Self-host PocketBase

updated Jul 2026deployed & timed by usprices checked · Aug 2026Install verified on Ubuntu 26.04 · Jul 2026 · how we test

Open-source backend in a single Go binary — embedded SQLite database, built-in auth, realtime subscriptions, file storage, and an admin dashboard with zero external dependencies.

Firebase / yr$300

Self-hosted / yr~$55

You keep$245/yr

Pocket the difference — spin it up on a cheap VPS in minutes.Start free on Kamatera →

Key facts

CategoryBackend & BaaS

LicenseMIT

StackGo, SQLite

Min RAM512 MB

Dockeryes

Difficulty

Our recommendation

Pick PocketBase when you want the lightest possible backend — one Go binary, embedded SQLite, auth and realtime and an admin UI included, running comfortably on 512 MB. It's the easiest app in this roster to stand up. The tradeoff is SQLite itself: fine for a single-node app with moderate write concurrency, the wrong choice if you need a separately scalable database.

What you need

Any VPS with at least 512 MB of RAM
A domain you control — most self-hosted setups need HTTPS in front of them
Under an hour if you've used Docker before

Install

Run these commands on your server:

# PocketBase — official prebuilt single-binary release
sudo apt-get install -y unzip
curl -LO https://github.com/pocketbase/pocketbase/releases/download/v0.39.6/pocketbase_0.39.6_linux_amd64.zip
unzip pocketbase_0.39.6_linux_amd64.zip
./pocketbase serve --http=0.0.0.0:8090  #  →  http://SERVER_IP:8090/_/

vps picksBest VPS for self-hostingbenchmarked quarterly · re-priced monthly

What you take on

PocketBase's single-binary simplicity is also where its limits live:

non-negotiableSQLite is embedded, not a service. There's no separate database to scale or fail over independently — back up the data directory (the .db files) like you would any file, and know that heavy concurrent writes are SQLite's weak point.

non-negotiableIt's a young, fast-moving project pre-1.0. The API has stabilized a lot, but check the changelog before upgrading across versions rather than assuming strict backward compatibility.

non-negotiableScaling is vertical, not horizontal. One process on one box is the whole model — if you outgrow a single server, you're migrating to something else, not adding nodes.

An alternative to

Firebase →

Head-to-head

BaaSAug 2026

PocketBase

Appwrite

A single Go binary vs. an all-in-one Docker platform.

One Go binary and SQLite vs. the full Postgres platform.

Read the verdict →

Self-host PocketBase

Key facts

What you need

Install

What you take on

An alternative to

Head-to-head

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