Free Database Hosting for Side Projects: Postgres, MySQL, MongoDB and SQLite

Your side project needs somewhere to keep its data, and you'd rather not pay for it until someone actually uses the thing. Free database hosting is easy to find now. The hard part is picking one that won't box you in six months from now.

Start with the data model, not the provider

Before comparing free tiers, decide what kind of database fits your app.

• Relational (Postgres, MySQL): users, orders, posts, comments, anything with relationships. This is the right default for most web apps.
• Document (MongoDB, Firestore): flexible, nested data that rarely needs joins. Nice for prototypes where the shape keeps changing.
• SQLite-style (Turso, Cloudflare D1): lightweight, fast reads, great with edge functions and read-heavy apps.
• Key-value (Redis / Upstash): caching, sessions, rate-limit counters. A sidekick, not your main database.

If you're unsure, pick Postgres. It handles relational data, JSON columns, full-text search and even vector embeddings through extensions. It's very hard to outgrow for a side project.

Managed Postgres options

Supabase. Postgres plus a lot of extras: authentication, file storage, realtime subscriptions and auto-generated REST APIs. Row-level security lets you query safely from the frontend. Free projects pause after a period of inactivity, so a forgotten demo may need a click to wake up.

Neon. Serverless Postgres that scales compute down to zero when idle, which suits hobby traffic well. Its standout feature is branching: copy your database instantly for a preview deployment or a risky migration.

Others. Several providers, such as Aiven, have offered small free Postgres or MySQL instances. Plans change, so compare current limits when you sign up.

MongoDB

MongoDB Atlas has offered a free shared cluster for years. It's the natural choice if you're following MERN tutorials or your data is document-shaped. Pair it with Mongoose for schema validation; schemaless doesn't have to mean structureless.

SQLite at the edge

Turso (built on libSQL, a fork of SQLite) and Cloudflare D1 bring SQLite to serverless apps. Reads are very fast and replicas can sit close to users. They're great for content sites, small SaaS tools and read-heavy APIs. For complex write-heavy workloads, Postgres is usually more comfortable.

Quick comparison

Need	Good free pick
General web app with auth	Supabase
Serverless Postgres with preview branches	Neon
Document data / MERN tutorials	MongoDB Atlas
Edge functions, read-heavy content	Turso or Cloudflare D1
Cache, sessions, rate limits	Upstash Redis

Limits that actually matter

Storage limits get all the attention, but these bite first:

• Connection limits. Serverless functions can open dozens of connections at once. Use the provider's pooled connection string, which is often a different host or port.
• Inactivity pauses. Great for the provider's costs, annoying for your demo link. Know whether your database sleeps and how it wakes.
• Backups. Free plans often have limited retention or none at all. If the data matters, run your own scheduled dumps.
• Region. Put the database in the same region as your backend. A cross-continent hop on every query adds up fast.

Stay portable

Free plans change. PlanetScale once had a popular free MySQL plan and removed it, and plenty of developers had to migrate in a hurry. Protect yourself:

1. Use standard SQL and an ORM or query builder that supports multiple providers (Prisma, Drizzle, Knex, SQLAlchemy, Eloquent).
2. Keep migrations in your repo, so you can rebuild the schema anywhere with one command.
3. Keep the connection string in an environment variable, never hardcoded. Switching providers then means changing one value. (More on config hygiene.)
4. Test a restore at least once. A backup you've never restored is only a hope.

Don't skip the basics

A free database gets the same performance rules as a paid one. Add indexes for the columns you filter and sort by (indexing explained) and watch out for the N+1 query problem. A well-indexed database on a free tier will often outrun a sloppy one on an expensive plan.

FAQ

What is the best free database for a beginner?

Supabase or Neon if you're learning SQL, MongoDB Atlas if you're following a MERN course. Supabase is especially beginner-friendly because of its dashboard and built-in auth.

Can I use SQLite in production?

Yes, for many apps. SQLite handles a lot of read traffic well. Hosted options like Turso and D1 make it practical for serverless deployments. Write-heavy apps with many simultaneous writers usually do better on Postgres.

Why does my free database keep pausing?

Many free plans pause inactive databases to save resources. Upgrade, choose a provider that scales to zero and resumes automatically, or accept the occasional wake-up delay for hobby projects.