The app growth stack

Comparison

Backends for an iOS app, compared

For an app that only ships on Apple platforms, the option included with the developer programme is the one to eliminate first rather than the one to fall back to.

There is no ranking on this page. Nobody here has run all 4 of these for a quarter, so a score would be invented. What follows is the shortlist, in alphabetical order, with one line on what separates each — and a link to the vendor’s own pricing page, because a price restated here would be out of date before you read it.

Conflict of interest

Appstro runs on Supabase, which is listed here. That is disclosed rather than hidden, and it is why the entry says what Supabase is instead of how well it has worked.

  • Appwrite

    Open-source backend covering database, auth, storage and functions, hosted or self-hosted.

    Visit sitePublishes no price

  • CloudKit

    Apple’s own, included with the developer programme and needing no separate account from the user. Apple platforms only, which is the whole trade.

    Visit sitePublishes no price

  • PocketBase

    A single-file open-source backend with realtime, auth, file storage and an admin UI, small enough to run on one cheap server.

    Visit sitePublishes no price

  • Supabase

    Postgres with auth, storage, realtime and edge functions on top. What Appstro itself runs on.

    Visit sitePublishes no price

What you have to check yourself

None of this is knowable from outside, and it is where the decision actually gets made.

  • Whether CloudKit covers it. If the app is Apple-only and the data is per-user, a second vendor is a cost and a privacy declaration you may not need.
  • What happens offline, and who resolves a conflict when two devices edited the same record. This is cheap to prototype and expensive to retrofit.
  • Where the data physically sits, if you have EU users.
  • Whether you are adding third-party sign-in. Apple has rules about what must be offered alongside it — check the current guidelines rather than any summary.
  • The exit path. An open-source backend you could self-host is a different risk profile from a hosted-only one, even if you never move.

Every link on this page was fetched and answered before it shipped, most recently on 2026-09-01. No tool paid to appear here and no link earns anything — see the disclosure page. Missing, wrong, or out of date? Tell us and it gets fixed.

See the full backend & sync section for tools in this category that are not part of this comparison.

Other comparisons