Appwrite

What it does

Appwrite provides authentication, databases, file storage, serverless functions, and messaging behind a unified API, open source and self-hostable or usable as a managed cloud service. It's built to work the same way whether self-hosted on your own server or run on Appwrite's cloud. The generous free tier (75,000 monthly active users) makes it a common choice for early-stage apps that want to delay their first backend bill as long as possible.

Who this helps

You need authentication, databases, storage, and functions behind one API.

You want an open-source backend you can self-host.

You want a generous free tier on the managed cloud.

You build web or mobile apps.