Softwr

Cloud & Infrastructure · head to head

Alibaba Cloud vs Supabase

Alibaba Cloud logo

Alibaba Cloud

Cloud & Infrastructure

Asia's leading cloud computing provider

From
Free
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite
Supabase logo

Supabase

Technology

The open source Firebase alternative

From
Free
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite

The short version

  • Each has a real cost: Alibaba Cloud technical support is a separate subscription, from $19.99 a month for Developer up to $8,000 a month for Enterprise, with only Basic included; Supabase free tier projects auto-pause after 1 week of inactivity
  • They diverge on capability: Alibaba Cloud covers Elastic Compute Service, Supabase covers PostgreSQL database.

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which Alibaba Cloud and Supabase actually diverge.

Attributes where Alibaba Cloud and Supabase differ
AttributeAlibaba CloudSupabase
Pricing modelusage-basedUnknown
PlatformsLinux, Windows, Api, CliWeb, iOS, Android
CategoryCloud & InfrastructureTechnology
Founded20092020

Identical on both: starting price (Free), free tier (Yes), user rating (Not yet rated).

What each one covers

Drawn from each product's published feature list. An absence here means we hold no record of it - not that the product lacks it.

Only in Alibaba Cloud

  • Elastic Compute Service
  • Object Storage Service
  • RDS Database
  • MaxCompute
  • Function Compute
  • CDN
  • Load Balancer
  • API Gateway

Only in Supabase

  • PostgreSQL database
  • Auto-generated APIs
  • Authentication & authorization
  • Real-time subscriptions
  • Storage
  • Edge functions
  • Vector embeddings
  • Database migrations

What people use each for

The jobs each tool is most often brought in to do.

Alibaba Cloud

  • Cloud compute and storage with a strong footprint in China and Asia Pacificnot Supabase
  • Pay-as-you-go infrastructure without upfront commitmentnot Supabase
  • Committed-use discounts through savings plans for steady workloadsnot Supabase
  • CDN and data transfer packages for content deliverynot Supabase

Supabase

  • Web application backends using Postgres plus auto-generated REST/GraphQL APIsnot Alibaba Cloud
  • Mobile app backends via Flutter/Swift/Kotlin client librariesnot Alibaba Cloud
  • AI applications using vector/embeddings storagenot Alibaba Cloud
  • Authentication with 20+ social providers plus email/passwordnot Alibaba Cloud
  • File and media storage (S3-compatible with CDN) and realtime sync over WebSocketsnot Alibaba Cloud

Where each one falls short

Documented limitations, not opinions. Every one is a constraint you would hit in normal use.

Alibaba Cloud

  • Technical support is a separate subscription, from $19.99 a month for Developer up to $8,000 a month for Enterprise, with only Basic included
  • Service prices are not shown as a rate card and route through a calculator or sales
  • Committed discounts require savings plans, reserved instances or capacity packages rather than being automatic

Supabase

  • Free tier projects auto-pause after 1 week of inactivity
  • Free tier hard caps: 500 MB database, 1 GB file storage, 5 GB egress/month, 50,000 monthly active users, max 2 active free projects per organization
  • Pro plan charges usage overages beyond included quotas, e.g. $0.00325 per MAU above 100,000 and $0.125/GB disk above 8 GB
  • SOC2/ISO 27001 certification and HIPAA (add-on) compliance require the $599/month Team plan; not available on the $25/month Pro plan

Pricing, plan by plan

Alibaba Cloud

Free
  • Free TrialFree
    • Free tier credits
    • ECS instances
    • Cloud storage
  • Pay-as-You-GoFree
    • Flexible billing
    • No commitments
    • Global reach

Supabase

Free
  • FreeFree
    • 50,000 MAU
    • 500MB database
    • 5GB egress
  • Pro$25/month
    • 100,000 MAU
    • 8GB disk
    • 250GB egress
  • Team$599/month
    • SOC2 and ISO 27001
    • HIPAA add-on
    • 28-day log / 14-day backup retention
  • Enterprise$undefined/month
    • Custom limits
    • Dedicated support manager
    • 24/7/365 support

Which should you pick?

Choose Alibaba Cloud if

  • You need elastic compute service.
  • You want to start without paying.
  • You work on Linux, Windows, Api, Cli.
  • You also want object storage service.
Alibaba Cloud review

Choose Supabase if

  • You need postgresql database.
  • You want to start without paying.
  • You work on Web, iOS, Android.
  • You also want auto-generated apis.
Supabase review

Questions people ask

Is Alibaba Cloud or Supabase better?
Neither clearly leads. Alibaba Cloud starts at Free and Supabase at Free, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, Alibaba Cloud or Supabase?
Alibaba Cloud starts at Free and Supabase at Free.
Does Alibaba Cloud or Supabase run on more platforms?
Alibaba Cloud runs on Linux, Windows, Api, Cli. Supabase runs on Web, iOS, Android.
Can I use Alibaba Cloud for free?
Both have a free tier, so you can try either at no cost before committing.
What is Alibaba Cloud best used for?
Alibaba Cloud is most often used for cloud compute and storage with a strong footprint in china and asia pacific, pay-as-you-go infrastructure without upfront commitment, committed-use discounts through savings plans for steady workloads, cdn and data transfer packages for content delivery. Of those, cloud compute and storage with a strong footprint in china and asia pacific and pay-as-you-go infrastructure without upfront commitment are not what Supabase is typically brought in for.
What can Alibaba Cloud do that Supabase cannot?
Alibaba Cloud covers Elastic Compute Service, Object Storage Service, RDS Database, MaxCompute. Supabase covers PostgreSQL database, Auto-generated APIs, Authentication & authorization, Real-time subscriptions.
ShareXLinkedInRedditWhatsAppEmail

Related pages

More on Alibaba Cloud

More on Supabase

Keep looking

Other head to heads