# Back4App vs PocketBase

**Leader by vioscaleAI score:** Back4App

| Attribute | Back4App | PocketBase |
|---|---|---|
| **vioscaleAI score** | 68.4 (53% (medium)) | 56.3 (30% (low)) |
| activity.commits_last_30d | - | 74 |
| adoption.dependent_repos | - | 50 |
| adoption.github_stars | - | 61,408 |
| content.faq | `[{"answer":"A Backend as a Service platform providing backend infrastructure for Flutter, React, iOS, and Android applications, with web deployment and app template support. It is indexed under Backend As A Service.","source":"https://www.back4app.com","question":"What is Back4App?","confidence":0.6},{"answer":"Back4App offers a free tier, so you can start without paying. Paid plans start at $15 per month. Prices are published openly on the vendor's own pricing page. Pricing changes often, so verify at source before relying on it.","source":"https://www.back4app.com/pricing/backend-as-a-service","question":"Is Back4App free?","confidence":0.6},{"answer":"Back4App supports the web, iOS and Android. Platforms we have not confirmed are simply not listed here rather than ruled out.","source":"https://www.back4app.com","question":"What platforms does Back4App support?","confidence":0.6},{"answer":"We have only confirmed a cloud / SaaS deployment for Back4App, so it appears to be vendor-hosted. If a self-hosted option exists we have not found it documented publicly.","source":"https://www.back4app.com","question":"Can Back4App be self-hosted?","confidence":0.6},{"answer":"We have confirmed 4 integrations for Back4App, including Stripe, AWS, DigitalOcean and MongoDB Atlas. This is what we could verify from public sources, so the vendor may support others we have not indexed.","source":"https://www.back4app.com/pricing/backend-as-a-service","question":"What does Back4App integrate with?","confidence":0.6},{"answer":"We have independently confirmed SOC 2, ISO 27001, HIPAA and GDPR for Back4App. Certifications we do not list are ones we have not been able to verify from public sources, which is not the same as Back4App not holding them. Always confirm compliance directly before you rely on it.","source":"https://www.back4app.com/docs/security/multi-factor-authentication","question":"What security certifications does Back4App have?","confidence":0.7},{"answer":"Back4App is available worldwide. Its primary market is the United States. The vendor is headquartered in the United States.","source":"https://www.back4app.com/pricing/backend-as-a-service","question":"Where is Back4App available?","confidence":0.75}]` | `[{"answer":"An open-source backend system that combines an embedded database, real-time data synchronization, user authentication, and an administrative interface in a lightweight, easy-to-deploy package. It is indexed under Backend As A Service.","source":"https://pocketbase.io","question":"What is PocketBase?","confidence":0.6},{"answer":"PocketBase is open source, so it can be self-hosted and used at no licence cost. It is released under the MIT licence. Pricing changes often, so verify at source before relying on it.","source":"https://pocketbase.io","question":"Is PocketBase free to use?","confidence":0.6},{"answer":"PocketBase supports the web, Windows, macOS, Linux and a command-line interface. Platforms we have not confirmed are simply not listed here rather than ruled out.","source":"https://pocketbase.io","question":"What platforms does PocketBase support?","confidence":0.6},{"answer":"Yes. PocketBase can be deployed self-hosted, so it does not have to run on the vendor's infrastructure.","source":"https://pocketbase.io","question":"Can PocketBase be self-hosted?","confidence":0.6},{"answer":"Yes. PocketBase is published under the MIT licence, a permissive licence that generally allows commercial use and modification. Licence terms can change between releases, so verify against the repository for the version you intend to use.","source":"https://github.com/pocketbase/pocketbase","question":"Is PocketBase open source?","confidence":0.95}]` |
| deployment.options | `{"cloud":true}` | `{"self_hosted":true}` |
| description.long | Back4App is a cloud-managed development platform that provides a managed database with real-time capabilities, REST and GraphQL APIs, file storage, and cloud-executable functions. It supports development across iOS, Android, React, Flutter, PHP, C#, and other platforms through SDKs and direct API access. | An open-source backend system that combines an embedded database, real-time data synchronization, user authentication, and an administrative interface in a lightweight, easy-to-deploy package. |
