- Challenge
- HousApp used Supabase's native backups for its database, but those backups don't cover Storage files. They also lived inside Supabase, so if Supabase was down, the backups went with it. The team needed an offsite fallback for customer data it can't afford to lose.
- Solution
- SimpleBackups connects natively to Supabase and keeps an offsite backup of HousApp's databases and Storage. It discovers new resources automatically, so coverage keeps up with the product.
- Results
- An offsite fallback that doesn't depend on Supabase being available.
- Storage and database covered in an independent location.
- New databases and buckets flagged automatically as the stack grows, with no manual checks.
- Backup and restore groundwork for SOC 2.
HousApp started by solving one of the most tedious jobs in a broker's day: booking property viewings. It has since grown into an AI-native CRM that replaces the tools brokers already use. It runs on Vercel and Supabase, with a few microservices on Railway.
Customer data sits at the center of everything HousApp builds. The team needed to know that data was backed up somewhere safe, including on the day Supabase itself goes down.
Protecting customer data you can't afford to lose
HousApp's CRM is becoming the system of record for the brokers who use it. Their leads, viewings and conversations live there. Losing that data would mean losing the product.
Before signing up to SimpleBackups, HousApp was already SOC 2 compliant and paid for Supabase's native backups, which covered the database. Two questions triggered the search for an independent solution. First, Supabase's native backups don't cover everything, Storage included. Second, what happens if Supabase is down?
If Supabase is out, what am I doing? What's my fallback? The storage wasn't backed up either, and with SOC 2 you have to restore your backups too, so I wanted an automation that does this for us.
Ralph MarounCo-founder and CTO, HousAppRalph wanted to back up both the database and Storage to an independent, offsite location, with a way to restore those backups.
What Supabase native backups cover, and what they don't
Supabase's native backups protect the Postgres database. They don't protect the files in Storage. They also sit in the same place as the project itself, so if Supabase is unavailable, your data and its backups are unavailable too.
| What | Covered by Supabase native backup? | Covered by SimpleBackups? |
|---|---|---|
| Postgres database | Yes. A daily snapshot, kept inside Supabase. | Yes. A copy you can download and restore anywhere. |
| Storage files themselves | No. Only the file metadata in the database. | Yes. It copies the real files. |
| Edge Functions | No. | Yes. It saves the function code. |
| Project-level configuration and auth | No. | Yes for auth and project settings. Secret values can't be read, so keep those in a secret manager. |
| A copy outside Supabase | No. Snapshots stay in Supabase's own cloud account, in your project's region. | Yes. Saved to storage you choose, in any region. |
| Restore | Yes. From the Supabase dashboard, into the same project or a new one. | Yes. Download it and restore it yourself, wherever you want. |
Supabase's own documentation says database backups don't include objects stored through the Storage API, because the database only holds metadata about them. We go through every gap in detail in what Supabase's native backup doesn't cover.
Why HousApp chose SimpleBackups
Four criteria decided it for HousApp:
- Simple. In Ralph's words, SimpleBackups is "simple to use, it's straightforward."
- EU-based.
- Flexible pricing.
- An automated restore mechanism.
What tipped the decision was how SimpleBackups connects to Supabase. It connects through OAuth and finds the project's database and Storage buckets on its own. There are no API keys to copy around and no scripts to write. When a new resource appears, SimpleBackups notifies the team, who choose whether to back it up or ignore it.
You were very natively connected, and you had this auto-discovery, which is really important, because we continuously build, add storage, and things like this, so I want to be notified, and then I can choose to back it up or keep it ignored.
Ralph MarounCo-founder and CTO, HousAppHousApp ships constantly, and every new database or Storage bucket is more customer data to protect. Nobody has to remember to add the new bucket, because SimpleBackups flags it and asks the question.
Ralph's advice for other SaaS teams on Supabase
Ralph recommends SimpleBackups most to startups, and above all to teams already on Supabase. He points to the flexible pricing and the native connection.
We needed an offsite backup of our Supabase database and storage, in case Supabase ever goes down. SimpleBackups connects natively to Supabase and finds new storage automatically as we build, so our backups keep up with our stack. If you're on Supabase, it's so simple to set up that I would recommend it to any startup.
Ralph MarounCo-founder and CTO, HousAppIf you're on Supabase too, SimpleBackups for Supabase backs up your database, Storage, auth and Edge Functions to storage you own.
FAQ
Does Supabase back up Storage files?
No. Supabase's database backups include metadata about stored objects but not the files themselves, so Storage needs its own backup.
What happens if I restore a Supabase database without restoring Storage?
The database can point to files that no longer exist, which leads to broken links and missing files.
Why back up Supabase offsite if Supabase already has backups?
An offsite copy protects you if Supabase has an outage, and it gives you control over where your backups are stored.
How should startups protect customer data stored in Supabase?
Keep Supabase's native backups, add an independent offsite backup that includes Storage files, and test that you can restore it.
Does SimpleBackups back up new Supabase resources automatically?
SimpleBackups discovers new databases and Storage buckets and notifies you, so you can choose what to back up.
