How it works
PocketBase is a single Go executable with SQLite built in. Run ./pocketbase serve and you have a REST-style API, a web dashboard for managing collections and records, user sign-in (password, one-time codes, OAuth and MFA), file uploads to disk or S3-compatible storage, and realtime subscriptions over Server-Sent Events. JavaScript and Dart SDKs talk to it.
It can be extended with JavaScript hooks or used as a Go framework, and schema changes are saved as migration files. Everything lives on one server, which keeps it cheap and simple but limits growth to the size of that machine. It has not reached version 1.0 yet, so upgrades can require manual migration steps.
PocketBase pros and cons
Pros
- Simple to deploy: one file with no dependencies
- Admin dashboard, auth, files and realtime included
- Runs well on a small, cheap server
- Free and open source, with no vendor account
Cons
- Grows on one machine only, not across many
- Pre-1.0, so breaking changes between versions are possible
- You run backups, updates and monitoring yourself
When to use PocketBase
Pick it when
- Side projects, internal tools and small apps
- Prototypes that need a real backend in minutes
- Self-hosting on a VPS with a small budget
Skip it when
- Large, fast-growing apps that need several servers or managed hosting
PocketBase pricing
Open source
Free (MIT). You pay only for the server you run it on; there is no official hosted version.
Approximate, checked September 2026.What the other tools cost
PocketBase vs the alternatives
Related terms
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