Why We Build Everything on Supabase
Every project at Grid Theory starts with the same foundation: Supabase. Here's why.
The Problem with Backend Sprawl
Most startups end up with a backend that looks like a Rube Goldberg machine — Firebase for auth, a managed PostgreSQL for data, S3 for file storage, Pusher for realtime, and a custom API server stitching it all together.
Every service adds latency, cost, and cognitive overhead. Every integration is a potential point of failure.
Supabase: One Platform, Everything You Need
Supabase gives us:
- PostgreSQL — a real database with real SQL, not a document store pretending to be one
- Row Level Security — authorization rules at the database level, not scattered across API middleware
- Auth — email, OAuth, magic links, and MFA out of the box
- Realtime — subscribe to database changes over WebSockets
- Storage — file uploads with the same RLS policies as your data
- Edge Functions — serverless functions deployed globally
No Vendor Lock-In
The most important thing about Supabase: it's all Postgres under the hood. If you ever need to leave, your data and schema come with you. Try saying that about Firebase.
Real Performance
Our production applications serve sub-100ms API responses with Supabase as the backend. Combined with Next.js server components, most pages render in under 200ms.
The Developer Experience
Supabase's auto-generated TypeScript types, built-in API explorer, and SQL editor make development fast. We spend time building features, not configuring infrastructure.
When to Choose Something Else
Supabase isn't perfect for every use case. If you need graph databases, time-series data at massive scale, or MongoDB-style document flexibility, look elsewhere. For 90% of web applications, it's the fastest path from idea to production.