A euro a month to start

Database, hosting, admin panel and AI credits included. Unlimited users and SSO on every plan.

1,000 free credits to build your first version

For every new account, once per card. They stay as long as you have a plan.

Contracts are always with our EU company, wherever your data is hosted.

Starter

Keep it running

€0.99$0.99 a month

50 credits a month, for questions and small fixes

Managed Postgres database, 500 MB
1 project, 1 GB of files
Unlimited users, SSO included
Never paused

Start on Starter

Pro

Keep building

€19$19 a month

1,500 credits a month

3 projects, 8 GB database each
Connect your own Postgres
Custom domains and preview deployments
Unlimited users, SSO included

Start on Pro

Business

For teams and client work

€49$49 a month

5,000 credits a month

10 projects, 8 GB database each
Private databases through a Tunnel
SCIM user provisioning
90 days of audit history

Start on Business

Enterprise

Your terms

Custom credits, or bring your own model key

Dedicated region
Custom limits and retention
Support with an SLA
Contracts under EU law

Talk to us

How credits work

Every new account gets 1,000 free credits to build its first version. Once per card.
Unused monthly credits roll over, up to three months’ worth.
Need more? Top up anytime: 500 credits for €10 ($10 in the US).
Credits you buy never expire, and unused ones are refunded if you close your account.
If a change fails its own checks, the retries are free.

A question costs about 1 credit. A change in build mode costs 2 to 10, and you see an estimate before larger tasks.

Rather run it yourself?

The open-source edition is free forever, with the same code as the cloud.

npm create protobase

Self-host for free. Apache-2.0.

How Protobase compares

Supabase, Refine, Lovable and Retool each do a good job at something different. Here is what each one lists publicly, next to what Protobase includes.

Price for 3 people and for 30 people, per month

Protobase: €0.99 and €0.99 on Starter (1 project, 50 credits). €19 and €19 on Pro. Unlimited users.¹
Retool: €0 on Free (up to 5 users) and €516 billed yearly (€639 monthly): 3 builders plus 27 internal users.¹⁶
Lovable: $25 and $25 on Pro (100 credits). Unlimited members.¹³
Supabase: From $25 and from $25 on Pro. No per-seat price listed.²
Refine: No per-user pricing listed. Plans: $0.99, $20, contact us.⁹

Cheapest paid plan

Protobase: €0.99 with a 500 MB database and 50 credits.¹
Refine: $0.99 with 300 credits. No database listed.⁹
Retool: €11 per builder (Team, billed monthly).¹⁶
Supabase: From $25 (Pro).²
Lovable: $25 (Pro, 100 credits).¹³

Single sign-on (SSO)

Protobase: Every plan, from €0.99.¹
Lovable: Business and up, from $50.¹³
Supabase: Team (from $599) for the dashboard; Pro and up for your project’s users.³⁴
Retool: Enterprise.¹⁶
Refine: Enterprise.⁹

Never paused when idle

Protobase: Yes, on every plan.¹
Supabase: Partly: free projects pause after 1 week of inactivity. Paid plans do not.²

The Protobase column describes what is included at launch.

