Choosing a backend for a $0 side project in 2026 is mostly a matter of reading pricing pages carefully, because the three most common free-tier choices don’t compete on the same axis. Supabase bundles a full backend platform, Neon meters serverless compute and now adds some backend services, and Turso meters database rows. The differences show up at the edges: when you go quiet, when you go over, or when you need to restore yesterday’s data.
For a $0 side project in 2026, Turso’s free tier is the most generous on raw read and write volume, Neon’s offers 100 projects with scale-to-zero and no idle pause, and Supabase’s bundles the most backend services, including auth, storage, and realtime. Each one pauses, suspends, or breaks in a different place, so the right pick depends on which limit you would hit first.
If you are an indie hacker or bootstrapper with no budget and no ops time, you are not choosing the “best database.” You are choosing which constraint you would rather hit. The three models work differently. Supabase is a dedicated Postgres instance with auth, storage, realtime, and Edge Functions around it (Supabase Pricing). Neon is serverless Postgres that scales to zero when idle (Neon Plans). Turso is SQLite-based and quota-driven, counting rows read and rows written (Turso Pricing).
Free-Tier Limits at a Glance
Every figure below comes from the vendors’ own pricing and plans pages: Supabase Pricing, Neon Plans, and Turso Pricing. Each number is repeated inline in the sections that follow.
| Dimension | Supabase Free | Neon Free | Turso Free |
|---|---|---|---|
| Price | $0/month | $0/month, no credit card | $0/month, no credit card |
| Database size | 500 MB per project | 1 GB per project (20 GB across the account) | 5 GB total storage |
| Compute | Shared CPU, 500 MB RAM | 100 CU-hours per project per month, up to 2 CU (8 GB RAM) | Not compute-metered (row-based) |
| Projects / databases | 2 active free projects | 100 projects | 100 databases |
| Reads and writes | Unlimited API requests (no row quota listed) | Metered through CU-hours | 500M rows read and 10M rows written per month |
| Transfer and sync | 5 GB egress, 5 GB cached egress | 5 GB public network transfer per project | 3 GB monthly syncs |
| Auth and extras | 50,000 MAU; 1 GB file storage; 2M realtime messages; 500K Edge Function invocations | Managed Better Auth up to 60K MAU; 5 GB object storage; 1M function invocations per project; Realtime (Beta) | None listed on the pricing page |
| Idle behavior | Paused after 1 week of inactivity | Scale-to-zero after 5 minutes; idle compute accrues no CU-hours | No pause stated |
| Branches | Not included on Free | 10 per project | Branching adds no usage cost |
| Backups | None on Free | 6-hour history window plus 1 manual snapshot | 1-day point-in-time restore |
| Support | Community | Community (Discord) | Community |
Read across the table and the pattern is clear: the tiers are generous in different dimensions. Supabase is generous in bundled services, with auth, file storage, realtime messages, and Edge Function invocations all included alongside the database (Supabase Pricing). Neon is generous in projects and branches, with 100 projects and 10 branches per project (Neon Plans). Turso is generous in row throughput, with 500 million reads and 10 million writes a month against 5 GB of storage (Turso Pricing). No single row of that table is a clear winner on its own.
What Happens When You Hit the Limit
This is where the three tiers diverge most, and it is the part pricing tables tend to bury.
Supabase pauses. Free projects are paused after one week of inactivity, and the free-plan project limit applies across every organization where you are an owner or administrator (Supabase Pricing, Supabase billing docs). The pricing page lists that pause as the Free plan’s idle behavior, so a project left untouched for a week is paused until you resume it.
Neon scales to zero, then suspends. Compute scales to zero after 5 minutes of inactivity, and idle computes accrue no CU-hours (Neon Plans, scale to zero docs). When the 100 CU-hours per project or the 5 GB network transfer run out, compute is suspended until the next billing period or an upgrade. Storage over the 1 GB per project cap makes writes fail. Neon’s plans page says none of these limits delete your data.
Turso does not state a pause. The Turso Pricing page says nothing about pausing free databases, and it does not describe what happens when you exceed a free quota. Treat both as unknowns and check the page before you depend on either.
Backups and Restore
Backup coverage is thin on all three free tiers, so know that before you ship anything you care about.
Supabase Free includes no automatic backups and no point-in-time recovery. Daily backups start on Pro, where they are kept for 7 days (Supabase Pricing, Supabase backups). Neon Free includes a 6-hour history window (or 1 GB-month) for instant restore and one manual snapshot (Neon Plans). Turso Free includes 1-day point-in-time restore, and the Turso pricing page notes that point-in-time restore and database branching add no usage cost (Turso Pricing).
On all three free tiers, restore depth runs from 6 hours to 1 day, or nothing at all. Real restore windows start on the paid tiers.
Which to Pick by Workload
1. A small SaaS MVP that needs auth, file storage, and realtime. Pick Supabase. The database arrives with 50,000 monthly active users of auth, 1 GB of file storage, 2 million realtime messages, 500,000 Edge Function invocations, and unlimited API requests on the same $0 plan (Supabase Pricing). Neon’s Free plan also lists Better Auth, object storage, and functions, but its Realtime is in beta and its function allowance is metered in capacity-hours, so Supabase’s realtime and Edge Function allowances are the firmer numbers for this workload.
