Tag
Postgres
Built on or for Postgres. 22 reviewed tools: 20 free or open source, 2 hosted with a real free tier.
Order: free and open source first, then hosted products with a real free tier, then paid-led; catalog order inside each group, with quiet or archived repos last. Not a score, and no tool pays for its place.
22 tools
- SupabaseOpen-source Firebase alternative built on Postgres
Free / OSS · Freemium · 113k GitHub stars
VerdictThe Firebase alternative for developers who want real Postgres.
CatchThe all-in-one convenience creates dependency. Complex queries hit performance limits. Self-hosting requires significant operational knowledge.
- ListmonkAGPL-3.0 self-hosted newsletters and transactional mail
Free / OSS · AGPL-3.0 · 23.9k GitHub stars
VerdictThe self-host newsletter stack. AGPL, fully free, you run the mail.
CatchAGPL-3.0 is copyleft — network use means you share modifications. You operate Postgres, SMTP, and bounces. There is no official hosted Listmonk Cloud.
- TigerBeetleApache-2.0 financial-transactions database, not general OLTP
Free / OSS · Apache-2.0 · 17.2k GitHub stars
VerdictThe financial transactions database. Apache-2.0, specialized on purpose.
CatchNot a Postgres replacement. No ad-hoc SQL, no JSON documents. Clustered replicas. If you needed a general database, this is the wrong gem.
- ParadeDBAGPL-3.0 Postgres search + analytics; Community free forever
Free / OSS · AGPL-3.0 · 9.4k GitHub stars
VerdictAGPL Postgres search. Community self-host free forever. Cloud is not the free path.
CatchSearch + analytics inside Postgres (pg_search) — not a separate search server. Distinct from Typesense/Meilisearch (cut: no free forever Cloud). Cloud is waitlist/beta — NOT a free hosted tier. Enterprise HA is sales; check current Enterprise pricing on the vendor site.
- HatchetMIT durable tasks/agents on Postgres; Cloud free tier real
Free / OSS · Freemium · 8.2k GitHub stars
VerdictMIT durable tasks on Postgres. Cloud free tier real; self-host forever.
CatchVs Temporal/Inngest/Trigger.dev: Postgres-backed durable tasks + agent runs — not Temporal’s own cluster story, not Inngest/Trigger event-function DX alone. Cloud paid past free run allotment. Self-host is $0 software.
- ElectricApache-2.0 Postgres read-path sync; Cloud PAYG under $5 waived
Free / OSS · Freemium · 10.4k GitHub stars
VerdictApache-2.0 Postgres sync. Self-host free; Cloud hobby under $5 waived.
CatchRead-path sync — not a full offline-write CRDT stack or a replacement for your mutation API. Vs PowerSync/Replicache: Postgres-native shapes + free reads on Cloud, not mobile SQLite product packaging. Pro Cloud starts $249/mo.
- RiverMPL-2.0 durable Postgres job queue for Go; Pro is paid add-ons
Free / OSS · MPL-2.0 · 5.8k GitHub stars
VerdictMPL-2.0 Postgres jobs. Free forever core; Pro is optional paid power, not required to enqueue.
CatchVs BullMQ (MIT Redis/Node queue), Inngest/Trigger.dev (hosted job platforms), and Temporal (durable *workflow* engine): River is a *Postgres job queue for Go*, not Redis, not a SaaS meter, and not Temporal workflows. River Pro is paid add-ons (workflows, batching, sequences, concurrency limits, DLQ, …) via a private Go module — core stays free MPL-2.0 with no paid code in the OSS tree.
- PostgRESTMIT instant REST API for any Postgres schema
Free / OSS · OSS/MIT · 27.7k GitHub stars
VerdictMIT REST-for-Postgres. Schema+RLS as API vs ORM/GraphQL twins; SQL-first teams win.
