Supabase vs AWS: Feature and Pricing Comparison (2025)

Originally posted in https://www.bytebase.com/blog/supabase-vs-aws-pricing/

Hi and welcome to Database DevOps Academy #100! We share Database DevOps insights and best practices for modern engineering organizations weekly. 🐒

In Issue #100, we break down the pricing and functionality for each of Supabase’s core features and compare them to their closest AWS counterparts. 💺

When comparing Supabase and AWS, the key question isn't just about raw features, it's about how much functionality you get per dollar and how easily you can scale from a free plan to enterprise-grade infrastructure.

In this guide, we break down the pricing and functionality for each of Supabase’s core features and compare them to their closest AWS counterparts:

• Supabase Database → AWS RDS PostgreSQL

• Supabase Auth → AWS Cognito

• Supabase Storage → AWS S3

• Supabase Edge Functions → AWS Lambda

• Supabase Realtime (Messages) → AWS SQS/SNS

We’ll go feature by feature, then compare total costs at different usage tiers, and conclude with final recommendations.

Feature by Feature

🗄️ Database: Supabase DB vs AWS RDS

Supabase: Built-in PostgreSQL with real-time, REST API, and simple pricing.

AWS RDS/Aurora: Fully managed PostgreSQL with high configurability, performance tuning, and multi-AZ support.

🧬 Supabase is easier and more predictable. RDS gives more control and is better for compliance-heavy or complex workloads.

See our full comparison here: Supabase vs AWS Database Pricing (2025)

• Supabase bundles compute, storage, backup, and bandwidth into flat tiers.

• AWS RDS offers cheaper options if you commit to Reserved Instances, but requires piecing together compute, storage, backup, and bandwidth costs.

➡️ If you want more predictable cost and fast setup, choose Supabase. If you need performance tuning or compliance, go with RDS.

🔐 Auth: Supabase Auth vs AWS Cognito

Supabase: Easy-to-use auth system with social login, magic links, phone support, and DB integration.

AWS Cognito: Feature-rich identity management with SSO, federation, and enterprise IAM support.

🧬 Supabase Auth is simpler and developer-friendly, great for fast setup and apps with straightforward auth needs. Cognito is better for enterprises that require SSO, security compliance, and deep AWS integration.

➡️ Choose Supabase if you want fast, simple auth for your apps. However, as your business grows, your team will likely need a more sophisticated auth solution. Cognito is one option, but many teams also consider Okta, Azure Entra, or WorkOS.

📦 Storage: Supabase Storage vs AWS S3

Supabase: S3-compatible storage with built-in access control, REST API, and CDN.

AWS S3: Scalable object store with advanced features and global durability.

🧬 Supabase is easier to use for app developers. S3 is more powerful and flexible for enterprise-scale needs.

➡️ It seems that Supabase Storage is built on top of AWS S3, providing an easy-to-use interface and lower pricing—likely due to volume discounts they can secure. The tradeoff is reduced flexibility in managing the underlying S3 buckets directly.

⚙️ Edge Functions: Supabase vs AWS Lambda

Supabase: Deno-based edge functions with tight database integration and minimal cold starts.

AWS Lambda: Flexible, multi-runtime functions with deep AWS service integration.

🧬 Supabase is simpler for edge APIs. Lambda is better for complex logic, language flexibility, and AWS ecosystem workflows.

• Supabase charges a flat fee per call — simpler but may appear higher at first glance.

• AWS Lambda splits billing into two parts:Requests (cheap)Compute (based on memory x execution time), which can add up.

➡️ Supabase Edge charges only an invocation fee, while AWS Lambda has separate charges for invocations and compute time, measured in GB-seconds. Additionally, AWS Lambda supports a wider range of runtimes.

📡 Realtime: Supabase Messages vs AWS SQS/SNS

Supabase: WebSocket-based realtime updates triggered by PostgreSQL changes. Great for simple in-app messaging and live UIs.

AWS SQS/SNS: Scalable, fully managed messaging services. Ideal for decoupled, event-driven architectures and backend pipelines.

🧬 Supabase is great for realtime UX. AWS is better for complex, distributed systems.

• Supabase charges a flat fee per message, making pricing simple and predictable.

• AWS SQS/SNS charges separately for requests, message delivery, and data transfer, offering greater flexibility and scalability for complex event-driven systems.SQS Standard: ~$0.40 per million requestsSNS: ~$0.50 per million publishesAdditional charges: Message delivery (e.g., to Lambda, HTTP endpoints, or SQS) and Data transfer if messages cross regions

➡️ Supabase Realtime charges a flat fee per message, making pricing simple and predictable. AWS SQS/SNS charges separately for requests, message delivery, and data transfer, offering greater flexibility and scalability for complex event-driven systems.