2. Many small experiments and preview branches. Pick Neon. You get 100 projects and 10 branches per project, and scale-to-zero after 5 minutes means idle experiments accrue no CU-hours (Neon Plans). Supabase’s two-project limit would cap this workflow long before compute did.
3. A read-heavy app with simple data. Pick Turso. You get 500 million rows read per month, 10 million rows written, and 5 GB of storage (Turso Pricing). Row quotas map cleanly onto read-heavy traffic in a way that CU-hours do not.
Where Each Free Tier Breaks First
Supabase breaks on size, project count, or inactivity. You get 500 MB of database per project, two active free projects, a pause after one week of inactivity, and no backups on Free (Supabase Pricing, Supabase billing docs). A Postgres app that grows tables quickly hits the 500 MB number first.
Neon breaks on compute hours, storage, or transfer. You get 100 CU-hours per project per month, 1 GB of storage per project (20 GB across the account), 5 GB of network transfer per project, and a 6-hour history window on Free (Neon Plans). Hitting the compute cap suspends the compute, and hitting the storage cap makes writes fail. The cost optimization guide and autoscaling guide cover how to cap compute spend.
Turso breaks on storage, syncs, or restore depth. You get 5 GB of total storage, 3 GB of monthly syncs, and 1-day point-in-time restore (Turso Pricing). The pricing page does not say what happens when you exceed these.
Upgrade Path and First Paid Price
Supabase Pro starts at $25 per month, with the first project included. A $10 per month compute credit covers one Micro instance with 1 GB of RAM and 60 direct or 200 pooled connections (Supabase Pricing, Supabase compute docs). Beyond the included allowances you pay per unit: 100,000 MAU, then $0.00325 per MAU; 8 GB disk per project, then $0.125 per GB; and 250 GB egress, then $0.09 per GB. The spend cap is on by default on Pro (Supabase cost control).
Neon Launch is usage-based: $0.106 per CU-hour (up to 16 CU), $0.35 per GB-month of storage, 500 GB of transfer per project then $0.10 per GB, and 10 branches per project with extra branches at $1.50 per branch-month (Neon Pricing, Neon billing docs). Neon’s pricing page lists a typical Launch spend of $15 per month for an intermittent, 1 GB workload. A Scale tier also exists at $0.222 per CU-hour, with an uptime SLA and SOC 2.
Turso Developer is $4.99 per month, or $1 less on yearly billing. It gives you unlimited databases, 9 GB of storage then $0.75 per GB, 2.5 billion rows read then $1 per billion, and 10-day point-in-time restore (Turso Pricing). Scaler ($24.92 per month) and Pro ($416.58 per month) sit above it.
The first paid step is the cheapest on flat price for Turso ($4.99) and the most predictable for Supabase ($25 flat, plus compute beyond the credit). Neon’s first paid step is usage-based, and its own example puts a light workload near $15 per month.
FAQ
Does Supabase’s free tier delete my data when it pauses? The Supabase pricing and billing pages describe the pause as happening after one week of inactivity. Neither page says the pause deletes data, and neither page says it keeps data either, so check the current Supabase docs before you rely on either answer.
Is Neon really free if my app is always on? Not without limits. Free includes 100 CU-hours per project per month, with compute up to 2 CU (8 GB RAM) (Neon Plans). An always-on compute spends that budget, and when CU-hours or network transfer run out, compute is suspended until the next billing period or an upgrade.
Can I run Turso for a read-heavy public app for free? The free tier lists 500 million rows read per month, 10 million rows written, 5 GB of storage, and 3 GB of monthly syncs (Turso Pricing). The pricing page does not say what happens when you exceed those limits, so plan for the quotas you can see.
Do any free tiers include backups? Supabase Free has no automatic backups and no point-in-time recovery. Neon Free has a 6-hour history window plus one manual snapshot. Turso Free has 1-day point-in-time restore.
The Bottom Line
Supabase is the pick if your side project is a product-shaped MVP and you want Postgres, auth, storage, realtime, and functions under one $0 plan. The trade is a 500 MB database, two active projects, a one-week inactivity pause, and no backups on Free (Supabase Pricing).
Neon is the pick if your limit is experiments rather than data: 100 projects, 10 branches each, scale-to-zero after 5 minutes, and idle compute that accrues no CU-hours. The trade is 100 CU-hours, 1 GB per project, and compute suspension when you run out (Neon Plans).
Turso is the pick if your workload is reads: 500 million rows a month, 10 million writes, 5 GB of storage, and a 1-day restore window. Check the overage policy on the pricing page before you commit (Turso Pricing).
The rule of thumb: pick the limit you would rather hit first.
How This Guide Was Built
This comparison is based on the vendors’ published pricing and documentation pages, fetched 2026-10-20 — we did not create accounts or run these services.
The Neon storage figure in this guide is 1 GB per project, which is what the live Neon pages list. The Turso pricing page carries a banner stating that Turso is joining Supabase, linked to the Turso announcement. We report it as an announcement and make no claim about what it changes.