Backend platform: what users struggle with, 2026
46 sourced reports about 2 backend platform products, gathered from public posts and linked to where each was said. The most-discussed problem area is Reliability & bugs (28 items across the category). 4 items, across all dates, describe leaving one of these tools.
Get started free with your email Open Supabase on Friction
The category at a glance
| Product | Reports | Themes | Source threads | Most-discussed area |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Supabase | 29 | 28 | 66 | Reliability & bugs |
| PocketBase | 17 | 17 | 57 | API & developer experience |
Problem areas, ranked by number of items
Items of every date, including older ones outside the recent window the report counts above use.
| Area | Items | Supabase | PocketBase |
|---|---|---|---|
| Reliability & bugs | 28 | 20 | 8 |
| API & developer experience | 20 | 8 | 12 |
| Permissions & security | 12 | 7 | 5 |
| Integrations | 10 | 6 | 4 |
| Documentation | 9 | 8 | 1 |
| Self-hosting & upgrades | 9 | 4 | 5 |
| UI & usability | 9 | 3 | 6 |
| Performance | 8 | 3 | 5 |
Read the products
- Supabase problems and requests · Supabase alternatives
- PocketBase problems and requests · PocketBase alternatives
Side by side
Method and limits
Reports come from public Hacker News comments and public issues of vendors' open-source repositories; each was extracted into a structured item, and each links to its source. A report counts once per product, however many people agreed. Open-source and developer-facing products are over-represented because that is where public discussion happens; counts show how much is said, not which tool is better. Full method and sources.
Cite as: Friction, “Backend platform: what users struggle with, 2026”, https://friction.grain64.com/state-of/backend-platform/, data as of 2026-10-15.