Gel is somewhat similar to Supabase on the surface—both run on Postgres, both have Auth, and both offer AI features, a CLI, and a UI, among other similarities.
However, there’s a big difference beneath the surface: Gel comes with a high-level data model (abstract types, mixins, access policies) that replaces tables and joins. It’s still relational (and we’re about to publish a paper on that), but it’s more high level, strict, and yet more flexible.
On top of that, we have a built-in migration system (where schema is a first-class citizen), a performance-tuned network protocol, and a query language called EdgeQL, which is like a child of SQL and GraphQL. These are just a few of our “deep” features.
All in all, Gel is a fresh take on day-to-day database development. We cut no corners in trying to push the core database developer experience forward.
Just a user here, but I'd say there are many reasons, one of those reasons is in your name: auth.
GelDB's auth is versatile and doesn't cost a dime, while Supabase auth is only free up until 50,000 monthly active users, then it costs $0.00325 per MAU (> 100k MAU).
I personally just love its query language and the typescript query builder.
Gel is somewhat similar to Supabase on the surface—both run on Postgres, both have Auth, and both offer AI features, a CLI, and a UI, among other similarities.
However, there’s a big difference beneath the surface: Gel comes with a high-level data model (abstract types, mixins, access policies) that replaces tables and joins. It’s still relational (and we’re about to publish a paper on that), but it’s more high level, strict, and yet more flexible.
On top of that, we have a built-in migration system (where schema is a first-class citizen), a performance-tuned network protocol, and a query language called EdgeQL, which is like a child of SQL and GraphQL. These are just a few of our “deep” features.
All in all, Gel is a fresh take on day-to-day database development. We cut no corners in trying to push the core database developer experience forward.