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PocketBase
Open-source backend in a single Go binary
Single-binary OSS backend: auth, realtime, SQLite, file storage, admin UI. Self-hosted only — no managed cloud. MIT-licensed.
Pricing
| Tier | Price | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Self-Hosted | Free | MIT-licensed single binary. Run on any VPS / Docker / bare metal. No usage caps — only limited by your server. |
Limits
| Tier | Metric | Value | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| — | binary size mb | single binary (~25-40 MB) | Distribution size |
| — | database engine | SQLite | Embedded DB engine |
| — | deployment targets | Linux (amd64/arm64), macOS, Windows, Docker | Cross-platform binary |
| — | language | Go | Core language |
| — | ram minimum mb | 50 MB | Idle memory footprint |
| — | recommended for | Prototypes, small-to-medium apps, single-server deployments | |
| — | scaling | Single-writer (SQLite) — scale with VPS size or WAL mode | No horizontal sharding |
| — | version stability | Pre-1.0 (breaking changes possible) | v1.0 roadmap ongoing |
Features
- Access Rules — Record-level access rules (filter expressions) referencing @request and @collection. · docs
- Admin Dashboard — Built-in web UI for schema + data management.
- Auth — Email+password, OAuth2 (Google, GitHub, Facebook, Apple, Discord, Microsoft, etc.), OTP. · docs
- 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 access rules. · docs
- 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. · docs
- File Storage — Local filesystem or S3-compatible storage with access rules. · docs
- Hooks — Server-side Go or JavaScript hooks that run on CRUD events (OnRecordBeforeCreate, etc.). · docs
- Migrations — JS/Go migration scripts applied on startup.
- Realtime Subscriptions — SSE-based subscriptions to collection changes. · docs
Developer interfaces
| Slug | Name | Kind | Version |
|---|---|---|---|
| admin-ui | Admin Dashboard | other | — |
| go-api | Go API (extend as library) | sdk | 0.x |
| sdk-dart | pocketbase (Dart) | sdk | 0.x |
| sdk-js | pocketbase (JS SDK) | sdk | 0.x |
| realtime | Realtime SSE | other | — |
| rest-api | REST API | rest | v1 |
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