AI-Powered App Development: Discovering Supabase on a Real Project
AI-Powered App Development: Discovering Supabase on a Real Project
As a computer science student, I’m always looking for tools that can help automate and speed up the development process, especially when working on group projects with tight deadlines. Recently, while building a Travel Itinerary web application with my team, I was tasked with implementing the signup and login features. That’s when I came across Supabase, a backend platform that promised to make authentication and database management a lot easier. In this blog post, we will explore Supabase in detail, breaking down its core features, how it works, and also discussing some of the challenges or drawbacks you might want to consider before adopting it. By the end, you should have a clear understanding of what Supabase can do and whether it fits your project needs.
Understanding Supabase: A Practical Guide
Supabase is a backend-as-a-service platform designed to help developers build applications like web, mobile or desktop apps faster without having to manage infrastructure. It provides a set of tools that make it easier to handle things like databases, authentication, real-time updates, storage, and APIs. Unlike some proprietary platforms, Supabase is fully open source. This means that anyone can look at the code, contribute to it, or even self-host it if they want complete control.
One thing I’ve noticed when building apps is that the hardest part isn’t usually writing the code itself, it’s setting up and maintaining the infrastructure behind it. Configuring databases, handling authentication securely, and managing real-time data can get complex quickly. Supabase simplifies all of this by providing these essential backend services out of the box, so developers can focus more on building features rather than wrestling with infrastructure.
What I really like about Supabase, especially compared to other options like Firebase, is that you’re not locked into a single cloud provider such as Google or AWS. This flexibility gives developers more freedom to choose how and where their applications run, which can be a big advantage if you want to avoid vendor lock-in or prefer a specific infrastructure setup.
PostgreSQL Database and Supabase Studio
The first key feature to talk about is the database. Supabase uses PostgreSQL as its default database engine. PostgreSQL is known for its reliability and support for complex queries, transactions, and extensibility. Supabase provides a web-based interface called Supabase Studio where you can create and manage tables, write SQL queries, and browse your data visually.
Personally, I’ve worked on projects using SQL databases before, more specifically SQLite. Because Supabase uses SQL with PostgreSQL, it feels much more familiar to me compared to platforms that use NoSQL or other database types.
The visual interface for managing PostgreSQL tables and writing SQL queries.
One advantage of using PostgreSQL through Supabase is that you have access to all the features of a relational database. This means you can model your data with relationships, use joins, triggers, stored procedures, and indexes just like you would in a traditional backend.
This contrasts with some other backend platforms that might rely on NoSQL or proprietary data stores. With Supabase, the foundation is a familiar and widely supported SQL database, which I find both comforting and practical when building applications.
However, if you’re used to working with NoSQL databases like MongoDB, getting started with PostgreSQL might feel a bit more challenging at first, since relational databases have a different way of structuring and querying data. That said, PostgreSQL is widely used in the industry, so learning it can be a valuable skill that makes you more versatile as a developer.
https://www.mongodb.com/resources/basics/databases/nosql-explained
https://azure.microsoft.com/en-us/resources/cloud-computing-dictionary/what-is-sql-database
Authentication and Authorization
Building user authentication is often one of the first challenges when creating an app, and it’s something I’ve wrestled with on my own projects. Supabase makes this process smoother by offering an authentication system that supports multiple sign-in methods. You can let users authenticate using email and password, send them magic links for one-click sign-ins, or even integrate with popular social providers like Google, GitHub, Facebook, and many others. If you need phone-based authentication, Supabase supports that too, with integrations for providers like Twilio, MessageBird, and Vonage.
What I find especially handy is that Supabase uses JSON Web Tokens (JWTs) under the hood. Let me break that down a bit. A JWT is basically a small, digitally signed piece of data that the server creates and gives to the client after a successful login. This token contains information about the user, like their ID or roles, all encoded in a way that the server can trust. Whenever the user makes a request to a secure endpoint (like fetching their profile or booking data), they send this token along with the request.
