Appwrite

Top open-source alternative to Firebase

The open-source cloud for agents & devs. Including Auth, Databases, Storage, Functions, Messaging, Hosting, Realtime, WAF and more

Tech StackTypeScript, PHP, Docker

Self-Host DifficultyEasy

License ModelBSD-3-Clause

GitHub Repositoryappwrite/appwrite

Recommended VPS & Hardware Sizing

Estimated Hosting: $4 - $6/mo (e.g. Hetzner CX22 or DigitalOcean)

Min RAM:1 GB

Rec RAM:2 GB

Compute:1 vCPU

Disk Space:10 GB SSD

Appwrite vs Firebase Comparison Matrix

Evaluation Criteria	Appwrite (Open Source)	Firebase (Proprietary)
Vendor Lock-in	Zero (Open-source Docker Compose)	Google Cloud proprietary APIs
Cloud Functions	30+ supported language runtimes	Node/Python Cloud Functions with cold starts
Cost at Scale	Fixed commodity VPS compute	Steep pay-per-use quota spikes

INTERACTIVE TCO MODELEstimated Rate: $113/user/mo

Financial Impact: Migrating from Firebase to Self-Hosted Appwrite

Detailed Stack Calculator →

Active Team Members / Seats: 25 Users

5 Users (Early Startup)50 Users (Scaleup)200 Users (Enterprise Org)

Firebase (Cloud SaaS)Per-Seat Tax

$33,900per year ($2,825/mo)

3-Year Spend:$101,700

* Excludes enterprise SSO add-ons & usage overages

Appwrite (Self-Hosted)Zero Per-Seat Fee

$120per year ($10/mo Linux VPS)

3-Year Compute:$360

* Commodity Hetzner / DigitalOcean compute instance

Cumulative 3-Year ROI+$101,340Net savings across 36 months (100% reduction)

Annual Free Cash:+$33,780/yr

Need C-Level Buy-In? Generate an instant ROI proposal memo to present to your CTO or CFO.

HEAD-TO-HEAD BATTLES // SIDE-BY-SIDE AUDIT

Compare Appwrite Head-to-Head

Custom Comparison Engine →

★ PRIMARY REPLACEMENTFOSS vs SaaS

Appwritevs

Firebase

Comprehensive benchmark comparing Appwrite against proprietary Firebase licensing and features.

View Full Battle Report→

DatabasesPEER BENCHMARK

Supabasevs

PocketBase

Enterprise Multi-Service PostgreSQL vs Single-Binary Go/SQLite

Inspect Comparison→

DatabasesPEER BENCHMARK

Supabasevs

Firebase

Open-Source Relational Postgres vs Google Proprietary NoSQL

Inspect Comparison→

DatabasesPEER BENCHMARK

PocketBasevs

Firebase

Self-Hosted Zero-Config SQLite vs Google Pay-Per-Read NoSQL

Inspect Comparison→

DatabasesPEER BENCHMARK

NocoDBvs

Baserow

Connect to Any Existing MySQL/PG vs Dedicated PostgreSQL Airtable Clone

Inspect Comparison→

DatabasesPEER BENCHMARK

Appsmithvs

Retool

Free Self-Hosted Internal GUI Builder vs $50/User/Month Retool Paywall

Inspect Comparison→

Core Capabilities & Features

✓Cross-Platform SDKs

✓Built-in User Auth & OAuth

✓Realtime WebSocket Events

✓Database & Storage Buckets

Self-Host Appwrite with Docker Compose

Tweak configuration ports, secrets, and volumes live. Download or copy your ready-to-run container file:

1-Click Docker Compose Generator

Generate production-ready container definitions with customizable ports and volumes.

Select Open-Source Project:

AppwriteBSD-3-Clause

Complete Backend-as-a-Service for web, mobile, and flutter developers

Difficulty: Easy57,649 ⭐

Configure Parameters

HTTP Port (PORT)

HTTPS Port (SSL_PORT)

docker-compose.appwrite.yml

version: '3'
services:
  appwrite:
    image: appwrite/appwrite:latest
    restart: unless-stopped
    ports:
      - "${PORT:-80}:80"
      - "${SSL_PORT:-443}:443"
    volumes:
      - appwrite-data:/storage/uploads
volumes:
  appwrite-data:

Frequently Asked Questions: Self-Hosting Appwrite

How do I self-host Appwrite using Docker Compose?

You can deploy Appwrite (appwrite/appwrite) on any Linux server by copying the docker-compose.yml template on this page, configuring your desired host port and persistent volume directory, and running 'docker compose up -d'.

How does Appwrite compare to Firebase?

Appwrite is an open-source, self-hosted alternative to Firebase built with TypeScript, PHP, Docker. Unlike Firebase ($25 - $200+ / project / month), Appwrite has zero per-user licensing fees and keeps 100% of your data on your own infrastructure.

What are the minimum VPS RAM and CPU requirements for Appwrite?

For production self-hosting (Easy difficulty tier), we recommend at least 2 GB RAM (minimum 1 GB), 1 vCPU, and 10 GB SSD storage, which typically costs $4 - $6/mo (e.g. Hetzner CX22 or DigitalOcean).

Is Appwrite free for commercial business use under the BSD-3-Clause license?

Yes. Distributed under the BSD-3-Clause license, Appwrite can be self-hosted internally by businesses and engineering teams of any size without per-seat royalties.

README INTEGRATION // REPO EMBED

Embed Official Appwrite Badge in GitHub README

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SIMILAR REPOSITORIES // PEER COMPARISON