Our take
Pick Appwrite if app teams who will stay on Cloud Free (project freezes at the cap) or self-host OSS at $0 while they create a first Movies document, then add a dedicated database at $10/month (Starter 1 core / 1 GB) when they want reserved compute — and confirm the live Pro card before they treat overage as a fixed seat. Pick PowerSync if mobile / local-first teams who will stay on Cloud Free at $0 (2 GB synced, 50
hosted Postgres-to-SQLite sync desk
Best for
Appwrite Auth + data + files you start on Cloud Free or a $10 DB
PowerSync Offline-first sync you start at $0
Free plan
Appwrite $0 · named on the pricing FAQ. Hitting a resource limit freezes the project (Console stays read-only) until you upgrade, delete extras, or wait for the next cycle. Confirm the live Compare plans table for MAU / storage / bandwidth — do not invent those quotas
PowerSync $0 · /month. Isolated Cloud Service. 2 GB data synced / month. 500 MB hosted. 50 peak concurrent clients. 2 Service instances. 1 source DB per instance. Community support, basic alerts. Deactivated after 1 week of inactivity
Lowest paid
Appwrite Database — Dedicated $10/mo
PowerSync Pro $49/mo
Runs where
Appwrite Local or hosted
PowerSync Hosted
Watch out
Appwrite Free freezes at the cap
PowerSync Free Cloud sleeps after 1 week idle
Last checked
Appwrite 2026-10-22 · appwrite.io/pricing
PowerSync 2026-10-23 · powersync.com/pricing
app teams who will stay on Cloud Free (project freezes at the cap) or self-host OSS at $0 while they create a first Movies document, then add a dedicated database at $10/month (Starter 1 core / 1 GB) when they want reserved compute — and confirm the live Pro card before they treat overage as a fixed seat.
Read the Appwrite pagemobile / local-first teams who will stay on Cloud Free at $0 (2 GB synced, 50 clients) while they create a first Project, then buy Pro at $49/month when they need 30 GB synced and no idle deactivation.
Read the PowerSync page