Turso vs PocketBase
Edge SQLite — libSQL at the speed of light
vs. Open-source backend in a single Go binary
Pricing tiers
Turso
Free
100 DBs, 5 GB storage, 500M row reads/mo, 10M row writes/mo. No credit card.
Free
Developer
Unlimited DBs, 9 GB storage, 2.5B reads, 25M writes.
$5/mo
Scaler
24 GB storage, 100B reads, 100M writes. Teams + DPA support. Price is annual-billed.
$25/mo
Pro
50 GB storage, 250B reads, 250M writes. Teams, DPA, SSO, BYOK, HIPAA, SOC2, priority support. Annual billed.
$417/mo
Enterprise
White-glove support + unlimited usage + dedicated infra.
Custom
PocketBase
Self-Hosted
MIT-licensed single binary. Run on any VPS / Docker / bare metal. No usage caps — only limited by your server.
$0 base (usage-based)
Free-tier quotas head-to-head
Comparing free on Turso vs self-hosted on PocketBase.
| Metric | Turso | PocketBase |
|---|---|---|
| databases | 100 DBs | — |
| row reads month | 500000000 reads/month | — |
| row writes month | 10000000 writes/month | — |
| storage gb | 5 GB | — |
Features
Turso · 11 features
- Branching — Create DB branches from a primary for staging/test envs.
- BYOK Encryption — Bring your own encryption key (Pro+).
- Edge Routing — Requests route automatically to the nearest replica group.
- Embedded Replicas — Client-side local SQLite file that syncs from the primary — reads are <1ms local…
- libSQL — Turso's open-source SQLite fork with HTTP, WebSocket, and multi-writer support.
- libSQL Server (sqld) — Self-hostable server component. Runs libSQL as a service.
- Multi-Database — Create thousands of DBs cheaply — perfect for per-tenant / per-customer isolatio…
- Point-in-Time Restore — Rollback DB to any moment within backup window.
- Scheduled Backups — Automated point-in-time backups.
- SQLite Compatibility — Drop-in SQLite — same SQL dialect, same file format.
- Teams & RBAC — Org-level access control for Scaler+ tiers.
PocketBase · 12 features
- Access Rules — Record-level access rules (filter expressions) referencing @request and @collect…
- Admin Dashboard — Built-in web UI for schema + data management.
- Auth — Email+password, OAuth2 (Google, GitHub, Facebook, Apple, Discord, Microsoft, etc…
- Backups — Built-in backup/restore with S3 upload option.
- Built-in Mailer — SMTP integration for verification, password reset, magic link emails.
- Collections — Schema-defined record types with fields, validations, and record/admin/auth acce…
- Embedded JS Engine — JavaScript VM (goja) lets you write hooks in JS without recompiling.
- Extend as Go Library — Embed PocketBase in a larger Go app, add custom routes and events.
- File Storage — Local filesystem or S3-compatible storage with access rules.
- Hooks — Server-side Go or JavaScript hooks that run on CRUD events (OnRecordBeforeCreate…
- Migrations — JS/Go migration scripts applied on startup.
- Realtime Subscriptions — SSE-based subscriptions to collection changes.
Developer interfaces
| Kind | Turso | PocketBase |
|---|---|---|
| CLI | Turso CLI | — |
| SDK | go-libsql, @libsql/client, libsql-experimental (Python), libsql-rs, libsql-swift | Go API (extend as library), pocketbase (Dart), pocketbase (JS SDK) |
| REST | libSQL HTTP, Platform API | REST API |
| MCP | Turso MCP | — |
| OTHER | libSQL WebSocket, SQLite wire protocol | Admin Dashboard, Realtime SSE |
Staxly is an independent catalog of developer platforms. Some links to Turso and PocketBase may be affiliate links — Staxly may earn a commission if you sign up through them, at no extra cost to you. Pricing is verified against vendor pages at publication time — reconfirm before buying.
Want this comparison in your AI agent's context? Install the free Staxly MCP server.