medusa vs supabase
Two of the top projects in Backends, databases and hosting, side by side: who leads on each score part and who each one suits, then setup, license, activity and what each review found.
medusa
Node.js commerce platform with modular products, carts, orders and payments
supabase
Postgres backend with auth, storage, realtime and edge functions
Verdict
medusa ranks higher, 91 to 90. Of the 4 score parts we measure for both, medusa leads on 1, supabase on 1 and 2 are even.
- Adoptionsupabase leads by 17 points, 99 to 82: a wide gap.
- FreshnessEven at 100.
- Maintenancemedusa leads by 17 points, 91 to 74: a wide gap.
- Agent-readyEven at 85.
Pick medusa if you are
Developers building custom online stores, marketplaces or B2B commerce apps
- Commerce modules (product, cart, order, pricing, payment) are published separately on npm
- Ships Store and Admin API routes plus an admin dashboard in one monorepo
Pick supabase if you are
Developers needing a Postgres backend with auth, storage and vectors
- Built on Postgres, PostgREST, GoTrue and Realtime, so the data layer is plain SQL
- Official clients for JavaScript/TypeScript, Flutter, Swift and Python
| What we compare | medusa | supabase |
|---|---|---|
| Score parts, out of 100 | ||
| Adoption | 82, widely used | 99, widely used |
| Freshness | 100, active | 100, active |
| Maintenance | 91, healthy | 74, fair |
| Agent-ready | 85, ready | 85, ready |
| Facts from GitHub and the README | ||
| Stars | 37k | 114.4k |
| License | custom license (read the license) | Apache-2.0 (permissive) |
| Last commit | Oct 2026 | Oct 2026 |
| Last release | Oct 2026 | Aug 2026 |
| Language | TypeScript | TypeScript |
| Docker | No | Yes |
| GPU | Not needed | Not needed |
| arm64 or Apple Silicon | Not stated | Not stated |
medusa
Medusa is a TypeScript commerce framework providing Store and Admin APIs, an admin dashboard and commerce modules for products, carts, orders, pricing and payments. It is used to build DTC or B2B stores, marketplaces and PoS systems. Provider modules cover Stripe, S3, SendGrid, Redis and several auth methods. It is not an AI project; the AI link is only that it is a base to build on.
Who it is for: Developers building custom online stores, marketplaces or B2B commerce apps
Strengths
- Commerce modules (product, cart, order, pricing, payment) are published separately on npm
- Ships Store and Admin API routes plus an admin dashboard in one monorepo
- Provider modules for Stripe, S3, SendGrid, Redis and OIDC, GitHub and Google auth
- Core is MIT licensed; scaffolds with one npx create-medusa-app command
Weaknesses
- RBAC Enterprise Edition materials require a commercial agreement with MedusaJS, Inc.
- Needs Node.js v22.22.0 or later and a running PostgreSQL database
- No built-in AI features described in the README
- Open-core licensing; detected license is reported as NOASSERTION
- no GPU
- Needs Node.js 22.22.0+, PostgreSQL
supabase
Supabase bundles a Postgres database with generated REST and GraphQL APIs, JWT-based auth, S3-backed file storage, realtime change feeds over websockets, and edge functions. It also includes a vector and embeddings toolkit for AI workloads. It runs as a hosted platform, can be self-hosted, or run locally, and has official clients for JavaScript, Flutter, Swift and Python.
Who it is for: Developers needing a Postgres backend with auth, storage and vectors
Strengths
- Built on Postgres, PostgREST, GoTrue and Realtime, so the data layer is plain SQL
- Official clients for JavaScript/TypeScript, Flutter, Swift and Python
- Hosted, self-hosted and local development options
- Apache-2.0 license; vector and embeddings toolkit included
Weaknesses
- Many separate services to run when self-hosting; README gives no resource requirements
- Go, Java, Rust, Ruby and C# clients are community-maintained, some partial
- Repo has no Docker or compose files; self-hosting is documented elsewhere
- no GPU
- Compose
- Needs PostgreSQL, S3-compatible storage, Envoy
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