6 free alternatives to Backendless

8base's free plan is a full backend app builder, not just a thin trial. It includes serverless functions, GraphQL API access, CLI access, community support, data models, auth, custom API domains with SSL, GraphQL subscriptions, backup and restore, asset storage, theming, CI/CD environments, and deployment support. It also allows 1 team member, 1 frontend application per project, 2,500 database rows, 0.5 GB of files, 1 GB-hour of serverless computing, 2 GB of bandwidth, 100,000 GraphQL API calls per month, and 5 client app users. It beats Backendless on having explicit, published usage ceilings and GraphQL-first workflow. It falls short because a credit card is required and the limits are tight. Switch if you want a low-code GraphQL backend with known caps.

• Beats Backendless: Explicit usage quotas and GraphQL-first backend workflow
• Falls short: A credit card is required
• Who should switch: Switch if you want a low-code GraphQL backend with published free limits.

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LeanCloud's free Developer plan is centered on backend services with recurring allowances for data, API traffic, messaging, and realtime features. Free usage includes 30K API requests per day, 3 threads, 10K full-text search queries per day, 100 LiveQuery subscriptions per day, 5K LiveQuery messages per day, 1 GB of storage, 30K REST API requests per day, 10K push notifications per day, 60 push notification QPM, and basic messaging features with up to 500 daily active users. It also includes 1 free compute unit and 1 GB of daily traffic quota for Client Engine on the Trial plan. LeanCloud beats Backendless on having concrete daily allowances across several services and on messaging and push depth. It falls short because some features are explicitly missing and a public credit-card waiver is not called out. Switch if your app depends on messaging, push, or daily API allowances.

• Beats Backendless: Daily API, messaging, and push quotas are explicit
• Falls short: Some features are missing and card status is not waived in the provided data
• Who should switch: Switch if you need daily quotas for backend APIs, messaging, or push.

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Appwrite's free plan gives a small but practical platform bundle for backend, storage, functions, and auth. It includes 5 GB API bandwidth per month, 2 GB storage, 750K executions per month, 75K monthly active users, community support, 1 database, 1 bucket, 2 functions per project, 15-minute build timeouts, and 2 projects. It also pauses inactive free projects after a week. Appwrite beats Backendless on having very clear monthly compute and auth limits, plus a simple product shape for teams that want backend, auth, and functions in one place. It falls short because a credit card is required and free projects can pause after inactivity. Switch if you want a conventional backend platform with easy-to-read quotas and are fine with a small project count.

• Beats Backendless: Clear monthly bandwidth, execution, and MAU quotas
• Falls short: A credit card is required
• Who should switch: Switch if you want a conventional backend platform with readable free-tier quotas.

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Convex's Free and Starter plan is built around TypeScript workflows and includes the core pieces needed for an app backend. Free access covers 1 to 6 developers, file storage, text search, vector search, crons, auth, Node.js actions, a health and insights dashboard, preview deployments, selectable data region, 40 deployments maximum, serverless deployment type, S16 deployment class, 1,000 concurrent sessions, 16 concurrent queries, 64 concurrent actions, 1M function calls per month, 20 GB-hours of action compute per month, 0.5 GB database storage, 1 GB file storage, 0.5 GB search storage, 1 GB database I/O, 3,000 search query-GBs, and 1 GB egress. Convex beats Backendless on TypeScript-native development and on having a rich set of developer workflow limits spelled out. It falls short because a credit card is not explicitly waived and the storage ceiling is small. Switch if your team wants a code-first backend with search and realtime-adjacent workflows.

• Beats Backendless: TypeScript-first workflow with detailed compute and storage limits
• Falls short: A credit card is not explicitly waived in the provided data
• Who should switch: Switch if your team wants a code-first backend with search and scheduled jobs.

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Neon Serverless Postgres is a free Postgres platform with unusually generous project count and team collaboration for the free tier. It includes access to 100 projects, 100 CU-hours per project monthly, 0.5 GB storage per project, database sizes up to 2 CU, Neon Auth for up to 60K MAUs, 6-hour time travel and restores, autoscaling, branching, read replicas, and unlimited team members. It beats Backendless on being a dedicated database platform with strong project and team allowances, plus branching and restore features that fit database-centric workflows. It falls short because it is a database platform, not a full visual app builder, so it does not replace Backendless's broader app-development surface. Switch if your priority is Postgres-first backend storage rather than an all-in-one app platform.

• Beats Backendless: More generous database-oriented free tier with 100 projects and unlimited team members
• Falls short: It is a database platform, not a full visual app builder
• Who should switch: Switch if you want Postgres-first storage and team collaboration.

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Supabase's free tier is a strong choice for teams that want a Postgres backend with broad included usage. It includes unlimited API requests, up to 50,000 monthly active users, 500 MB database size per project, 5 GB egress, 5 GB cached egress, 1 GB file storage, community support, 2 active projects, a dedicated Postgres database, anonymous sign-ins, social OAuth providers, custom SMTP, basic MFA, storage access controls, realtime changes, up to 200 concurrent peak realtime connections, up to 2 million realtime messages per month, 500,000 Edge Function invocations, unlimited team members, and 1 day of API and database log retention. Supabase beats Backendless on being clearer about API, realtime, auth, and storage quotas. It falls short because a credit card is required and the free tier is capped at 2 active projects. Switch if you want a Postgres-centered backend with generous included API usage.

• Beats Backendless: Unlimited API requests and a well-defined Postgres backend
• Falls short: A credit card is required
• Who should switch: Switch if you want a Postgres-centered backend with generous included API usage.

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