Use case · Database and auth

Database and auth for an MVP: what it costs from 1,000 to 250,000 users

Postgres plus sign-in, for something you're about to launch. Here is what each option in the Stackcut catalog costs as users and data grow, which free tiers pause, expire or run out, and what to ask your agent.

By Stackcut · Published · Catalog of 2026-09-25 · Vendor prices checked 2026-09-25

Modeled, not measured. Savings use public prices and planning assumptions: the bill you stop paying, minus the new tool, your upkeep time and your setup time at $50/hour, over the first 12 months. Results marked Tested by Stackcut are Stackcut's own test, not a customer. Every price links the page it came from.

The short answer

  • Supabase Free covers database, auth and file storage up to 50,000 monthly active users and a 500 MB database, but free projects pause after a week of inactivity and get no automatic backups. supabase.com
  • Supabase Pro at $25/mo includes 100,000 MAU and an 8 GB database per project, with daily backups kept for 7 days. supabase.com
  • Database only: Neon Free gives 0.5 GB per project and scales to zero; paid Neon bills compute hours and storage with no monthly minimum. neon.com
  • Render's free Postgres expires 30 days after creation and Railway's free option is a trial, so neither is a free tier for a live app. render.com

The economics

Costs from each vendor's pricing page, for one project, before compute add-ons and egress.

Supabase by monthly active users

Cheapest published plan plus published overage, assuming the database fits the plan's included size. Each price links supabase.com/pricing.
Monthly active users1,00010,00050,000100,000250,000
Supabase (database, auth, storage)$0Free$0Free$0Free$25Pro$512.50Pro, plus overage
Supabase (self-hosted)Apache-2.0; you run the server$0+ your server$0+ your server$0+ your server$0+ your server$0+ your server

By database size

Cheapest published plan plus published overage for storage. Neon's paid plans bill compute hours too, which depend on how long your database runs, so they aren't priced here.
Database size, GB0.5520
Supabase$0Free$25Pro$26.50Pro, plus overage
Neon$0Freeusage-based: compute hours not modeledusage-based: compute hours not modeled
  • Neon's Launch plan bills $0.106 per CU-hour and $0.35 per GB-month of storage, with no monthly minimum. neon.com

What the free tiers really are

OptionKindWhat the free tier includes
SupabaseFree500 MB database, 1 GB file storage, 50,000 MAU, 5 GB egress, 2 active projects; paused after 1 week of inactivity; no overages
NeonFree0.5 GB storage per project, 100 CU-hours per project, up to 100 projects, 10 branches per project, up to 2 CU, 5 GB egress per project; scales to zero after 5 min
Renderfree Postgres expires after 30 daysExpiresFree web services spin down after 15 min without traffic (750 free instance hours/month per workspace). Free Postgres: 1 GB, expires 30 days after creation (14-day grace to upgrade), one per workspace. Free Key Value doesn't persist data
Railwaytrial, then a small monthly creditTrial only30-day trial with a one-time $5 credit; then the Free plan gives $1 of usage credit per month (no rollover). Trial volumes are deleted 30 days after credits expire unless you upgrade

Pick by situation

  • Weekend project or demo: Supabase Free. Back it up yourself with the CLI, because free projects get no automatic backups. supabase.com
  • Launched, with real users: Supabase Pro from $25/mo, for daily backups and no pausing. supabase.com
  • Postgres only, auth handled elsewhere: Neon Free, then Neon's usage-based Launch plan. neon.com
  • Your own servers, no per-user bill: self-hosted Supabase (Apache-2.0) on a server with at least 4 GB of RAM. Backups and upgrades are yours. the math

A real workflow: ask your agent

  • Give your agent the jobs and the numbers you expect at launch. choose_stack compares vendors per job at that volume, links every price, and asks for the volumes you haven't given. stackcut.io
choose_stack({"project": "B2B SaaS MVP", "needs": [
  {"job": "database", "features": ["Postgres database", "Auth"],
   "volume": {"amount": 20000, "unit": "mau"}},
  {"job": "hosting"}]})
  • A tier counts as a fit only when its published limit covers your number, and plans for non-commercial use are skipped unless you say the project is personal. stackcut.io

Fit

A good fit if

  • You're building an app that needs Postgres, sign-in and some file storage. recipe
  • You can estimate monthly active users and database size for the first year. recipe

Look elsewhere if

  • You need Realtime, Edge Functions, vectors or auto-generated APIs as well: check them against each option, since the database-only paths don't include them. recipe
  • You need SSO or compliance certifications from day one: Supabase puts SSO and SOC 2 on the Team plan. supabase.com

Questions

Does Supabase Free pause my project?

Yes, after 1 week of inactivity, and you can have 2 active free projects. supabase.com

How do I back up a free Supabase project?

With the CLI: supabase db dump writes roles, schema and data as SQL files. Storage objects aren't included, so copy them separately. supabase.com

What does Supabase cost at 250,000 monthly active users?

$512.50/mo: Pro includes 100,000, and each user after that costs $0.00325. Compute add-ons and egress are extra. supabase.com

Is Render's free database a free tier?

Not for a live app: Free web services spin down after 15 min without traffic (750 free instance hours/month per workspace). Free Postgres: 1 GB, expires 30 days after creation (14-day grace to upgrade), one per workspace. Free Key Value doesn't persist data. render.com

Next steps

Check your own stack

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Or ask your agent

Connect the Stackcut MCP server (https://stackcut.io/mcp, no API key) and ask: “We're launching a B2B SaaS MVP and expect 20,000 monthly active users in year one. What's the cheapest database and auth that fits?”

choose_stack({"project": "B2B SaaS MVP", "needs": [
  {"job": "database", "features": ["Postgres database", "Auth"],
   "volume": {"amount": 20000, "unit": "mau"}},
  {"job": "hosting"}]})