Supabase
Supabase is an open-source Postgres backend with auth, storage, and vector search — a powerful database layer for n8n and AI workflows.
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Best use case with n8n
A scalable Postgres database for serious automations, plus pgvector for AI/RAG memory and semantic search in n8n.
Supabase gives you a full PostgreSQL database with auth, storage, realtime, and vector search. For n8n users building AI workflows, the pgvector extension makes Supabase a top choice for retrieval-augmented generation (RAG) and semantic search.
Two ways to connect from n8n
- Supabase node — simple create/read/update/delete on your tables.
- Postgres node — full SQL power, including vector similarity queries for RAG.
Why it's the go-to for AI memory
When you build an AI agent in n8n, it needs memory. With pgvector you store embeddings (from OpenAI) in Supabase, then retrieve the most relevant chunks at query time:
- Firecrawl scrapes your docs → markdown.
- n8n embeds the text and stores vectors in Supabase.
- On each question, n8n runs a similarity search and feeds the top matches to the LLM.
Free vs Airtable
Choose Supabase when you need scale, SQL, or vector search. Choose Airtable when non-technical teammates need a friendly UI.
Pricing
| Plan | Cost | Includes |
|---|---|---|
| Free | $0 | 2 projects, 500MB DB, 1GB storage |
| Pro | ~$25/mo | 8GB DB, daily backups, no pausing |
Give your AI agents real memory
Supabase + pgvector is the database layer for n8n RAG workflows.
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Key features
- Fully managed PostgreSQL database
- pgvector extension for AI embeddings
- Auth, storage, realtime & edge functions
- Auto-generated REST & GraphQL APIs
- Native n8n Supabase node + Postgres node
- Open source and self-hostable
Pros & cons
Pros
- A real SQL database that scales with you
- Best-in-class for AI/RAG vector memory
- Open source — no lock-in, self-hostable
- Generous free tier to start
Cons
- More technical than Airtable
- SQL knowledge needed for advanced queries
- Free projects pause after inactivity
Alternatives
Airtable is a flexible database-spreadsheet hybrid that's ideal as a no-code data store for n8n automations — CRMs, content calendars, and trackers.
Pricing: Free plan (1,000 records/base); Team ~$20/user/mo; Business ~$45/user/mo (annual)
PostgreSQL is a powerful open-source SQL database that n8n can read from and write to directly — ideal for reliable, structured automation data.
Pricing: Free & open-source; hosting via managed providers from a few $/mo