ElectricSQL

ElectricSQL — Postgres read-path sync: stream subsets of your own database to clients over HTTP. Electric syncs shapes — filtered subsets of Postgres tables — out of a database you already run, over plain HTTP with a caching layer in front. It deliberately handles reads only: writes go through whatever API you already have. That narrowness is the point, and it makes Electric the lightest commitment on this page. It is a sync layer, not a backend, so auth, storage and functions remain yours. Founded 2021. Venture-backed. Open source under Apache-2.0.

We track it in 1 comparison — Convex alternatives — so every claim below is a cell in a table you can open and check rather than an impression. Across those rosters it sits against 10 other tools, and what follows is where it visibly separates from them.

Where it wins.

• Exit cost — 2, 2nd of 11.

Each of those is ranked against the whole roster on its category page, not against a hand-picked subset, so a first place here means first of everything we list.

Where it gives ground.

• Auth — bring-your-own, 8th of 11. Supabase records built-in.
• MCP server — No. Convex records Yes.
• File storage — No. Convex records Yes.
• GitHub stars — 8,000, 6th of 10. Supabase records 90,000.

None of these disqualify it on their own. They are the fields to check against your own requirements before you commit, because they are the ones where a competitor genuinely does better.

Provenance. 23 of 26 tracked fields carry a value for ElectricSQL, and 6 of those cite a document you can open. Last verified 2026-07-20. Every figure keeps its own provenance — measured by us, claimed by the vendor, inferred, or community-reported — and we would rather print a dash than a guess.

Its nearest neighbour in our data is Appwrite. ElectricSQL is ahead on Transactions (mvcc against none) and Raw SQL (Yes against No). Appwrite takes Cron & scheduling (Yes against No) and Auth (built-in against bring-your-own). That pattern repeats across the rest of the roster — see ElectricSQL alternatives for the other rivals, each compared the same way.

Founded

2021

Funding

Venture-backed

Licence

Apache-2.0 (open source)

Fields we track

23 of 26

Last verified

2026-07-20

The narrowest tool here and the best-behaved: read-path sync over a Postgres you already own, with an exit close to free. It solves a quarter of what Convex solves, and it is honest about which quarter.

Auth

bring-your-own8th of 11

Vendor-claimedverified 2026-07-20source

MCP server

○No8th of 11

Inferred

File storage

○No8th of 11

Inferred

Exit cost

22nd of 11

Inferred

GitHub stars

8,0006th of 10

Inferred

Agent fit

210th of 11

Inferred

Reactivity

push1st of 11

Vendor-claimedverified 2026-07-20source

Self-hostable

●Yes1st of 11

Vendor-claimedverified 2026-07-20source

ElectricSQL is the right call in these situations, each one drawn from a field we actually record:

• Existing Postgres apps that need live read data without a rewrite.
• Teams that already have a write API they are happy with.
• Anyone who wants sync without adopting a backend platform.
• Exit cost is your binding constraint. ElectricSQL records 2, 2nd of 11 in the Convex alternatives roster. We define that field as 1–5 judgement score, lower is better, for how much application code must be rewritten to move off the platform, assuming the data is already extracted.

Reach for something else when any of the following is a requirement rather than a nice-to-have:

• Auth. ElectricSQL records bring-your-own, 8th of 11 in the Convex alternatives roster. Supabase records built-in on the same field. If that is a hard requirement rather than a preference, start elsewhere.
• MCP server. ElectricSQL records No on the Convex alternatives table. Convex records Yes on the same field. If that is a hard requirement rather than a preference, start elsewhere.
• File storage. ElectricSQL records No on the Convex alternatives table. Convex records Yes on the same field. If that is a hard requirement rather than a preference, start elsewhere.
• GitHub stars. ElectricSQL records 8,000, 6th of 10 in the Convex alternatives roster. Supabase records 90,000 on the same field. If that is a hard requirement rather than a preference, start elsewhere.
• Agent fit. ElectricSQL records 2, 10th of 11 in the Convex alternatives roster. Convex records 5 on the same field. If that is a hard requirement rather than a preference, start elsewhere.

We publish this block because a comparison that only lists what a tool is good at is marketing. Every figure above sits on the same page as its source, and the field definitions are on the category tables if you want to check how we measured them.

What we don't know. 3 of the 26 fields we track for ElectricSQL are still blank: Cold start, Function timeout and Entry price. Those render as dashes rather than as zeroes or assumptions, because an empty cell and a bad cell are not the same thing and only one of them is honest. If you know any of these figures and can point at a document, tell us.