Redis vs Supabase for Solo Developers

Quick Comparison

Redis Overview

Redis is the in-memory data store that handles the fast layer of your application. Sessions, caching, rate limiting, job queues, pub/sub messaging, real-time leaderboards. All at sub-millisecond latency. It's not trying to be your primary database. It's trying to make everything else faster.

I run Redis in every production app I build. When database queries take 50ms and your cache takes 0.5ms, the math is simple. Redis sits between your app and your primary database, absorbing repeated reads and making your application feel instant. The data structures are surprisingly versatile too. Sorted sets for leaderboards, streams for event logs, lists for queues. Each one solves a specific problem elegantly.

Redis Stack has expanded into JSON documents, full-text search, and time series data. But the core value proposition remains the same: it's the fastest data layer you can add to your stack. When something needs to be fast, Redis is the answer.

Supabase Overview

Supabase gives you a full backend without writing backend code. PostgreSQL database, authentication, file storage, real-time subscriptions, edge functions, and auto-generated REST APIs. It's an entire backend-as-a-service built on top of the most reliable database engine in existence.

The free tier is remarkably generous. 500MB database, 50,000 monthly active auth users, 1GB file storage, and real-time subscriptions. For side projects and MVPs, you can validate your idea without spending anything. I've launched products on Supabase's free tier and only upgraded when paying users showed up.

Row-level security is the feature that makes Supabase special for solo developers. Define access rules at the database level, and your frontend can talk directly to the database safely. No middleware layer needed. No API endpoints to write. For a solo developer trying to ship fast, skipping the entire backend layer is a massive time savings.

Key Differences

They solve completely different problems. Redis is a speed layer and utility data store. Supabase is a complete backend platform with a primary database. Comparing them is like comparing a turbocharger to an entire engine. One makes things faster. The other powers your entire application.

Primary data storage. Supabase stores your application data persistently in PostgreSQL. User accounts, orders, content, everything. Redis stores data in memory with optional persistence. It's designed for transient, fast-access data like cache entries and session tokens. Your user profiles belong in Supabase. Your session tokens belong in Redis.

Backend services. Supabase includes auth, file storage, edge functions, and real-time subscriptions. Redis is purely a data store. If you need user authentication, Supabase has it built in. With Redis, you'd need to find and integrate separate services for each of those concerns.

Querying flexibility. Supabase gives you full PostgreSQL querying power. Complex joins, aggregations, full-text search, JSONB filtering, window functions. Redis is primarily key-based lookups. You can scan and filter with Redis Stack, but it's not designed for the relational querying that PostgreSQL handles naturally.

Latency profile. Redis wins on raw speed. Sub-millisecond operations for cached data. Supabase's PostgreSQL queries are fast but measured in single-digit milliseconds for indexed queries. When microseconds matter (rate limiting, session checks, hot cache hits), Redis is the better tool.

Pricing for solo developers. Supabase's free tier covers most early-stage needs for an entire backend. Redis Cloud's free tier gives you 30MB, enough for caching and sessions. Both are affordable, but they cover different parts of your stack.

When to Choose Redis

• You already have a primary database and need a caching layer
• Session management and rate limiting need sub-millisecond response times
• You're building job queues with tools like BullMQ or Celery
• Real-time features need pub/sub messaging
• Your primary database is a bottleneck and you need to cache hot queries

When to Choose Supabase

• You need a primary database for your application data
• You want auth, storage, and real-time without building a backend
• You're building a frontend-first app that needs a backend-as-a-service
• You want to ship an MVP as fast as possible
• PostgreSQL's reliability and querying power matter to your project

The Verdict

These tools are not competitors. They're complementary.

Supabase is your primary backend. It stores your data, authenticates your users, handles file uploads, and provides real-time updates. Redis is your speed layer. It caches your most frequent Supabase queries, manages sessions, runs your job queues, and handles rate limiting.

If you can only pick one, pick Supabase. It handles the fundamental needs of a web application: persistent data, user auth, and file storage. You can build and launch a complete product on Supabase alone.

Redis becomes necessary when you hit performance bottlenecks or need features like background job queues and sophisticated caching. Most solo developer projects don't need Redis on day one. But when your app starts getting real traffic and database queries become the bottleneck, Redis is the first tool you should add.

The 10/10 for Supabase reflects its value as a complete backend for solo developers. The 8/10 for Redis reflects its near-essential status in production applications. Use Supabase as your foundation, add Redis when performance demands it.