CatchVs Prisma/Drizzle (typed app ORMs) and Hasura (GraphQL instant API): PostgREST is REST-from-schema, not an ORM and not GraphQL. Complex business workflows still want app code; you lean on SQL views/RPCs and RLS design instead of controllers.
- InsForgeApache agent-native backend with MCP self-host
Free / OSS · Freemium · 13.2k GitHub stars
VerdictApache agent-native backend when coding agents should own DB/auth/storage over MCP — not plain Supabase; cloud Free is capped, Compose is the unlimited OSS path.
CatchCloud: Free is capped and pauses; Pro (~$20–25/mo) plus separate InsForge Compute and model-gateway usage. Vs Supabase: Supabase is the general Postgres+auth+storage Firebase alt; InsForge’s catch is agent-native MCP/CLI control of the same class of backend, not a better dashboard alone. Self-host still means you run Postgres and the compose stack.
- TrueForgeMIT open-source agent harness — MCP, skills, subagents, approvals, local SQLite or hosted Postgres
Free / OSS · OSS/MIT · 6.3k GitHub stars
VerdictThe MIT harness to stop re-implementing agent loops — start local with SQLite, scale out when you need Postgres.
CatchIt is a harness you integrate, not a finished coding IDE — you still bring models, sandboxes for code execution, and the product UI around it. Requires a current Node (22.14+). Built by TrueFoundry; expect the OSS path to sit next to their commercial platform messaging. Vs langchain / crewai (framework kits) and hermes-agent (batteries-included personal agent): TrueForge is the embeddable runtime when you are shipping your own agent product. Stars have climbed fast for a repo opened in July 2026 (about 500 a week), so don’t read the count as proof of maturity.
- pgvectorOpen-source vector similarity search inside Postgres
Free / OSS · OSS/MIT · 23.4k GitHub stars
VerdictThe default first vector store if you already run Postgres — reach for a dedicated vector database only when you outgrow it.
CatchIt is an extension, so on self-hosted Postgres you compile or package it yourself, and on managed Postgres you are limited to the version your provider ships. HNSW indexes on large tables are slow to build and need plenty of maintenance_work_mem; at hundreds of millions of vectors you will be tuning, quantizing or partitioning. Filtered queries can return fewer rows than expected with approximate indexes unless you use iterative scans (0.8+).
- PGliteApache-2.0 Postgres compiled to WASM for browser, Node, Bun and Deno
Free / OSS · Apache-2.0 · 16.2k GitHub stars
VerdictThe easiest way to get real Postgres in tests, the browser or a local-first app — not your production server.
CatchIt is single user and single connection, so it is not a replacement for a Postgres server behind a multi-user backend. Performance and memory are bounded by the WASM runtime, and only the extensions the project has ported can be loaded. It is still 0.x, so expect API changes between minor versions.
- pgcliBSD-3-Clause Postgres CLI with smart autocompletion
Free / OSS · BSD-3-Clause · 13.4k GitHub stars
VerdictInstall it once and you will stop using bare psql for interactive work.
CatchIt is a Python app, so startup is slower than psql and you need a Python environment. Some psql meta-commands and scripting behaviours differ, so keep psql for scripts. Huge schemas can make the completion refresh slow.
- CitusAGPL-3.0 Postgres extension for distributed tables
Free / OSS · AGPL-3.0 · 12.8k GitHub stars
VerdictThe most Postgres-native way to scale out — pick your shard key carefully.
CatchSharding means choosing a distribution column well; a poor choice makes cross-shard queries slow. AGPL-3.0 matters if you modify Citus and offer it as a service. Not every managed Postgres lets you install it, so you often self-host or use Azure's managed version. Cluster ops are more involved than one Postgres box.
- CloudNativePGApache-2.0 Kubernetes operator for PostgreSQL clusters
Free / OSS · Apache-2.0 · 9.5k GitHub stars
VerdictThe best way to run Postgres on Kubernetes, if you must run Postgres on Kubernetes.
