Yes, Supabase is free to start. Its Free Plan gives you two active projects, each with a dedicated Postgres database, and Supabase calls it a plan for passion projects and simple websites. The catch is that free projects pause after one week of inactivity.
That pause rule is what decides whether the Free Plan works for you. A demo or a side project you open most days is fine. A small live app that only gets the odd visitor can go to sleep when you least want it to. Here's what the Free Plan includes and how to work with its limits.
What the Supabase Free Plan includes
Supabase's plans page lists these limits on the Free Plan:
| Feature | Free Plan |
|---|---|
| Active projects | 2 |
| Database size | 500 MB per project |
| Compute | Shared CPU, 500 MB RAM |
| File storage | 1 GB |
| Egress | 5 GB, plus 5 GB cached egress |
| Monthly active users | 50,000 |
| Inactivity rule | Projects pause after 1 week of inactivity |
For comparison, the same page lists the Pro Plan with 100,000 monthly active users, 100 GB of file storage and 250 GB of egress, and says no projects in a Pro Plan organisation are paused.
The two-project limit, explained
Supabase's platform docs make a point that trips people up: the two free projects are counted across every organisation where you're an Owner or Administrator. You can't get more free projects by making more organisations.
- Two Free Plan organisations with one project each is allowed.
- One Free Plan organisation with two projects is allowed.
- Paused projects don't count towards your free project limit, so you can keep old ones paused and start new ones.
Supabase also says each organisation has its own plan, so you can't mix a Pro Plan project and a Free Plan project in the same organisation. If you want both, you need separate organisations.
Why free projects pause, and what to do about it
Supabase's plans page says free projects are paused after one week of inactivity. In practice, that means the Free Plan suits things you're building, testing or showing to someone, rather than a small app that sits quietly for days between users.
- Use the Free Plan for prototypes, hackathon builds, coursework and early demos.
- Keep anything you're not touching paused on purpose, so it doesn't count towards your two projects.
- Move a project to a Pro Plan organisation once real users rely on it, because Supabase says Pro Plan projects aren't paused.
What else the Free Plan includes
- Unlimited API requests, according to Supabase's plans page.
- Edge Functions with 500,000 invocations included.
- Community support rather than email support.
What the Free Plan leaves out
This is the part to read before you put real data on a free project. Supabase's plans page lists these gaps:
- No automatic backups. Supabase marks automatic backups as not included in free, while the Pro Plan keeps daily backups for 7 days.
- No branching, which lets you test database changes on a copy before they go live.
- 1 day of log retention for API and database logs, compared with 7 days on Pro.
The backup point matters most. If you're storing anything you'd hate to lose on the Free Plan, export it yourself on a regular schedule, because Supabase won't keep a backup for you.
Free Plan vs Pro Plan at a glance
| Free Plan | Pro Plan | |
|---|---|---|
| Monthly active users | 50,000 | 100,000 |
| File storage | 1 GB | 100 GB |
| Egress | 5 GB | 250 GB |
| Automatic backups | Not included | Daily, kept for 7 days |
| Log retention | 1 day | 7 days |
| Pauses when inactive | Yes, after 1 week | No |
All of these figures come from Supabase's plans page. The jump from free to Pro is mostly about reliability, with backups, longer logs and no pausing, rather than new features.
Who the Free Plan suits
- Learners and students trying Postgres, authentication and storage in one place.
- No-code and AI app builders who need a backend for a first version.
- Developers spinning up a quick test without touching production.
If you're comparing backends before you commit, my roundup of Supabase alternatives covers the main options, and my guide to the best AI app builders shows which builders plug into Supabase.
If a free project outgrows its organisation, you don't have to start again. Supabase's platform docs point to project transfers for moving a project to a different organisation, which is how you'd move a working prototype into a Pro Plan organisation without rebuilding it.
My verdict: Supabase is free and the Free Plan is generous for building and testing, with a real Postgres database, 50,000 monthly active users and two projects. Just don't run anything people depend on from it, because a quiet week is all it takes for a free project to pause.
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Frequently asked questions
Is Supabase free forever?
Supabase offers a Free Plan with no end date listed on its plans page. It includes two active projects, a 500 MB database per project and 50,000 monthly active users.
How many free Supabase projects can you have?
Two active projects. Supabase counts them across every organisation where you're an Owner or Administrator, and paused projects don't count towards the limit.
Why did my Supabase project pause?
Supabase pauses Free Plan projects after one week of inactivity. Paused projects don't count towards your two free projects.
Do Pro Plan projects pause?
No. Supabase says no projects in a Pro Plan organisation are paused.
Can I mix free and Pro projects in one organisation?
No. Supabase says each organisation has one plan, so you need separate organisations for projects on different plans.
Does the Supabase Free Plan include backups?
No. Supabase lists automatic backups as not included in free. The Pro Plan keeps daily backups for 7 days.
Does the Supabase Free Plan limit API requests?
No. Supabase's plans page lists unlimited API requests on the Free Plan, with 500,000 Edge Function invocations included.
Can I move a Supabase project to another organisation?
Yes. Supabase's platform docs point to project transfers for moving a project to a different organisation.
What compute do free Supabase projects get?
Supabase's plans page lists shared CPU and 500 MB of RAM for Free Plan projects.
How big can a free Supabase database be?
Supabase lists a 500 MB database size per project on the Free Plan.