💰 Pricing Comparison by Tier

💡 About AWS Reserved Pricing

The AWS prices shown below are based on on-demand usage, which is flexible but more expensive. If you commit to 1-year or 3-year Reserved Instances (RIs), you can cut costs by 30–70% — especially for RDS and Lambda.

For example:

• RDS db.m5.large (Multi-AZ) drops from $250+/mo to ~$145/mo (1-year RI, no upfront)

• Lambda and compute costs can be reduced via Compute Savings Plans

✅ Use on-demand for flexibility. 🔐 Use Reserved pricing for long-term, cost-optimized workloads — but it comes with lock-in.

🧪 0. Free Tier

🔍 Supabase offers a complete full-stack platform for free, with no expiration. AWS has generous limits — but database and storage expire after 12 months.

🚀 1. Startup (10K MAUs, 20GB DB, 50GB Storage, 500GB bandwidth)

Supabase – $26.50/month

✅ Flat, all-inclusive plan with tiny storage add-on.

AWS

• On-Demand – $75.00/month

• 1-Year RI Estimate: ~$67.73/month

• 3-Year RI Estimate: ~$59.47/month

⚠️ Most cost comes from bandwidth. Setup involves configuring 5+ services.

📈 2. Growing Business (100K MAUs, 200GB DB, 1TB Storage, 5TB bandwidth)

Supabase – $630.40/month

✅ Integrated platform; all services billed under one umbrella.

AWS

• On-Demand – $2,325.59/month

• 1-Year RI Estimate: ~$2,000.69/month

• 3-Year RI Estimate: ~$1,675.79/month

⚠️ More expensive due to metered pricing across services. Complex to manage.

🏢 3. Enterprise (1.5M MAUs, 2TB DB, 50TB Storage, 100TB bandwidth)

Supabase – $19,383.40/month

✅ Predictable, transparent billing; all services built-in.

AWS

• On-Demand – $73,122.81/month

• 1-Year RI Estimate: ~$62,330.91/month

• 3-Year RI Estimate: ~$51,539.00/month

⚠️ Enterprise-grade everything — but costs are 3–4x higher.

🧠 4. Hyperscale (10M MAUs, 10TB DB, 200TB Storage, 500TB Bandwidth)

At this scale, you're operating at a level that most platforms — including Supabase — aren't built to serve out of the box.

Supabase – ❌ Not Recommended at This Scale

Supabase’s architecture is optimized for small to mid-sized applications. While enterprise plans exist, the platform:

• Does not offer horizontal scalability for PostgreSQL (no native sharding or clustering).

• Becomes cost-prohibitive with 10M+ MAUs due to flat per-user pricing.

• Lacks fine-grained controls over networking, observability, and infrastructure.

• May require custom support contracts and offloading core services (e.g., auth to WorkOS, storage to S3) to be viable.

⚠️ Supabase is a great tool for rapid product development, but most teams at this scale migrate to cloud-native stacks like AWS, GCP, or Azure for performance, reliability, and cost control.

✅ If you're approaching hyperscale, you can still start with Supabase — but architect with portability in mind.

AWS – $246,392.81/month (on-demand)

✅ AWS is built for hyperscale: global infra, granular optimization, and predictable cost control through Reserved Instances and architectural tuning.

🧠 Final Thoughts

Supabase is a fantastic platform for startups and growing teams — offering a unified experience, generous free tier, and simple pricing across auth, database, storage, edge functions, and realtime.

It’s ideal for:

• Prototypes and MVPs

• Small-to-mid-scale production apps

• Teams that want to move fast without managing infrastructure

But as your product reaches hyperscale — millions of users, terabytes of data, and high-throughput compute — Supabase starts to hit architectural and economic limits:

• PostgreSQL isn’t horizontally scalable in their setup

• Auth and bandwidth costs grow steeply

• Fine-grained performance tuning and compliance become difficult

🛣️ Scale Path

➡️ Many teams start with Supabase to move quickly, then gradually offload services (auth, compute, storage) to cloud-native infrastructure like AWS, GCP, or Azure as scale and complexity grow.

✅ Choose Supabase if you want a fast, simple way to build and scale to your first million users. ✅ Choose AWS if you need performance at scale, deep customization, or global enterprise-grade infrastructure.

👉 For a deep dive into database-specific pricing, see: Supabase vs AWS Database Pricing