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Supabase vs Timeplus

Supabase logo

Supabase

Technology

The open source Firebase alternative

From
Free
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite
Timeplus logo

Timeplus

Databases

Streaming SQL engine built on ClickHouse internals, shipping as one small binary

From
Free
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite

The short version

  • Each has a real cost: Supabase free tier projects auto-pause after 1 week of inactivity; Timeplus proton, the free version, is single-node by design, so any requirement for high availability or horizontal scale forces the commercial licence; the open source edition is a trial in practical terms.
  • They diverge on capability: Supabase covers PostgreSQL database, Timeplus covers Streaming SQL.
  • Prices and features above were last checked on 31 August 2026.

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which Supabase and Timeplus actually diverge.

Attributes where Supabase and Timeplus differ
AttributeSupabaseTimeplus
Pricing modelUnknownPer month for cloud, quoted for self-hosted
PlatformsWeb, iOS, AndroidLinux, macOS, Docker, Kubernetes, Web
CategoryTechnologyDatabases
Founded2020Unknown

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 Supabase

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

Only in Timeplus

  • Streaming SQL
  • Unified streaming and historical
  • ClickHouse-based engine
  • Single binary deployment
  • External streams
  • Materialised views

What people use each for

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

Supabase

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

Timeplus

  • Real-time alerting on Kafka topics where standing up a Flink cluster is more work than the use case justifiesnot Supabase
  • Fraud or anomaly detection that must join a live event stream against recent history in one querynot Supabase
  • Streaming ETL from Kafka or MySQL change data capture into ClickHouse without writing Javanot Supabase
  • A small data team that needs continuous aggregation but has no platform engineers to operate JVM infrastructurenot Supabase

Where each one falls short

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

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

Timeplus

  • Proton, the free version, is single-node by design, so any requirement for high availability or horizontal scale forces the commercial licence; the open source edition is a trial in practical terms.
  • It is a young project against Apache Flink’s decade of production history, so the hiring pool, the connector library and the body of known failure modes are all much smaller.
  • Inheriting ClickHouse internals also inherits ClickHouse constraints: memory-hungry queries, awkward updates and a SQL dialect that is not portable to other engines.
  • Exactly-once semantics and state recovery guarantees are less battle-tested than Flink checkpointing, which matters if the pipeline moves money.
  • Cloud pricing is by provisioned instance size rather than usage, so a bursty workload pays for peak capacity around the clock or has to be resized by hand.

Pricing, plan by plan

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

Timeplus

Free
  • Timeplus ProtonFree
    • Apache 2.0 licence
    • Single node only
    • Full streaming SQL engine
  • Timeplus Cloud$199/month
    • One to thirty-two CPUs
    • 4 GB to 128 GB memory
    • From 250 GB SSD storage
  • Self-hosted or BYOC$undefined/year
    • Multi-node clustering
    • Kubernetes or bare metal
    • Customisable compute and storage

Which should you pick?

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

Choose Timeplus if

  • You need streaming sql.
  • You want to start without paying.
  • You work on Linux, macOS, Docker, Kubernetes, Web.
  • You also want unified streaming and historical.
Timeplus review

Questions people ask

Is Supabase or Timeplus better?
Neither clearly leads. Supabase starts at Free and Timeplus at Free, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, Supabase or Timeplus?
Supabase starts at Free and Timeplus at Free.
Does Supabase or Timeplus run on more platforms?
Supabase runs on Web, iOS, Android. Timeplus runs on Linux, macOS, Docker, Kubernetes, Web.
Can I use Supabase for free?
Both have a free tier, so you can try either at no cost before committing.
What is Supabase best used for?
Supabase is most often used for web application backends using postgres plus auto-generated rest/graphql apis, mobile app backends via flutter/swift/kotlin client libraries, ai applications using vector/embeddings storage, authentication with 20+ social providers plus email/password. Of those, web application backends using postgres plus auto-generated rest/graphql apis and mobile app backends via flutter/swift/kotlin client libraries are not what Timeplus is typically brought in for.
What can Supabase do that Timeplus cannot?
Supabase covers PostgreSQL database, Auto-generated APIs, Authentication & authorization, Real-time subscriptions. Timeplus covers Streaming SQL, Unified streaming and historical, ClickHouse-based engine, Single binary deployment.

Answered from the vendors’ own pages

Supabase: How much does Supabase cost?

Supabase offers a free tier and three paid plans. Pro starts at $25 per month, Team at $599 per month, and Enterprise requires a custom quote. All pricing is in USD charged monthly.

Source
Timeplus: Is Timeplus open source?

The core engine, Timeplus Proton, is Apache 2.0. Timeplus Enterprise and Cloud are commercial.

Supabase: What are Supabase's usage overage fees?

Pro plan users pay $0.00325 per monthly active user over the 100,000 included, and $0.125 per GB for database storage exceeding 8 GB per project. Compute instances cost $10 to $3,730+ per month.

Source
Timeplus: What is the difference from Flink?

Timeplus is one binary with SQL as the only interface; Flink is a JVM cluster with a Java and SQL API and far more operational surface.

Timeplus: Can Proton run in production?

It can, but it is single-node only, so there is no high availability without the commercial edition.

Timeplus: How much is the cloud?

From 199 US dollars a month, sized by CPU and memory, with a fourteen day trial.

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