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Dev tools · alternatives · 2026

24 alternatives to InstantDB – A Modern Firebase

Hey there HN! We’re Joe and Stopa, and today we’re open sourcing InstantDB, a client-side database that makes it easy to build real-time and collaborative apps like Notion and Figma. Building modern apps these days involves a lot of schleps. For a basic CRUD app you need to spin up servers, wire up endpoints, integrate auth, add permissions, and then marshal data from the backend to the frontend and back again. If you want to deliver a buttery smooth user experience, you’ll need to add optimistic updates and rollbacks. We do these steps over and over for every feature we build, which can…

InstantDB is an open-source client-side database designed to simplify building real-time and collaborative applications. It eliminates common development tasks like server setup, authentication, permissions, and data… Below are 24 products that do a similar job, ranked by how close each is in meaning and then by launch-day votes. InstantDB – A Modern Firebase launched in 2024; newer entries below may have overtaken it.

  1. 1
    InstantDB▲320

    Complete backend with auth and storage in one prompt

    Apr 2026 · instantdb.com · its alternatives →

  2. 2
    clientdb▲295

    Build lightning fast apps with instantaneous interactions

    2022 · its alternatives →

  3. 3EA
  4. 4

    Discover Firebase, Google’s mobile and web app development platform that helps developers build apps and games that users will love.

    2012 · firebase.com · its alternatives →

  5. 5

    The open source Firebase alternative.

    2020 · supabase.com · its alternatives →

  6. 6
    EasyDB▲155

    A one-click ephemeral database

    2019 · its alternatives →

  7. 7

    An open source Firebase alternative

    2020 · supabase.com · its alternatives →

  8. 8

    One year ago I open-sourced my very first 'real' project and shared it here. I was a college student in my senior year and desperately looking for a job. At the time of sharing it i couldn't even afford a domain and naively let someone buy the one i had my eyes on lol. It's been a hell of a year with this blowing up, me moving to another country, and switching 2 jobs. In a year we somehow managed to hit 26k stars, grow a 1000+ person discord community, and support 37 languages. I couldn't be more grateful for the community that helped this grow, but now i don't know what direction to take…

    2025 · drawdb.app · its alternatives →

  9. 9

    🔥 🔥 🔥 A Free & Self-hostable Airtable Alternative. Contribute to nocodb/nocodb development by creating an account on GitHub.

    2021 · github.com · its alternatives →

  10. 10
    PeerDB▲110

    Fast, native ETL for Postgres

    2023 · peerdb.io · its alternatives →

  11. 11

    We just launched Outerbase Studio, the open-source version of our core database offering. It works in your browser or as a desktop app and supports MySQL, PostgreSQL, and SQLite. What it does: • Connects to MySQL, PostgreSQL, and SQLite databases. • Spin up local databases directly through the UI, even if you don’t have one running. • Manage and query your data in a lightweight, intuitive interface. • Completely open source. Why we built it: We wanted to share the core Outerbase experience with the developer community as a free, open-source tool. It’s simple, fast, and removes the barriers…

    2024 · github.com · its alternatives →

  12. 12
    Baserow▲341

    Baserow 2.0 introduces workflow automations, the Kuma AI assistant, date dependencies, smarter AI fields, workspace search, and improved security with 2FA.

    2022 · baserow.io · its alternatives →

  13. 13
    Sheetbase▲450

    Free, fast and fun way to build modern websites and apps 🛠️

    2018 · sheetbase.net · its alternatives →

  14. 14

    Generate APIs, databases, and your backend with a prompt.

    2023 · its alternatives →

  15. 15
    restdb.io▲131

    Simple online NoSQL database backend

    2016 · restdb.io · its alternatives →

  16. 16

    Build real-time apps without maintaining the infrastructure

    2017 · its alternatives →

  17. 17

    Hello! For the past year I’ve been working on a fully-managed data warehouse built on Clickhouse. I built this because I was frustrated with how much work was required to run an OLAP database in prod: re-writing my app to do batch inserts, managing clusters and needing to look up special CREATE TABLE syntax every time I made a change. I found pricing for other warehouses confusing (what is a “credit” exactly?) and worried about getting capacity-planning wrong. I was previously building accounting software for firms with millions of transactions. I desperately needed to move from Postgres to…

    2023 · github.com · its alternatives →

  18. 18
  19. 19
    StationDB▲100

    Launch your instant admin panel online in a few clicks

    2022 · its alternatives →

  20. 20

    Announcing Appwrite 0.14 with 11 Cloud Function Runtimes! 🥳

    2022 · github.com · its alternatives →

  21. 21

    Simple online database service in the cloud with NoSQL, REST API, low code javascript hooks, MongoDB support and more. Perfect for API automation, custom development, enterprise, backoffice, serverless backends, database driven websites. It provides easy collaboration and data management with secure

    2016 · restdb.io · its alternatives →

  22. 22

    Build a database-backed full-stack app in under a minute.

    2021 · blog.glitch.com · its alternatives →

  23. 23

    A Go SQL query builder and struct mapper. Contribute to samonzeweb/godb development by creating an account on GitHub.

    2016 · github.com · its alternatives →

  24. 24

    The local-first database that runs on every JS runtime and replicates with your existing backend - no vendor, no lock-in - https://rxdb.info/ - pubkey/rxdb

    2017 · github.com · its alternatives →

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Ranked by how close each launch is in meaning, then by votes. Prices were read from each product’s own site when checked and can change. Refine with your own description →