The server can then verify the token’s signature to confirm that it hasn’t been tampered with. If the token is valid, the server uses the information inside it to determine what the user is allowed to access. This system makes it easy to manage sessions without having to store a lot of session data on the server itself, which is both secure and efficient.
A visualization of the structure of a JSON Web Token (JWT).
Supabase’s client SDKs handle the creation, storage, and refreshing of these tokens automatically, so you don’t have to worry about the technical details of managing them. This makes it easier to handle session management and secure API requests without too much boilerplate code. Plus, all the user data is stored right inside your PostgreSQL database in a special schema, so it’s easy to connect it to your own tables using triggers and foreign key references.
The real standout feature, in my opinion, is how Supabase tightly integrates authentication with PostgreSQL’s Row Level Security (RLS) policies. Let’s unpack that a bit.
Normally, when you build an app, you have to write a lot of code to control which users can see or change certain data. For example, you don’t want one user to see someone else’s travel plans unless they’re an admin. This usually means writing logic in your backend that checks the user’s ID, their role, and then filters the data accordingly. It can get complicated and spread out across different parts of your code.
With Supabase and RLS, you can move this logic directly into the database itself using SQL. Basically, you write a security policy that tells the database: “Only let users see rows where the user_id column matches their own ID.” This way, the database itself enforces who can see what, instead of relying on separate backend code.
An example showcasing the user interface when enabling Row Level Security (RLS) within the Supabase Authentication tab.
Because the logic lives in the database, it’s easier to audit, test, and maintain over time. You don’t have to worry about forgetting to add a check in one of your API endpoints, PostgreSQL will handle it for you every time a query runs. Plus, because it’s all done in plain SQL, developers familiar with databases can understand and update these policies easily.
That said, one thing to keep in mind, though, is that Supabase charges for Monthly Active Users (MAUs). This means every user who logs in or refreshes their session during a billing cycle counts toward your usage quota. While the pricing is fairly straightforward, charging a small amount per MAU, it can still add up quickly if your app has a lot of users. It’s worth considering this cost, especially during the planning phase, to make sure it fits your budget and growth expectations.
This image shows a pricing plan overview for a software or service platform, illustrating four tiers: Free, Pro, Team, and Enterprise. Each plan includes different features and pricing structures.
Real-Time Functionality
While Supabase makes it easy to handle authentication, authorization, and user management, that’s not where its features stop. Another important feature to highlight is its real-time functionality.
Real-time functionality allows your app to get updates as soon as data changes in the database, without users having to refresh the page. Think about messaging apps like Discord, when someone sends a new message, it appears instantly on your screen. That’s real-time in action.
The way Supabase does this is through a feature inside PostgreSQL called logical decoding. This feature tracks changes happening in the database, like when a new row is added or an existing one is updated. Instead of waiting for your app to ask for updates, these changes are sent automatically to your app as they happen.
To make it easy for developers, Supabase offers client libraries you can use in your frontend code. These libraries allow your app to “subscribe” to specific tables or even specific queries. What that means is your app listens for any changes in that part of the database and immediately gets notified when something changes.
The user interface showcasing how to enable the Real-Time functionality.
This setup is especially useful for apps that need to show live data, like chat applications where messages flow continuously (for example, Slack or Discord), dashboards that display up-to-the-minute stats (such as a stock trading dashboard or a real-time website analytics tool), or collaborative tools where multiple users work on the same content at once (like Google Docs or Figma). With real-time updates, users always see the latest information without having to do anything manually.
Storage
Supabase also provides a built-in storage solution that makes it easy to handle user-uploaded files like images, videos, documents, and more. Think of it as your app’s personal file cabinet, but integrated directly with your backend.
What stands out to me is how Supabase Storage functions a lot like the cloud storage services you’re probably already familiar with, but it’s deeply integrated with Supabase’s authentication system. This means you can manage file access and security using the same user roles and permissions you set up for your app’s data.
