the catalog · ☁️ Hosting
Nhost
★ 8kFirebase-shaped backend on Postgres + Hasura GraphQL: auth, storage, and serverless functions out of the box.
Nhost does the job of Firebase, self-hosted. It is MIT-licensed, so you can do essentially what you like with it, and setting it up is an afternoon, not a weekend. Firebase bills $25/mo for it. 8k stars on GitHub.
Open-source replacement for Firebase.
- Licence
- MIT
- Self-hosting
- Medium
- The paid one costs
- $25/mo
- GitHub stars
- 8k
Is it actually a replacement?
We have written a verdict on what it replaces — what you lose, and why people still pay:
How Nhost runs
Where it runs
Nhost runs on your machine or their cloud.
Installing it
Hosted Nhost project, or Nhost CLI/Docker for local and self-hosted deployments.
Where your data lives
Application and auth records live in PostgreSQL, GraphQL metadata and migrations can live beside the project in version-controlled files, uploaded objects use S3-compatible storage, and serverless-function source remains in the project directory. Nhost Cloud runs those services in Nhost's infrastructure.
What setup takes
Self-hosting means operating PostgreSQL, Hasura, authentication, storage, functions, networking, secrets, email, and upgrades rather than one small binary.
The catch compared with Convex
Nhost's PostgreSQL-and-GraphQL model is conventional and powerful, but it does not reproduce Convex's reactive functions, automatic cache invalidation, or unified TypeScript data model.
Nhost questions
Is Nhost open source?
Yes — it is released under MIT.
Can Nhost replace Firebase?
Our verdict on Firebase Blaze is YES. Supabase (108k stars), PocketBase (59k stars), Appwrite (57k stars) are mature open-source replacements for Firebase Blaze — self-host with real ops work and stop paying.
Can I self-host Nhost?
Yes — we rate it medium to self-host, and it runs on your machine or their cloud. Hosted Nhost project, or Nhost CLI/Docker for local and self-hosted deployments.