Free PostgreSQL databases
Tags: postgres, database, showdev, supabase
Published: 2020-03-29 09:49:39

When you're building a startup, choosing a database is one of the most important tech decisions you'll make. And it's one of the hardest decisions to change once you've started.

Choosing PostgreSQL is undoubtedly a safe choice. There's a reason it's [loved by startups](https://twitter.com/supabase_io/status/1236946392779608064): it's reliable, has [amazing performance](https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/new-benchmarks-show-postgres-dominating-mongodb-in-varied-workloads-300875314.html), and it stores JSON data so you can even use it like a NoSQL database.

![Loved by Startups](https://dev-to-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/i/4lms8ugmjzrq0fhp2qd9.jpg)

Unfortunately Postgres is not as cheap or easy to get started as some NoSQL databases like Mongo or Firebase. But Mongo and Firebase have a few drawbacks. 

For example, did you know you can only update a Firebase document [once per second](https://firebase.google.com/docs/firestore/quotas#writes_and_transactions)? Or have you considered that even a Mongo database has a schema - it's just that your schema [lives in your (soon-to-be-spaghetti) code](http://blog.shippable.com/why-we-moved-from-nosql-mongodb-to-postgressql)?

So there's a tradeoff: choose something that's easy at the start and regret it once it's too hard to migrate; or choose Postgres which is difficult to get started and isn't as free as Firebase.

At Supabase we plan to give you the best of both worlds. And we're starting with free Postgres databases. 

## Free databases for Alpha users

Today we're soft-launching [app.supabase.io](https://app.supabase.io) and for the *first 100 developers* who opt-in to our Alpha program, we'll give you a free Postgres database for 6 months. 

We'll even work with you if you get stuck with Postgres. We will literally help you solve your database issues so that we can ensure other developers don't face the same problems.

## What's the catch?

No catch! Because we're in alpha, we need your leniency. Help us find bugs while we build Supabase.

But more importantly we need your feedback. We want to understand how you're using your database and any points where you feel stuck.

## How do I sign up

1. Sign up
2. Click the alpha button
3. We will email you the database login details

![Join Alpha](https://dev-to-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/i/ooy2uf7khefoxtkyxoe2.gif)

## What are the specs?

Your database will be running on a server with the following specs:

- Postgres 12 (it's awesome!)
- 1 GB RAM
- 1 vCPU 	
- 1 TB data transfer
- 25 GB disk space

## Start your side project

There's one benefit of the world-wide quarantine: plenty of time to start that side-project that you always dreamed of. 

At Supabase, we're helping developers to build products faster. We'll continue releasing some amazing tools that make Postgres as easy to use as Firebase. Some of the things we're about to launch:

- ⚡ Realtime listeners! Subscribe to your database just like you would with Firebase.
- 🤖 Instant RESTful APIs that update when you update your schema. Supabase introspects your schema and updates your API and documentation.
- 🔗 Connectors. Send realtime database changes to other systems, like queues or webhooks (Slack notifications!).
- 📓 Auto-documentation for your APIs and Postgres schema. What's better than documentation? Documentation that you don't have to manually keep up to date.

We'll announce all our future features with more freebies here on DEV first. Follow us so that you don't miss out.

![Follow](https://dev-to-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/i/jf7adc5e3kbdu4luxvt4.gif)