PocketBase vs Supabase: what their users struggle with
Not a verdict and not a star rating: the problems users of PocketBase and Supabase describe in public, side by side, each one linked to its source (as of 2026-10-15).
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| PocketBase | Supabase | |
|---|---|---|
| Recent reports compared | 15 | 29 |
| Themes compared | 15 | 28 |
| Public source threads | 57 | 66 |
| Pain points | 7 | 18 |
| Feature requests | 5 | 7 |
| Workarounds | 3 | 2 |
| Switching reasons | 0 | 2 |
| Reports rated “Causes churn” | 0 | 2 |
Every count in this table is of open reports in the recent window (PocketBase since 2023-10, Supabase since 2023-10); older and fixed reports are not counted. The counts measure how much public discussion exists for each product, not which is better: a popular tool collects more reports.
Problems mostly raised about PocketBase
- Admin UI not responsive on mobile, needs horizontal scrolling · Mobile · Annoyance
- Hard to debug JavaScript hooks run on the embedded runtime · API & developer experience · Annoyance
- No way to store NULL values in fields · API & developer experience · Blocks work
- Simple queries time out on SQLite stored on EFS · Reliability & bugs · Blocks work
Problems mostly raised about Supabase
- Making views respect row level security takes real heroics · Permissions & security · Blocks work
- PostgREST API judged too basic compared to writing SQL · API & developer experience · Annoyance
- Custom SMTP with Office 365 or Outlook times out · Integrations · Blocks work
- Fetch to Supabase APIs fails in Safari with access control errors · Reliability & bugs · Blocks work
- Scoped Full access PAT cannot reveal project API keys · API & developer experience · Blocks work
Go further
Open PocketBase and Supabase in the compare tool to filter by area and severity, PocketBase alternatives, Supabase alternatives, or the state of backend platform.
How the data is built. A theme is a group of reports about the same problem; unique means not matched to a theme on the other product.