You can organize your files in “buckets,” which act like folders or containers for different types of content. From there, you can upload files, set metadata, and control who can read or write to each file. This setup works especially well for apps like photo-sharing platforms, where you might want users to only see their own uploads, or for document management systems that need to restrict access based on user roles.
Because storage is often separate from databases in many backend setups, having both managed under one unified platform can simplify the development process. You don’t have to juggle multiple services or worry about wiring them together with custom code.
The user interface showcasing the storage functionality with the addition of buckets and files of various formats within those buckets.
Still, it’s important to keep in mind that Supabase Storage is tightly coupled with the rest of the Supabase ecosystem. While this integration helps streamline things and makes everything feel cohesive, it can limit your flexibility if you ever decide to switch to a different backend provider or need features that Supabase’s storage might not yet support.
Auto-Generated APIs
After talking about storage, another aspect of Supabase that’s definitely worth mentioning is its auto-generated APIs. This is where things get interesting if you’re looking to save time and avoid writing repetitive setup code in your backend.
One of the coolest things about Supabase is that it automatically generates RESTful and GraphQL APIs for your PostgreSQL database. RESTful APIs are great because they follow a simple, standardized structure that makes them easy to use, while GraphQL is powerful because it lets you request exactly the data you need in a single query. Whenever you create tables and define your schemas, Supabase instantly exposes endpoints that allow you to perform standard CRUD (Create, Read, Update, Delete) operations. This means you can interact with your database right away, without having to write a single line of backend code to handle these basic tasks.
The user interface showcasing how to interact with an auto generated RESTful API.
Developer Experience
From a developer’s perspective, Supabase makes things straightforward and enjoyable to work with. A feature I find particularly useful is that the client libraries are available in both JavaScript and TypeScript, both of which are languages I’ve used in all the web applications I’ve built so far. This means I can get up and running quickly, without having to learn a new language or adjust to a different workflow.
And since Supabase is open source, there’s a growing community producing tutorials, plugins, and third-party tools. If you ever run into a challenge, there’s a good chance you’ll find a solution or at least get help from someone who’s been there before.
What Are Some Drawbacks of Supabase?
While Supabase offers a solid set of features, it’s worth keeping a few limitations in mind before deciding if it’s the right fit for your project.
First, Supabase is still relatively new compared to more established platforms like Firebase or AWS. Because of this, some advanced features might be missing or not as polished yet, and you could run into occasional bugs or gaps in the documentation.
Second, since Supabase is built on PostgreSQL, it inherits the strengths and constraints of a relational database. If your project needs highly flexible or hierarchical data models, or if you’re aiming for extremely large-scale distributed systems, Supabase might not be the best match.
A visual representation of Supabase’s workflow with PostgreSQL, auto generated endpoints and other features.
Third, although the real-time capabilities are quite handy, they may not yet scale efficiently for apps with millions of simultaneous users. In those cases, you could face performance challenges or increased costs.
Finally, since Supabase is an open source project, the hosted service depends on the company and community’s ongoing support and sustainability. Self-hosting is an option, but that comes with the trade-off of needing more infrastructure know-how and maintenance work.
Conclusion
Supabase offers a modern backend solution with features like a PostgreSQL database, authentication, real-time updates, integrated storage, and auto-generated APIs. Its open source roots and developer-friendly tools make it a solid choice for many projects.
That said, it’s not without its limitations. Supabase is still growing in maturity, and there are some considerations around scalability, storage capabilities, and the complexity of setting up advanced database security.
If you’re looking to build something quickly with a relational database foundation and want an all-in-one backend platform, Supabase is definitely worth checking out. For very large-scale or highly specialized projects, though, it might be a good idea to weigh your options or even combine Supabase with other services to cover your needs.
I hope this deep dive gave you a clearer picture of what Supabase brings to the table and what to keep in mind. If you’ve tried Supabase yourself, feel free to share your experiences or ask any questions. I’d love to hear about your challenges and successes.
- Miraj Yafi
References
Supabase. “Supabase Docs.” Supabase Docs, 3 June 2025, supabase.com/docs.
