v1.0.9 LTS — 87 plugins (25 free + 62 paid), Go-native binary, CLI/Admin lockstep. What's new
nSelf vs Supabase
Supabase is the best hosted Postgres-as-a-Service on the market. That is a real compliment. If you want an elegant dashboard, managed pooling, and someone else's on-call rotation, use Supabase.
nSelf is for the case where that is the wrong trade.
The short version
| nSelf | Supabase | |
|---|---|---|
| Model | Self-hosted CLI | Managed SaaS (self-host available) |
| License | MIT core · source-available paid plugins | Apache 2.0 core · closed SaaS layer |
| Pricing model | Flat $0.99–$49/mo plugin bundles | Per-project + usage-metered (MAUs, egress, function GB-s) |
| Data ownership | On your server, always | Their infrastructure by default |
| Vendor lock-in | Zero — it's just Docker Compose | Real — proprietary auth + edge function runtime |
| Extensibility | 87 plugins + CS_1..CS_10 custom services in any language | Edge Functions (Deno) + Postgres extensions |
| AI stack | nself plugin install ai claw mux voice browser | Not included |
Where Supabase wins
- Zero ops. Click a button, get a Postgres. They keep it up.
- Polished dashboard. Supabase Studio is great. nSelf Admin is a local companion, not a hosted UI.
- Row Level Security with Postgres RLS first. Supabase was built around RLS. nSelf uses Hasura permissions by default, which is a different mental model.
- Brand recognition. Investors know the name.
Where nSelf wins
- You own the server. All data, all logs, all backups. No surprise egress fees.
- Flat pricing that does not scale with MAUs. A $0.99/mo plugin bundle is $0.99/mo whether you have 10 users or 10 million. Supabase's Pro plan starts at $25/mo and climbs with MAU/bandwidth/function duration.
- Real custom services. Want a Go microservice, a Python FastAPI worker, or a Rust plugin? Drop it in
CS_1..CS_10. With Supabase you use Deno Edge Functions or nothing. - The AI suite. ɳClaw, ɳMux, ɳVoice, ɳBrowser — an integrated AI assistant stack with persistent memory. Not available on Supabase at any price.
- Hasura GraphQL out of the box. GraphQL with permissions + remote schemas + subscriptions, not a separate product.
Pricing at realistic scale
1,000 daily active users, one mid-sized Postgres, moderate function usage:
- Supabase Pro: $25/mo base + per-MAU overages + function GB-s + egress ≈ $40–$120/mo in practice.
- nSelf: one Hetzner CX33 ($14.90/mo) + plugin bundle ($0.99/mo) = ~$16/mo. Your compute, your bandwidth, nothing metered.
The numbers diverge further at 10k+ users. Supabase tops out in the hundreds to low thousands per month. nSelf tops out at whatever your server costs plus bundle prices.
Lock-in tradeoffs
- Postgres dump works in both directions. Moving to or from Supabase is straightforward at the data layer.
- Edge Functions → CS_N is a rewrite. Deno is not Node/Go/Python, and most business logic in Supabase edge functions will not transfer without changes.
- Supabase Auth → nHost Auth (nSelf Auth) is a migration. Both use JWT, but user shape + RLS policies differ.
When to pick Supabase
- You genuinely do not want to run a server.
- Your team would rather pay $500/mo than hire 0.1 FTE of DevOps.
- You want to ship a weekend prototype with zero setup.
When to pick nSelf
- You will never "exit to your own infra" because you started there.
- Your cost curve cannot bend with user count.
- You want Postgres + Hasura + Auth + Storage + a real AI stack in one Compose file.
- Data residency, compliance, or sovereignty matters.
Migration outline
- Run
nself initon a Hetzner/Oracle/DigitalOcean box. pg_dumpfrom Supabase,psqlinto nSelf.- Regenerate Hasura metadata from your schema.
- Rewrite Edge Functions as Custom Services (CS_N).
- Point DNS. Delete the Supabase project. Keep the backup.
Links: install nSelf · pricing · full comparison matrix