisted API and MCP development, plus versioned releases and rollback. The pricing page gives it a 7.0 score and an $85 starting price with a free plan. It bundles backend building and deployment controls, but that price may be hard to justify for a casual project.
What works
- Build with AI agents, XanoScript or the editor
- Create APIs and MCP servers in one platform
- Workflow testing is available in the UI or CLI
What doesn't
- Essential costs $85/month annually or $99 monthly
- Free limits include 100,000 records and 10 API requests per 20 seconds
- Essential includes only 10 background tasks
03How we chose
We weigh published pricing, plan limits, documentation, and Reddit sentiment when comparing backend-as-a-service platforms. Price matters alongside what a plan includes: database capacity, authentication, API access, and app infrastructure can affect the real cost of a move. We also consider how clearly the docs explain setup, limits, and migration-relevant details. Product prices and caps change, so check each provider’s current pricing page and documentation before switching. Where a detail is not published in the material available to us, we leave it unranked rather than guess.
04Choose around your backend needs, not the feature list
Start with the workload you need to support: a database and APIs, user authentication, or broader app infrastructure. Then write down the requirements that could rule out a provider, such as the data model, expected usage, integrations, and deployment constraints. A long feature list is not useful if the service does not fit your application’s architecture.
Compare providers on the same checklist. Check what each plan includes, which limits apply, and what happens when usage grows. Read the docs for setup and migration details, not just the overview pages. If a price, cap, or capability is not clearly published, treat it as an unanswered question and ask the vendor before committing. The six platforms on this page should not be assumed to have equivalent features or pricing.
05Estimate switching costs before you migrate
A BaaS switch is more than a subscription change. Map the parts of your application that depend on the current service: stored data, authentication flows, API calls, and app infrastructure. Identify what must move, what may need to be rebuilt, and which parts you can keep. That inventory helps expose migration work before a new plan looks cheaper on paper.
Compare the current and prospective plans using your expected usage, not just the entry price. Check published limits and pricing for the services your app relies on, and confirm any unclear terms in the docs or with the provider. Plan a migration path that includes data transfer, application changes, and a fallback if the move stalls. Reddit reports can flag issues worth investigating, but they are anecdotes, not a substitute for checking current documentation and terms.
Questions people ask
What is a backend-as-a-service platform?
A backend-as-a-service platform provides backend building blocks such as APIs, databases, authentication, and app infrastructure. The exact services and plan limits differ by provider, so check the documentation and pricing details for the specific capabilities your application needs.
How should I compare BaaS pricing?
Compare the plans against your expected usage and required services, not just the starting price. Check the published limits and how costs may change as usage grows. If a price or cap is not listed, treat it as unknown and confirm it with the provider.
How difficult is it to switch BaaS providers?
It depends on how much your application relies on provider-specific services. Before switching, map your data, authentication flows, APIs, and infrastructure dependencies. Estimate what can be transferred and what may need changes or rebuilding; the provider’s docs should clarify supported migration steps.
Are Reddit reviews enough to choose a BaaS?
No. Reddit threads can surface user-reported problems or migration concerns, but they describe individual experiences. Use them as questions to investigate, then verify current prices, limits, and supported capabilities in the provider’s pricing pages and documentation.