Compare Protobase with

SupabaseRefineLovableRetool

Protobase compared with Supabase, Refine, Lovable and Retool, as read from their public pages on 6 October 2026
Feature	Protobase	Supabase	Refine	Lovable	Retool
Price
Cheapest paid plan, per month	€0.99 (Starter)¹	From $25 (Pro). Free plan: $0²	$0.99 (Starter, 300 credits)⁹	$25 (Pro, 100 credits). Free plan available¹³	€11 per builder (Team, billed monthly). Free plan: up to 5 users¹⁶
Next plan up, per month	€19 (Pro)¹	From $599 (Team)²	$20 (Pro, 1,500 credits)⁹	$50 (Business, 100 credits)¹³	€60 per builder and €17 per user (Business, billed monthly)¹⁶
No per-user fees	Yes: Unlimited users on every plan¹	Partly: No seat price listed. Auth users beyond the included amount: $0.00325 each²	Not listed	Yes: Unlimited workspace members on all plans¹⁴¹³	No: Builders and internal users priced separately; free for up to 5 users¹⁶
Spend cap on by default	Yes: On by default¹	Yes: On by default on Pro²	Not listed	Not listed	Not listed
AI building
AI assistant that changes the app	Yes: Build mode with preview and Approve¹	Not listed	Yes: Refine AI generates React apps and has a web IDE¹⁰	Yes: Build credits on every plan¹⁴	Yes: AI credits included monthly; agents billed separately¹⁶
Monthly credits	50 / 1,500 / 5,000 by plan, plus 1,000 on sign-up¹	Not listed	300 (Starter), 1,500 (Pro)⁹	100 to 10,000 by price, plus 5 a day¹³	250 AI credits on Free¹⁶
Unused credits roll over	Yes: Up to three months’ worth¹	Not listed	Not listed	Partly: Plan credits roll over while subscribed and expire 2 months after issue¹⁴	Not listed
Bought credits	Yes: Never expire. Refunded if you close your account¹	Not listed	Not listed	Partly: Top-up credits valid for 12 months¹⁴	Not listed
Free retries after a failed check	Yes: Retries after a failed check are free¹	Not listed	Not listed	Not listed	Not listed
Database
Managed Postgres included	Yes: 500 MB on Starter, 8 GB on Pro and Business¹	Yes: 500 MB on Free, 8 GB per project on Pro and Team²⁶	No: Connects to your REST API or Supabase project¹⁰	Yes: Lovable Cloud database, built on Supabase. Size not listed¹⁵	Yes: Retool Database, up to 5 GB on Free, Team and Business¹⁶
Use your own Postgres	Yes: From Pro, with no schema changes¹	Not listed	Partly: Through your own API or Supabase project¹⁰	Partly: External backend such as Supabase. No migration from Cloud to Supabase¹⁵	Yes: PostgreSQL resource¹⁹
Never paused when idle	Yes: Projects never pause¹	Partly: Free projects pause after 1 week of inactivity. Paid do not²	Not listed	Not listed	Not listed
Admin panel
Generated from an existing database	Yes: Without schema changes¹	Partly: Table Editor in the dashboard⁶	Yes: Generates CRUD UIs from your API data structure¹¹	Not listed	Partly: Apps built by hand on SQL queries; no generation listed¹⁹
Spreadsheet-style grid	Yes: Virtualized, millions of rows¹	Yes: Table Editor, a spreadsheet-like interface⁶	Not listed	Not listed	Not listed
Record editing with help text, and inline child rows	Yes: Help text per section and field, editable child rows¹	Not listed	Not listed	Not listed	Not listed
Row and field permissions	Yes: Per-role row filters and field permissions¹	Partly: Row Level Security policies in Postgres⁷	Partly: Access control providers¹¹	Not listed	Partly: Groups with per-object access (Business)¹⁸
Audit log	Yes: Audit log; 90 days of history on Business¹	Partly: Audit logs listed at 7 days on Pro, 28 days on Team²	Yes: Audit logs and document versioning¹¹	Not listed	Yes: Business plan and above¹⁶
Ownership
Open source	Yes: Apache-2.0¹	Yes: Apache-2.0⁸	Yes: MIT framework¹²	Not listed	Not listed
Self-hosting	Yes: Same code as the cloud¹	Yes: Self-hosting guide in the docs⁸	Not listed	Not listed	Yes: All plan tiers; Enterprise for advanced self-host features¹⁶
Code in your own repository, export any time	Yes: Your repository, exportable at any time¹	Not listed	Yes: One-click export from Pro; pure React code⁹¹⁰	Yes: Git sync on all plans; code download on Pro and up¹³	Not listed
Security and hosting
SSO	Yes: Every plan¹	Partly: Dashboard: Team and up. Your project’s users: Pro and up³⁴	Partly: Enterprise⁹	Partly: Business and up¹³	Partly: Enterprise¹⁶
Choose EU or US hosting	Yes: EU or US, per project¹	Yes: Per project; six EU regions⁵	Not listed	Yes: Americas, Europe or Asia Pacific for Cloud; fixed once enabled¹⁵	Partly: EU outbound routing only; apps and data stay in us-west-2¹⁷
EU contracting company	Yes: Contracts with our EU company in both regions¹	Not listed	Not listed	Not listed	Not listed

Sources, read on 6 October 2026

Protobase pricing (/pricing)
Supabase pricing (https://supabase.com/pricing)
Supabase dashboard SSO docs (https://supabase.com/docs/guides/platform/sso)
Supabase SAML SSO for projects (https://supabase.com/docs/guides/auth/enterprise-sso/auth-sso-saml)
Supabase regions (https://supabase.com/docs/guides/platform/regions)
Supabase database overview (https://supabase.com/docs/guides/database/overview)
Supabase Row Level Security (https://supabase.com/docs/guides/database/postgres/row-level-security)
Supabase on GitHub (https://github.com/supabase/supabase)
Refine pricing (https://refine.dev/pricing/)
Refine home page (https://refine.dev/)
Refine docs (https://refine.dev/docs/)
Refine on GitHub (https://github.com/refinedev/refine)
Lovable subscription plans (https://docs.lovable.dev/introduction/subscription-plans)
Lovable plans and credits (https://docs.lovable.dev/introduction/plans-and-credits)
Lovable Cloud docs (https://docs.lovable.dev/integrations/cloud)
Retool pricing (https://retool.com/pricing)
Retool outbound regions (https://docs.retool.com/data-sources/concepts/outbound-retool-regions)
Retool permissions on Business (https://docs.retool.com/permissions/guides/business)
Retool PostgreSQL resource (https://docs.retool.com/data-sources/quickstarts/database/postgresql)

“Not listed” means the page we read does not say. Prices change; check each vendor’s page before you decide.

Questions people ask before they start

What happens when the AI gets stuck?

Every change is checked (types, tests, query plans) before you see it. When a change fails its own checks, the retries cost you no credits, and you can always roll back with one click.

Will my project be paused if I don’t use it?

No. An idle database sleeps and wakes on the first request, so a project you leave alone for months still opens.

Can I get a surprise bill?

Spend caps are on by default, you get an email at 80% of your credits or storage, and the assistant shows an estimate before large tasks. There are no per-project compute fees.

Is what the AI builds secure?

Who can see and change what is enforced by the framework on every request. The assistant configures those rules; it cannot write code that bypasses them.

Am I locked in?

No. It is your code in your own repository, on your own Postgres if you like. Export everything at any time, or run the same open-source code on your own servers.

Can a developer take over later?

Yes. It is plain TypeScript in small files, documented per feature. Any React developer can pick it up.

Where is my data stored?

In the EU or the US, your choice per project. Contracts are always with our EU company, with a GDPR data processing agreement.