Netlify vs PocketBase
Build, deploy and scale modern web projects
vs. Open-source backend in a single Go binary
Pricing tiers
Netlify
Starter (Free)
300 credits for the month. 1 concurrent build. Small team ok. Free SSL + global CDN.
Free
Personal
$9/month. 1,000 credits. Password-protected previews.
$9/mo
Pro
$20/user/month. 3,000 credits. 3+ concurrent builds. Unlimited members. Role-based access control.
$20/mo
Enterprise
Custom. Unlimited credits, SLA, compliance (SOC2, HIPAA), dedicated support.
Custom
PocketBase
Self-Hosted
MIT-licensed single binary. Run on any VPS / Docker / bare metal. No usage caps — only limited by your server.
$0 base (usage-based)
Free-tier quotas head-to-head
Comparing starter on Netlify vs self-hosted on PocketBase.
| Metric | Netlify | PocketBase |
|---|---|---|
| concurrent builds | 1 builds | — |
| credits per month | 300 credits | — |
Features
Netlify · 12 features
- Build Plugins — Customize build pipeline via plugins. Ecosystem of community plugins.
- Edge Functions — Deno runtime at the edge. Request rewrites, A/B, personalization.
- Extensions (Marketplace) — Integrations with 100+ services via one-click install.
- Git-based Deploys — Auto-deploys from GitHub/GitLab/Bitbucket. Deploy previews per PR.
- Netlify Auth — Newer auth product replacing Identity. OAuth, magic links, email+password.
- Netlify Blobs — Object + key-value store accessible from Functions + Edge.
- Netlify Forms — Zero-code form handling. Spam filtering, notifications, Zapier.
- Netlify Functions — AWS Lambda-backed. Node, Go, Rust. Background functions, Scheduled functions.
- Netlify Identity — OAuth + email auth managed. Gotrue open-source backend (forked by Supabase).
- Netlify Image CDN — On-the-fly resizing, format conversion (WebP/AVIF).
- Password-Protected Previews — Password-protect deploy previews.
- Platform Primitives (Cache) — Fine-grained cache control + on-demand revalidation (Next.js + Nuxt compat).
PocketBase · 12 features
- Access Rules — Record-level access rules (filter expressions) referencing @request and @collect…
- Admin Dashboard — Built-in web UI for schema + data management.
- Auth — Email+password, OAuth2 (Google, GitHub, Facebook, Apple, Discord, Microsoft, etc…
- Backups — Built-in backup/restore with S3 upload option.
- Built-in Mailer — SMTP integration for verification, password reset, magic link emails.
- Collections — Schema-defined record types with fields, validations, and record/admin/auth acce…
- Embedded JS Engine — JavaScript VM (goja) lets you write hooks in JS without recompiling.
- Extend as Go Library — Embed PocketBase in a larger Go app, add custom routes and events.
- File Storage — Local filesystem or S3-compatible storage with access rules.
- Hooks — Server-side Go or JavaScript hooks that run on CRUD events (OnRecordBeforeCreate…
- Migrations — JS/Go migration scripts applied on startup.
- Realtime Subscriptions — SSE-based subscriptions to collection changes.
Developer interfaces
| Kind | Netlify | PocketBase |
|---|---|---|
| CLI | Netlify CLI | — |
| SDK | @netlify/sdk | Go API (extend as library), pocketbase (Dart), pocketbase (JS SDK) |
| REST | Netlify REST API | REST API |
| OTHER | Edge Runtime (Deno) | Admin Dashboard, Realtime SSE |
Staxly is an independent catalog of developer platforms. Outbound links to Netlify and PocketBase are plain references to their official websites. Pricing is verified against vendor pages at publication time — reconfirm before buying.
Want this comparison in your AI agent's context? Install the free Staxly MCP server.