CatchRunning stateful databases on Kubernetes is only a good idea if your team already runs Kubernetes well; storage class and node failures become database problems. Backups still need testing. Commercial support comes from third parties listed in the project.
- RisingWaveApache-2.0 streaming database for fresh, queryable data
Free / OSS · Apache-2.0 · 9.4k GitHub stars
VerdictA real Flink alternative you can write in SQL — great for live dashboards and alerts.
CatchStreaming SQL is a different mental model from batch: state size, watermarks and view design decide your costs. A cluster has several components and uses object storage for state. The project's marketing leans on agentic AI; the core value is incremental views, not AI. RisingWave Cloud is the commercial option.
- usqlMIT universal psql-style CLI for SQL and NoSQL databases
Free / OSS · OSS/MIT · 10.2k GitHub stars
VerdictOne CLI for every database — perfect for ops and scripting across engines.
CatchStill 0.x. Some drivers are only included in certain build tags, so check your binary supports the database you need. Completion and meta-commands are not as deep as pgcli or the native clients.
- UptraceAGPL-3.0 OpenTelemetry APM on ClickHouse and Postgres
Free / OSS · AGPL-3.0 · 4.3k GitHub stars
VerdictA lean OTel-native APM — compare it with SigNoz and pick the UI you like.
CatchYou run ClickHouse and PostgreSQL alongside it. The newest release is a release candidate, so pin a stable version for production. AGPL-3.0, and some features are reserved for the hosted and enterprise editions. Smaller community than SigNoz.
- NhostMIT open-source Firebase alternative with Postgres and GraphQL
Free / OSS · OSS/MIT · 9.4k GitHub stars
VerdictPick it over Supabase if you want GraphQL-first Postgres.
CatchThe GraphQL API runs on Hasura, so you inherit Hasura's permission model. Self-hosting the whole stack in production is possible but the hosted Nhost platform (free tier plus paid plans) is the main path. Smaller community than Supabase.
- Parse ServerApache-2.0 self-hosted backend on Node.js with MongoDB or Postgres
Free / OSS · Apache-2.0 · 21.4k GitHub stars
VerdictA proven, fully self-hosted backend-as-a-service — best when you want the Parse SDKs and model.
CatchIt is a mature, opinionated object model rather than plain SQL, so it feels dated next to Supabase or PocketBase, and complex relational queries can fight the abstraction. You operate the database, scaling and backups yourself. Releases are frequent, so pin versions and read the changelog before major upgrades.
- NeonServerless Postgres that branches
Free tier · Freemium
VerdictPostgres for the serverless era, with game-changing branching.
CatchCold starts affect latency for scale-to-zero databases. The branching model has a learning curve. Regional availability is limited.
- TimescaleTime-series superpowers for Postgres
Free tier · Open-Core · 23.7k GitHub stars
VerdictTime-series data without leaving Postgres.
CatchLicense first: TimescaleDB is split — the core is Apache-2.0, but features in the tsl directory (compression, continuous aggregates and more) are under the Timescale License (TSL), which is source-available and bars offering TimescaleDB as a database service. Adds complexity to Postgres operations. Some hypertable features have limitations. The learning curve for optimal performance is real.
FAQ
- What is the top free pick among Postgres?
- Supabase leads the Stack Gems list for Postgres. Verdict: The Firebase alternative for developers who want real Postgres.
- How many Postgres does Stack Gems review?
- 22: 20 free or open source, 2 hosted with a real free tier. Each review has a verdict and an honest Catch; no tool pays for its spot.
- Which Postgres can I self-host for free?
- Listmonk, TigerBeetle, ParadeDB, Electric, River, PostgREST, InsForge, TrueForge and 10 more.
- Which Postgres have the most GitHub stars?
- Supabase (113k), PostgREST (27.7k), Listmonk (23.9k), per GitHub on 2026-10-21. Stars measure attention, not fit; read the Catch.
- What is the catch with Supabase?
- The all-in-one convenience creates dependency.