Pricing Units, Proprietary Limits & Migration Complexity
The operational fine print U.S. SaaS founders and small business owners check before committing.
| Evaluation Dimension | PocketBase | Socket Proxy |
|---|---|---|
| Starting Price & Billing Unit How your monthly bill scales | $0 Open Source ($4–$6 VPS) Self-Hosted Single Binary ($5 VPS) | $0 Open Source Cloud Compute & Storage |
| Free Tier & Included Quotas Sandbox vs production allowance | 100% Free MIT Open Source — embedded SQLite + Auth + File Storage in 1 Go binary | Free self-hostable (Open Source) |
| Proprietary Limits & Gotchas Caps, lock-in & overage cliffs | Single-node vertical scaling (SQLite); easily handles 10,000+ concurrent realtime connections on a $5 VPS | Transparent published limits with no mandatory enterprise sales calls or multi-year lock-in |
| Migration Complexity Engineering & ops switching effort | Moderate (2–4 hrs) Deploy single binary on Hetzner/DigitalOcean/Fly.io and import JSON/CSV collections via Admin UI | Low (< 30 mins) Standard CSV/JSON data export, API sync, or webhook integration |
| Target Company Stage Best operational fit | Solo Makers & Bootstrapped SaaS | Solo Founders & US SMBs (1–50) |
| Data Privacy & Compliance U.S. & enterprise governance | MIT Open Source100% Data SovereigntySelf-Hosted US/EU | Open Source / Self-HostGDPR / CCPA ReadyTransparent USD Pricing |
Interactive Workload & Infrastructure Cost Simulator
Compare realistic monthly & annual platform spend by production workload stage (not fake per-seat math).
PocketBase: Self-Hosted Single Binary ($5 VPS)
Socket Proxy: Cloud Compute & Storage
Estimated Annual Savings with Socket Proxy: $72/yr
Saves ~100% annually at this workload tier based on published USD rates.
Technical Capability Matrix
Side-by-side feature, API, and data-ownership checklist.
| Feature Specification | PocketBase | Socket Proxy |
|---|---|---|
| 1-Click Full Data Export data-ownership | Supported Single SQLite file backup | Not Included |
| Full API & Webhooks developer | Supported Instant REST API & JS/Dart SDKs | Supported Full source & API access |
| No Vendor Lock-In data-ownership | Supported MIT open-source license | Not Included |
| Self-Hostable / Open Source infrastructure | Supported Single standalone executable binary | Supported Open Source repository |
| Flat-Rate Small Business Pricing pricing | Not Included | Supported 100% free & open-source |
Official Published USD Pricing Tiers
Verified plan structure for PocketBase and Socket Proxy.
PocketBase Plans USD Verified
100% Free Open Source
monthly
Socket Proxy Plans USD Verified
Free / Open Source
monthly
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Frequently Asked Questions
Key pricing, quota, migration, and security answers for PocketBase vs Socket Proxy.
What is the main difference between PocketBase and Socket Proxy in 2026?
PocketBase ($0 Open Source ($4–$6 VPS), billed by self-hosted single binary ($5 vps)) is best suited for: Indie MVPs and internal tools wanting $0 recurring BaaS bills and zero cloud vendor lock-in. By contrast, Socket Proxy ($0 Open Source, billed by cloud compute & storage) is best for: Secure-by-design and flexible Unix socket proxy. Built in memory-safe Go with zero dependencies, no shell or interpreter
How do PocketBase and Socket Proxy compare on free tiers and USD pricing?
PocketBase: 100% Free MIT Open Source — embedded SQLite + Auth + File Storage in 1 Go binary. Socket Proxy: Free self-hostable (Open Source). Always compare based on your real workload metric (Self-Hosted Single Binary ($5 VPS) vs Cloud Compute & Storage) rather than headline base tier alone.
What proprietary feature limits or overages should founders watch out for?
On PocketBase: Single-node vertical scaling (SQLite); easily handles 10,000+ concurrent realtime connections on a $5 VPS. On Socket Proxy: Transparent published limits with no mandatory enterprise sales calls or multi-year lock-in.
How difficult is migrating from Socket Proxy to PocketBase, and what compliance is supported?
Estimated migration effort to PocketBase is Moderate (2–4 hrs) (Deploy single binary on Hetzner/DigitalOcean/Fly.io and import JSON/CSV collections via Admin UI). Security & data governance signals for PocketBase include MIT Open Source, 100% Data Sovereignty, Self-Hosted US/EU, while Socket Proxy offers Open Source / Self-Host, GDPR / CCPA Ready, Transparent USD Pricing.
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