#6464th of 102 in Backends, databases and hosting
trailbase
Single-executable Firebase alternative on Rust and SQLite with REST and realtime APIs
- Stars
- 5.8k
- License
- OSL-3.0
- Last commit
- Nov 2026
- Last release
- Nov 2026
- Language
- Rust
4,745 on 20 Apr 20265,755 on 9 Nov 2026
From GitHub's daily star counts.
Checked on GitHub.
Overview
TrailBase is a backend server written in Rust that bundles type-safe REST and realtime APIs, auth, an admin UI, a WebAssembly runtime and geospatial support on SQLite. Postgres is available experimentally from v0.28. It ships as one executable for Linux, macOS and Windows, with client libraries for eight languages. The project is marked alpha.
Who it is for: Developers wanting a self-hosted Firebase-style backend for apps
Its own README calls it an alternative to Firebase.
Ranked among open-source alternatives to Firebase (#10 of 10).
Strengths
- Single executable with no runtime dependencies; also published as a Docker image
- Client libraries for JS/TS, Dart, Rust, C#, Swift, Kotlin, Go and Python
- Extensible with WASM components, e.g. an optional auth UI added via one command
- Client libraries are Apache-2.0, and the README says app code is not covered by OSL copyleft
Weaknesses
- Marked alpha status in the README
- Postgres support is experimental; SQLite is the primary database
- OSL-3.0 server license is less common, and the README admits compatibility is unclear
- Contributions beyond bug fixes require signing a CLA
What it needs
- no GPU
- Docker + Compose
- Needs SQLite (bundled), Postgres (optional, experimental)
- port 4000
- README: alternative to Firebase
What changed
From the release notes. No flag means the note does not say so, not that the upgrade is safe.
Quick answers
Is trailbase open source?
Yes. Its code is on GitHub under the OSL-3.0 license.
Can you run trailbase with Docker?
Yes. Its repository has a Docker setup: a Dockerfile, a Compose file or a published image.
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