The best free database 2026 pick depends on what your app does, not on which vendor has the shiniest landing page. Supabase leads the field with a 500 MB Postgres database, 50,000 monthly active users, and unlimited API requests, making it the strongest all-in-one free tier for indie hackers. Neon wins for pure serverless Postgres, MongoDB Atlas M0 for document data, Turso for read-heavy edge apps, and Upstash for caching and queues. This roundup compares the real limits of all five, side by side, so you can pick without a surprise bill.
Verdict
Supabase is the best free database for indie hackers: Postgres plus auth, storage, and realtime, with 50,000 monthly active users and unlimited API requests per Supabase pricing. Choose Neon for serverless Postgres with scale-to-zero compute, MongoDB Atlas for document prototyping on a tier that is free forever, Turso for read-heavy edge workloads, and Upstash for caching and queues.
How This Guide Was Built
This guide is based on official documentation and pricing pages for Supabase, Neon, MongoDB Atlas, Turso, and Upstash, plus community reports. We verified: free tier limits, signup flow, and platform availability from each vendor’s pricing page. We did not run these databases hands-on under load — limits are from official pricing/docs pages. Last verified: August 2026.
Which free database should you use in 2026?
The best free database 2026 answer splits by workload. Supabase suits full-stack apps that need auth and storage alongside Postgres, with 50,000 monthly active users per Supabase pricing. Neon suits developers who want serverless Postgres without a backend platform. MongoDB Atlas M0 suits document data and prototyping, Turso suits read-heavy edge apps, and Upstash suits caching and queues.
- Full-stack app with auth, storage, or realtime → Supabase.
- Pure serverless Postgres, dev-heavy workflow → Neon.
- Document data model or throwaway prototype → MongoDB Atlas M0.
- Read-heavy app served at the edge, SQLite fits → Turso.
- Caching, queues, rate limiting → Upstash Redis.
Free Database Limits Compared
All five free tiers are genuinely free, but their limits diverge sharply. This table compares storage, usage quotas, and pause behavior using the numbers from each vendor’s official pricing page, verified August 2026. Read it against your own traffic pattern — a quota that is generous for one app is a ceiling for another.
| Database | Engine | Free Storage | Free Quota | Pause/Scale behavior | Best For |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Supabase | Postgres + BaaS | 500 MB database, 1 GB file storage | 50,000 MAU, unlimited API requests, 500K edge functions/mo, 2M realtime messages/mo | Pauses after 1 week of inactivity | All-in-one backend (DB + auth + storage) |
| Neon | Serverless Postgres | 0.5 GB per project | 100 CU-hours/mo per project, 10 branches, 5 GB transfer | Scale-to-zero after 5 min idle | Serverless Postgres dev and staging |
| MongoDB Atlas M0 | Document DB | 512 MB (shared RAM/vCPU) | Free forever; shared resources | Always-on; no automated failover, no SLA | Document data, prototyping |
| Turso | Edge SQLite (libSQL) | 5 GB | 500M rows read/mo, 10M rows written/mo, 3 GB syncs/mo | Always-on edge replicas; no pause | Read-heavy edge apps |
| Upstash Redis | Serverless Redis | 256 MB | 500K commands/mo, 10K commands/sec, 1 database | Serverless; no pause | Caching, queues, rate limits |
Supabase: the all-in-one Postgres pick
Supabase offers Postgres plus a backend-as-a-service layer, with a 500 MB database, 1 GB file storage, and 50,000 monthly active users per Supabase pricing. It is for indie hackers who want auth, storage, and realtime alongside their database.
Free-tier limits
- 500 MB database; 1 GB file storage.
- 50,000 monthly active users; unlimited API requests.
- 500,000 edge function invocations/month; 2M realtime messages/month.
- 200 concurrent connections.
- 2 active projects max.
- Projects paused after 1 week of inactivity.
- No automatic backups; 1-day log retention; community support only.
Pros
- Generous 50,000 MAU and unlimited API requests.
- Includes auth, storage, and realtime out of the box.
- Strong Postgres compatibility.
Cons
- 2-project cap limits multi-app setups.
- Pauses after 1 week of inactivity.
- No automatic backups on the free tier.
Pick Supabase if you need auth, storage, and realtime in one free tier. Avoid it if you run many active projects or need reliable automated backups. See the Supabase tool page and our Supabase free tier guide for a deeper dive.
Neon: the scale-to-zero Postgres pick
Neon provides serverless Postgres with scale-to-zero compute, 0.5 GB storage per project, and 100 CU-hours/month per project per Neon pricing. It is for developers who want Postgres that sleeps when idle.
Free-tier limits
- 0.5 GB storage per project.
- 100 CU-hours/month per project.
- Scale-to-zero after 5 minutes inactive.
- 10 branches per project; 5 GB public network transfer.
- 1-day metrics/logs retention; 1 snapshot.
- No credit card, no time limits; community support (Discord).
Pros
- Scale-to-zero reduces idle compute costs.
- Branching enables lightweight dev environments.
- No credit card required to start.
Cons
- 100 CU-hours can drain quickly under constant load.
- Limited history retention (up to 6 hours or 1 GB of data changes).