| features.capabilities | `{"api_style":"both","file_storage":true,"built_in_auth":true,"pricing_model":"tiered-subscription","self_hostable":true,"database_model":"mongodb-document","deployment_model":"both","row_level_security":true,"serverless_functions":true,"realtime_subscriptions":true}` | `{"api_style":"rest","file_storage":true,"built_in_auth":true,"pricing_model":"free-self-host","self_hostable":true,"database_model":"sqlite","deployment_model":"self-hostable","realtime_subscriptions":true}` |
| integrations.count | 4 | - |
| integrations.list | `[{"name":"Stripe"},{"name":"AWS"},{"name":"DigitalOcean"},{"name":"MongoDB Atlas"}]` | - |
| language.primary | - | Go |
| license.spdx | - | MIT |
| market.availability | `{"hqCountry":"US","primaryMarkets":["US"],"availabilityScope":"global","availableCountries":[],"notAvailableCountries":[]}` | - |
| platform.support | `{"ios":true,"web":true,"android":true}` | `{"cli":true,"mac":true,"web":true,"linux":true,"windows":true}` |
| pricing | `{"type":"subscription","plans":[{"free":true,"name":"Free","summary":"Free","features":["REST API","GraphQL API","Cloud Functions","1 day access log retention","Custom domain"],"components":[{"kind":"fixed","amount":0,"period":"month","currency":"USD"}],"description":"Development and learning tier","contactSales":false,"includedLimits":{"apps":"up to 5 projects","requests":"25K/mo","transfer":"1GB","data_storage":"250MB","file_storage":"N/A"}},{"free":false,"name":"MVP","summary":"$15/app/mo (save 40% annually)","features":["REST API","GraphQL API","Cloud Functions","7 collaborators","Daily backups","7 day access log retention","Custom domain","NPM packages"],"minSeats":1,"commitment":"monthly","components":[{"kind":"fixed","amount":15,"period":"month","currency":"USD"}],"description":"Validate ideas quickly, launch fast","contactSales":false,"includedLimits":{"requests":"500K/mo","transfer":"250GB","data_storage":"1GB","file_storage":"50GB"}},{"free":false,"name":"Pay As You Go","summary":"$80/app/mo (save 20% annually)","features":["REST API","GraphQL API","Cloud Functions","Unlimited collaborators","28 day access log retention","Custom domain","Priority support","Monitoring"],"components":[{"kind":"fixed","amount":80,"period":"month","currency":"USD"}],"description":"Run and scale applications on serverless infrastructure","contactSales":false,"includedLimits":{"requests":"5M/mo","transfer":"1TB","data_storage":"3GB","file_storage":"N/A"}},{"free":false,"name":"Dedicated","summary":"$400/app/mo","features":["REST API","GraphQL API","Cloud Functions","Point-in-time backups","Custom domain","HIPAA after BAA","Dedicated engineer","SLA support"],"components":[{"kind":"fixed","amount":400,"period":"month","currency":"USD"}],"description":"Production-grade speed, isolation, and flexibility","contactSales":false,"includedLimits":{"requests":"Unlimited (hardware-constrained)","transfer":"2TB","resources":"10 CPUs / 14GB RAM","data_storage":"8GB","file_storage":"Unlimited"}},{"free":false,"name":"Enterprise","summary":"Contact for custom pricing","features":["Custom infrastructure","Custom SLAs","On-premises deployment","Multi-region","Pro services","Monitoring","Training","Dedicated engineer"],"description":"Custom solution for unique infrastructure needs","contactSales":true}],"addOns":[{"name":"Extra data storage","components":[{"kind":"fixed","unit":"GB","amount":15,"period":"month","currency":"USD"}]},{"name":"Extra requests (MVP plan)","components":[{"per":{"qty":100000,"unit":"requests"},"kind":"fixed","amount":5,"currency":"USD"}]},{"name":"Extra requests (Pay-as-you-go plan)","components":[{"per":{"qty":100000,"unit":"requests"},"kind":"fixed","amount":2,"currency":"USD"}]},{"name":"Extra file storage","components":[{"per":{"qty":10,"unit":"GB"},"kind":"fixed","amount":1,"currency":"USD"}]},{"name":"Extra data transfer","components":[{"per":{"qty":1,"unit":"GB"},"kind":"fixed","amount":0.1,"currency":"USD"}]},{"name":"Point-in-time backups (add-on)","components":[{"kind":"fixed","amount":100,"period":"month","currency":"USD"}]}],"summary":"From $15/app/month for MVP tier, free tier available","currency":"USD","freeTier":true,"sourceUrl":"https://www.back4app.com/pricing/backend-as-a-service","retrievedAt":"2026-08-25T08:36:27.977Z","startingPrice":{"amount":15,"period":"month","currency":"USD"},"billingPeriods":["month","year"]}` | `{"type":"open_source","freeTier":true,"sourceUrl":"https://pocketbase.io","retrievedAt":"2026-08-20T16:30:59.949Z"}` |
