Kanesh vs PocketBase
Two small, self-hosted backends. PocketBase is mature and realtime; Kanesh adds multiple workspaces, SQL databases of your choice and MCP for agents.
PocketBase and Kanesh share a goal: a backend you can run as one small thing. They make different trade-offs.
| Kanesh | PocketBase | |
|---|---|---|
| Shape | One Docker image, about 8.9 MB | One executable |
| Projects per install | Many independent workspaces | One app per instance |
| Databases | SQLite, PostgreSQL, MySQL | Embedded SQLite |
| Relations | N:1, 1:N, N:N with real foreign keys | Relation fields |
| APIs | REST, GraphQL, OpenAPI 3.1 export | REST |
| AI agents | Read-only MCP endpoint per workspace | Not built in |
| Realtime | Not yet | Realtime subscriptions |
| Auth | Email and password, sessions, API tokens | Email and password, OAuth2 |
| File storage | Database or S3 | Local or S3 |
| Extending | REST and GraphQL from your code | Go and JavaScript hooks |
| Maturity | New, first stable release | Widely used in production |
| License | AGPL-3.0 core; 1 workspace free, unlimited workspaces + AI assistant $9/month per install | MIT |
Choose PocketBase if
You need realtime, OAuth sign-in or Go/JS hooks today, and one project per instance is enough.
Choose Kanesh if
You host several clients or products from one install, want PostgreSQL or MySQL instead of SQLite, or want agents to read your data over MCP with the same permissions as people.