- Shared community support only.
Pick Neon if you want serverless Postgres that scales to zero. Avoid it if you run always-on workloads that exceed 100 CU-hours/month. See the Neon tool page and our Neon free tier guide for a deeper dive.
MongoDB Atlas: the free document database
MongoDB Atlas M0 delivers a document database with 512 MB storage, shared RAM/vCPU, and free-forever access per MongoDB pricing. It is for rapid prototyping and document-shaped data.
Free-tier limits
- 512 MB storage; shared RAM; shared vCPU.
- Free forever; shared resources.
- Deploys on AWS, Google Cloud, or Azure.
- No automated failover; no uptime SLA; no backups on M0.
Pros
- Free forever with no time limit.
- Supports MongoDB query language and drivers.
- Multi-cloud deployment options.
Cons
- No automated failover or SLA.
- No backups on the free tier.
- Shared resources limit performance predictability.
Pick MongoDB Atlas M0 if you need a document database for prototyping. Avoid it if you require production-grade reliability or backups. See the MongoDB Atlas tool page and our MongoDB Atlas free tier guide for a deeper dive.
Turso: the edge SQLite pick
Turso provides edge SQLite via libSQL, with 5 GB storage, 500 million row reads/month, and always-on edge replicas per Turso pricing. It is for read-heavy applications deployed at the edge.
Free-tier limits
- 100 databases; 5 GB storage.
- 500 million rows read/month; 10 million rows written/month.
- 3 GB monthly syncs.
- 1-day point-in-time restore; community support.
Pros
- Edge replicas reduce latency globally.
- High row-read quota suits read-heavy apps.
- SQLite-compatible with libSQL extensions.
Cons
- Row-read budget is the binding constraint for loops.
- Limited write volume (10M rows/month).
- No automated failover or SLA.
Pick Turso if you serve read-heavy apps at the edge. Avoid it if your workload is write-heavy or requires strong consistency guarantees. See the Turso tool page and our Turso free tier guide for a deeper dive.
Upstash: the serverless Redis pick
Upstash offers serverless Redis with 256 MB data, 500,000 commands/month, and 10,000 commands/sec per Upstash pricing. It is for caching, queues, and rate limiting.
Free-tier limits
- 256 MB data; 10 GB monthly bandwidth.
- 500,000 commands/month; 10,000 commands/sec.
- 1 database max; REST API included; community support.
Pros
- Serverless with no pause behavior.
- REST API enables edge-friendly access.
- Generous command quota for light caching.
Cons
- 500K command ceiling is tight for chatty apps.
- Only 1 database per account.
- No SLA or premium support on free tier.
Pick Upstash if you need caching, queues, or rate limiting. Avoid it if your app polls frequently or exceeds 500K commands/month. See the Upstash tool page and our Upstash free tier guide for a deeper dive.
Common mistakes
Free database tiers fail in predictable ways, usually a quota or a pause nobody planned for. These are the mistakes we see most often in indie projects, with the exact limit behind each one. A five-minute read now saves a weekend of migration later.
- Ignoring Supabase’s 1-week pause — a project with no activity for a week is paused; the first request after that triggers a cold restore, and on the free tier there are no automatic backups to fall back on.
- Blowing Neon CU-hours on idle compute — compute hours tick down while a project is awake; scale-to-zero kicks in only after 5 minutes of inactivity, so always-on dev boxes can burn 100 CU-hours a month fast.
- Treating the 512 MB M0 as production — MongoDB Atlas M0 has no automated failover, no uptime SLA, and no backups; it is a prototyping tier, not a production tier.
- Hitting the Turso row-read budget in loops — 500 million rows read per month sounds huge until a background job re-scans a table in a loop; row reads, not storage, are the binding constraint.
- Upstash’s 500K command ceiling on chatty apps — polling, heartbeats, and per-request cache hits add up quickly against 500,000 commands per month; batch or move hot paths before you hit the cap.
FAQ
Is Supabase still free in 2026?
Yes. Supabase’s free tier still includes a 500 MB Postgres database, 50,000 monthly active users, and unlimited API requests per Supabase pricing. The constraints to plan around are the 2-project cap and the pause after 1 week of inactivity. See our Supabase free tier guide for the full breakdown.
Which free database is best for a side project?
For most side projects, Supabase is the best free database 2026 pick because it bundles Postgres, auth, and storage under one free tier per Supabase pricing. If you need only a database, Neon’s serverless Postgres scales to zero after 5 minutes, and Turso’s edge SQLite suits read-heavy apps. Match the database to your workload, not the hype.
Can I run a production app on a free database?
Only with careful limits. MongoDB Atlas M0 has no automated failover, SLA, or backups per MongoDB pricing, and Supabase pauses idle projects after a week. Free tiers are workable for staging, prototypes, and low-traffic apps, but production data deserves a paid tier or a self-managed database with backups.
Where to go next
For a deeper dive into the winner, read our Supabase free tier guide, and for serverless Postgres specifics see our Neon free tier guide. The other three tools each have their own guide — MongoDB Atlas, Turso, and Upstash — linked from their sections above. If you are also choosing a host, compare Best Free Web Hosting 2026.