Supabase vs Fly.io

Supabase provides a fully managed Postgres database with extras: auto-generated REST/GraphQL APIs, Row Level Security for fine-grained access control, built-in Auth with 20+ OAuth providers, file Storage, and Edge Functions. The platform eliminates boilerplate backend code that most applications share.

Fly.io is a container runtime. It runs whatever Docker image you give it, globally distributed, with persistent volumes, private networking, and continuous uptime. Fly doesn't have opinions about your database schema, authentication strategy, or API design — it just runs your container.

The practical combination: Supabase as the primary data layer (database, auth, storage), and Fly.io to run custom backend workers, scheduled jobs, or complex business logic that exceeds what Supabase Edge Functions handle. Supabase handles the standard patterns; Fly handles the custom ones.

For teams choosing between them as a primary backend: Supabase's managed platform is more productive for standard CRUD applications where the auto-generated APIs and Row Level Security cover your access patterns. Fly.io is more appropriate for non-standard architectures, background job processors, or teams who want full control over their backend logic.