How I Use Supabase Free Tier to Run Multiple Business Apps

Most of my projects run on Supabase free tier. Zero cost. No credit card required. Including the delivery management system I built for my e-commerce business, which processes real orders from real customers.

This isn’t a hack. Their free tier is genuinely generous for small projects. Here’s what you get and how to stay within the limits.

What the Free Tier Includes

Supabase free tier (as of 2026):

• Database: 500 MB PostgreSQL. Enough for 10,000-50,000 rows depending on your schema.
• Auth: 50,000 active users per month. Way more than any small business app needs.
• File storage: 1 GB. For product images, documents, etc.
• Edge functions: 500,000 invocations per month. For serverless logic.
• Real-time: 2 million messages per month. For live updates.
• API: 2 GB bandwidth per month.

For a small business app with 10-50 users, these limits are essentially infinite.

What I Run on Free Tier

DZ Delivery Manager:

• Database: 5 tables (orders, products, customers, wilaya_prices, settings)
• Auth: Me + 3 team members (4 monthly active users)
• Storage: Product photos (~100 MB)
• Bandwidth: ~200 MB/month
• Cost: $0

Portfolio site:

• Database: Blog comments, contact form submissions
• Auth: Just me
• Storage: Almost nothing
• Cost: $0

Domain tracking:

• Database: Domain portfolio, outreach contacts
• Auth: Just me
• Storage: Nothing
• Cost: $0

Where the Free Tier Falls Short

Things that force an upgrade:

1. Database size. 500 MB sounds like a lot until you store image thumbnails or log data. Keep logs and images out of the database (use their storage for images, and external logging).

2. Pausing. If you don’t access the database for 7 days, Supabase pauses it. Wake it up by making a request. For production apps, this is invisible. For hobby projects, you might notice a 1-2 second delay on the first request after inactivity.

3. Support. No email support on free tier. But the docs and community are excellent.

How You Can Do It Too

1. Create a Supabase account (no credit card)
2. Create a project for each app (free tier limit: 2 projects)
   • Workaround: use one project with multiple schemas for multiple apps
3. Use the client library (@supabase/supabase-js or supabase-py)
4. Set up Row Level Security so users can only see their own data
5. Deploy the frontend on Vercel or GitHub Pages (also free)

Stack for a free full-stack app:

• Frontend: Vercel free tier (Astro, Next.js, or plain HTML/JS)
• Backend: Supabase free tier
• Domain: $12/year .com
• Email: Resend free tier (100/day)
• Total monthly cost: $0

FAQs

Q: Can I run an e-commerce site on Supabase free tier?

A: Yes, for a small business. The 500 MB database handles thousands of products and orders. The bandwidth handles hundreds of daily visitors.

Q: What happens when I exceed limits?

A: The database will still function but new features won’t be available until you upgrade. Free tier is $0. Pro tier is $25/month.

Q: How do I back up my data?

A: Supabase has a “database backups” feature on all tiers (free included). Back up daily.

Q: Is Supabase better than Firebase?

A: For structured data (orders, products, customers), yes. PostgreSQL is more capable than Firestore. For real-time chat and notifications, Firebase has an edge.

Related: Build Your Own Tools – the full stack I use. Custom App vs SaaS – when to build vs buy.

Related: Choosing Domain Registrar