| pricing.free_tier | yes | yes |
| pricing.model | freemium | open_source |
| pricing.price_level | mid | free |
| pricing.starting_price | `{"amount":15,"currency":"USD"}` | - |
| pricing.transparent | yes | yes |
| release.cadence_days | - | 1 |
| release.history | - | `[{"url":"https://github.com/pocketbase/pocketbase/releases/tag/v0.40.5","date":"2026-10-08T16:45:10Z","type":"stable","version":"v0.40.5"},{"url":"https://github.com/pocketbase/pocketbase/releases/tag/v0.22.56","date":"2026-10-08T16:44:22Z","type":"stable","version":"v0.22.56"},{"url":"https://github.com/pocketbase/pocketbase/releases/tag/v0.40.4","date":"2026-09-12T14:35:16Z","type":"stable","version":"v0.40.4"},{"url":"https://github.com/pocketbase/pocketbase/releases/tag/v0.40.3","date":"2026-09-06T17:33:10Z","type":"stable","version":"v0.40.3"},{"url":"https://github.com/pocketbase/pocketbase/releases/tag/v0.22.55","date":"2026-09-06T17:32:24Z","type":"stable","version":"v0.22.55"},{"url":"https://github.com/pocketbase/pocketbase/releases/tag/v0.40.2","date":"2026-09-02T13:18:16Z","type":"stable","version":"v0.40.2"},{"url":"https://github.com/pocketbase/pocketbase/releases/tag/v0.22.54","date":"2026-09-02T13:17:38Z","type":"stable","version":"v0.22.54"},{"url":"https://github.com/pocketbase/pocketbase/releases/tag/v0.40.1","date":"2026-08-24T15:23:08Z","type":"stable","version":"v0.40.1"},{"url":"https://github.com/pocketbase/pocketbase/releases/tag/v0.40.0","date":"2026-08-23T04:47:56Z","type":"stable","version":"v0.40.0"},{"url":"https://github.com/pocketbase/pocketbase/releases/tag/v0.22.53","date":"2026-08-23T04:46:51Z","type":"stable","version":"v0.22.53"},{"url":"https://github.com/pocketbase/pocketbase/releases/tag/v0.39.11","date":"2026-08-14T04:28:29Z","type":"stable","version":"v0.39.11"},{"url":"https://github.com/pocketbase/pocketbase/releases/tag/v0.22.52","date":"2026-08-14T04:27:22Z","type":"stable","version":"v0.22.52"},{"url":"https://github.com/pocketbase/pocketbase/releases/tag/v0.39.10","date":"2026-07-30T04:19:15Z","type":"stable","version":"v0.39.10"},{"url":"https://github.com/pocketbase/pocketbase/releases/tag/v0.22.51","date":"2026-07-30T04:18:51Z","type":"stable","version":"v0.22.51"},{"url":"https://github.com/pocketbase/pocketbase/releases/tag/v0.39.9","date":"2026-07-22T17:22:44Z","type":"stable","version":"v0.39.9"},{"url":"https://github.com/pocketbase/pocketbase/releases/tag/v0.22.50","date":"2026-07-22T17:22:02Z","type":"stable","version":"v0.22.50"},{"url":"https://github.com/pocketbase/pocketbase/releases/tag/v0.39.8","date":"2026-07-19T14:02:01Z","type":"stable","version":"v0.39.8"},{"url":"https://github.com/pocketbase/pocketbase/releases/tag/v0.22.49","date":"2026-07-19T14:01:25Z","type":"stable","version":"v0.22.49"},{"url":"https://github.com/pocketbase/pocketbase/releases/tag/v0.39.7","date":"2026-07-16T07:22:36Z","type":"stable","version":"v0.39.7"},{"url":"https://github.com/pocketbase/pocketbase/releases/tag/v0.22.48","date":"2026-07-16T07:20:54Z","type":"stable","version":"v0.22.48"}]` |
| security.disclosure_policy | yes | yes |
| security.gdpr | yes | - |
| security.hipaa | yes | - |
| security.iso27001 | yes | - |
| security.scorecard | - | 4.6 |
| security.soc2 | yes | - |
| security.trust_center | https://www.back4app.com/docs/security/multi-factor-authentication | - |
| security.vulnerabilities | - | `{"count":3,"source":"https://advisories.ecosyste.ms/api/v1/advisories?ecosystem=go&package_name=github.com%2Fpocketbase%2Fpocketbase&per_page=100","last_12m":2,"max_severity":"HIGH"}` |

## Capabilities (Backend As A Service)

| Capability | Back4App | PocketBase |
|---|:--:|:--:|
| **Capabilities** |  |  |
| Database model | Mongodb document | Sqlite |
| Built in auth | ✓ | ✓ |
| Row level security | ✓ | - |
| File storage | ✓ | ✓ |
| Serverless functions | ✓ | - |
| Edge functions | - | - |
| Realtime subscriptions | ✓ | ✓ |
| API style | Both | Rest |
| Offline sync | - | - |
| Vector AI support | - | - |
| Self hostable | ✓ | ✓ |
| Deployment model | Both | Self hostable |
| Pricing model | Tiered subscription | Free self host |

*Source: vioscaleAI. Generated 2026-10-16T19:15:56.711Z. "-" = undocumented, not absent.*