PocketBase is a complete backend in one free Go binary. If it fits your project, use it — this page is about what changes when it stops fitting.
PocketBase is an open-source (MIT) backend in a single ~15MB Go binary: an embedded SQLite database, collections with access rules, email/password and OAuth2 authentication, file storage (local or S3), realtime subscriptions, and an admin UI. You copy one file to a server, run it, and you have a backend. For prototypes, side projects and small production apps on one server, it is close to unbeatable, and it costs nothing.
PocketBase gives you total ownership in the most literal form there is — your entire backend is a binary and a .db file on your own disk. The trade is that you are the operator: the server, the updates, the backups, the TLS, and SQLite's single-node reality are all yours. EasySiteControl moves the pieces around: the dashboard is hosted and maintained for you, and your data lives in services on your own accounts — your MongoDB (Atlas or self-hosted), your S3-compatible bucket, your SMTP relay. You operate nothing, and leaving is just pointing your apps at your own database. PocketBase suits a developer running one app on one box; we suit teams and agencies who want the ownership without the ops, on MongoDB.
| PocketBase | EasySiteControl | |
|---|---|---|
| Who runs the CMS | You — one binary on your server | We host and maintain the dashboard; you run nothing |
| Where records live | Embedded SQLite — a .db file next to the binary | Your own MongoDB — Atlas, self-hosted, anywhere |
| Where files live | Local disk, or your S3-compatible bucket | Your S3-compatible bucket only — never our disk |
| End-user auth | Built in — email/password and OAuth2 providers | Auth schemas — registration, login, verification, reset; no OAuth2 providers yet |
| Realtime | Built-in subscriptions | None — REST APIs with caching, no realtime layer |
| Custom API logic | Extend in Go or JavaScript hooks — code | Visual step canvas — no code, test-run in the dashboard |
| Scaling | Vertical — one node, SQLite's limits | Whatever your MongoDB can do — Atlas cluster or your own |
| Cost shape | Free (MIT) + your server | Flat per project; you supply the infra |
Pricing and capabilities for PocketBase last checked on 27 August 2026. Products change — check the sources below before making a decision on this.
Yes — PocketBase is MIT-licensed and free, full stop. Your only cost is the server you run it on. If PocketBase fits your project, that is very hard to argue with, and we won't try: this comparison is about what changes when your project outgrows a single server or your team outgrows a developer-only admin UI.
No. PocketBase is built around an embedded SQLite database — that is a deliberate design choice, and much of its simplicity comes from it. EasySiteControl takes the opposite bet: every project connects to a MongoDB you supply, wherever it runs, and the platform never holds your records.
PocketBase scales vertically on one node, and a well-tuned SQLite instance goes further than most people expect — but it is one node. EasySiteControl's data layer is your own MongoDB, so scaling is whatever your database can do: an Atlas cluster, a replica set, your own sharded deployment. The honest version: if you expect to need horizontal scale, neither an embedded SQLite file nor any single-server backend is the right shape.
With PocketBase, your data is a SQLite file on your own disk — export it or open it with any SQLite tooling. With EasySiteControl, your records are already in your own MongoDB, your files in your own bucket: leaving is pointing your applications at the database directly. Both products pass the leaving test; most of the category does not.
The claims on our side of the table are documented, not asserted: start with the getting-started guide, see how schemas and the records API work, or how custom endpoints are built. The cost side is one page: pricing.
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