SelfDB is an open-source, self-hosted backend-as-a-service platform: the database, file storage, realtime events and serverless functions layer you would otherwise rent from a hosted service, packaged as one Docker Compose stack with a web admin console. PostgreSQL is the core, and a FastAPI gateway puts a single REST API in front of it.

What it provides

• PostgreSQL 18 core — PgBouncer connection pooling, automatic schema initialisation and a migration system.
• Unified REST API (FastAPI) — JWT authentication with refresh tokens and role-based access control, dynamic table operations with schema introspection, parameterised SQL execution, bucket and file management, webhook delivery tracking, and a WebSocket proxy for realtime connections.
• S3-compatible storage service — multipart uploads, HTTP range requests for streaming media, persistence to Docker volumes.
• Realtime — a Phoenix (Elixir/OTP) channel relay fed by PostgreSQL LISTEN/NOTIFY triggers; internal-only, reached through the API proxy at /api/v1/realtime/ws.
• Serverless functions — a Deno 2 runtime for TypeScript and JavaScript with HTTP, scheduled, database and event triggers, plus hot reload while you edit.
• Admin console (React + Vite) — dashboard metrics and activity feed, SQL editor with syntax highlighting, visual table designer, drag-and-drop file browser, and a function editor with live deployment.
• Client libraries — REST, Swift, JavaScript and Python SDKs.

Requirements

Docker and Docker Compose on a Linux host; budget a couple of GB of RAM and around 10 GB of disk for the six containers (API gateway, storage service, Deno runtime, Phoenix relay, PostgreSQL with PgBouncer, admin console). No GPU needed. The GitHub edition is an early beta and setup is manual: clone the repository, set the environment files for ports and database credentials, then bring the stack up with Docker Compose.

Licence

MIT — the source of the GitHub edition is published under an MIT licence. The project follows an open-core model: the repository ships early-beta builds, while the vendor sells a separately built, pre-optimised Stable Edition as a one-time purchase. The free edition is complete and self-hostable; expect breaking changes while it is in beta.

Alternatives

• Appwrite — backend platform with auth, database, storage and functions.
• PocketBase — single-binary backend with SQLite, auth and realtime.
• NocoDB — spreadsheet-style front end over an existing database.
• Directus — data platform and headless CMS over any SQL database.