Nhost

Nhost is an open source alternative to Firebase, built around GraphQL and a standard PostgreSQL database instead of a proprietary datastore. It bundles a Postgres database, an instant GraphQL API via Hasura, authentication, file storage, and serverless functions into a single backend, aimed at teams who want Firebase-style speed without vendor lock-in. Nhost is frontend-agnostic, with documented quickstarts for Next.js, React, Vue, React Native, and SvelteKit, and it ships a CLI for tracking database migrations and Hasura metadata locally.

Key features

• Instant GraphQL API: Hasura generates a GraphQL API directly from your PostgreSQL schema, with no manual resolver code to write or maintain.
• Built-in authentication: the Auth service handles sign-up, sign-in, and session management, integrated with the same GraphQL API used for the rest of the app.
• File storage: the Storage service handles file uploads and serving without a separate object storage integration to wire up.
• Serverless functions: write Node.js functions, in JavaScript or TypeScript, that run alongside the rest of the backend and share the same project configuration.
• Nhost CLI for local development: track database migrations and Hasura metadata locally before deploying, using nhost login, nhost init, and nhost up.
• Standard PostgreSQL underneath: since the database is plain Postgres, existing SQL tooling and extensions work without modification, and data isn't locked behind a proprietary query layer.
• Dashboard included: a web dashboard for managing the database, auth users, storage, and functions ships as part of the Nhost application suite.

Ideal use cases

Teams that want a GraphQL backend without hand-writing resolvers use Nhost to get one generated directly from a Postgres schema, then extend it with serverless functions for anything Hasura can't express declaratively. Because the whole stack is open source and backed by standard Postgres, teams that later outgrow the hosted platform can move the same schema and functions to a self-hosted Docker Compose deployment without a rewrite.

Self-hosting and deployment

Nhost can run as a hosted platform, where signing in and creating an app is enough to get started; locally via the Nhost CLI, installable through Homebrew, Nix, or npm/pnpm/Yarn/Bun; or fully self-hosted using the example Docker Compose setup in the repository, since the entire stack is open source. A typical integration looks like installing @nhost/nhost-js, creating a client with a subdomain and region, and calling nhost.auth.signInEmailPassword and nhost.graphql.request directly from application code.

Tech stack

Nhost is written in Go, is MIT licensed, and its GraphQL layer runs on Hasura, layered directly on top of a standard PostgreSQL database. Nhost has been recognized on the ROSS Index of fastest-growing open source startups, and client libraries are available for JavaScript/TypeScript as well as Dart and Flutter. Applications built against the JavaScript client call GraphQL directly, so teams don't need a separate ORM layer between the app and the generated API.