# Instant

Open-source backend for web and mobile apps with a client-side, real-time database, auth, permissions, storage and streams.


Source: https://findsoftware.frbit.cloud/instantdb/
Last reviewed: 2026-11-03
Listed since: 2026-11-03

## Record

### Links

- home: https://www.instantdb.com
- repository: https://github.com/instantdb/instant
- docs: https://www.instantdb.com/docs
- x: https://twitter.com/instant_db
- discord: https://discord.com/invite/VU53p7uQcE

### Identity

- status: active
- maintainer: Instant
- maintainerType: unknown
- parent: unknown
- firstRelease: 2023
- hqCountry: unknown

### Kind

- category: backend
- hosting: java
- language: javascript
- runtime: jvm
- runtimeMin: unknown
- basedOn: unknown

### Content

- contentStore: database
- databases: postgres
- adminUi: yes
- headlessApi: unknown
- templating: unknown
- i18n: unknown

### Rendering and deploy

- runsAs: always-on
- renderingModes: unknown
- installMethod: docker compose

### License

- licenseModel: open-source
- license: Apache-2.0

### Releases

- currentMajor: 1
- latestReleaseDate: 2026-08-31

### Adoption

- githubStargazers: 10564
- packagistDownloads: not applicable
- npmWeeklyDownloads: 376964
- contributors: 58
- pluginCount: unknown
- packagistMonthlyDownloads: unknown
- ecosystemsMonthlyDownloads: unknown
- httpArchiveSites: unknown
- wordpressActiveInstalls: unknown
- dependentRepos: unknown
- dependentPackages: unknown

### Sources

- urls: https://www.instantdb.com (read 2026-11-03)
- urls: https://github.com/instantdb/instant (read 2026-11-03)
- urls: https://www.instantdb.com/docs (read 2026-11-03)
- maintainer: https://www.instantdb.com (read 2026-11-03)
- license: https://github.com/instantdb/instant (read 2026-11-03)
- category: https://www.instantdb.com (read 2026-11-03)
- language: https://github.com/instantdb/instant (read 2026-11-03)
- runtime: https://www.instantdb.com/docs/self-hosting (read 2026-11-03)
- contentStore: https://github.com/instantdb/instant/blob/main/README.md (read 2026-11-03)
- databases: https://github.com/instantdb/instant/blob/main/README.md (read 2026-11-03)
- installMethod: https://www.instantdb.com/docs/self-hosting/vps (read 2026-11-03)
- installMethod: https://www.instantdb.com/docs/start-vanilla (read 2026-11-03)
- installMethod: https://www.instantdb.com/docs/self-hosting/aws (read 2026-11-03)
- runsAs: https://www.instantdb.com/docs/self-hosting/aws (read 2026-11-03)
- adminUi: https://www.instantdb.com/docs/self-hosting (read 2026-11-03)
- firstRelease: https://registry.npmjs.org/@instantdb/core (read 2026-11-03)
- currentMajor: https://registry.npmjs.org/@instantdb/core (read 2026-11-03)
- latestReleaseDate: https://registry.npmjs.org/@instantdb/core (read 2026-11-03)
- githubStargazers: https://github.com/instantdb/instant (read 2026-11-03)
- contributors: https://api.github.com/repos/instantdb/instant/contributors (read 2026-11-03)
- npmWeeklyDownloads: https://api.npmjs.org/downloads/range/2026-10-23:2026-10-29/@instantdb/core (read 2026-11-03)

## Notes

Instant is an open-source backend for web and mobile apps. Its client SDKs, installed from npm, read and write a relational data model through queries that update as the data changes, so other clients see a change in real time and an app keeps working offline. Auth, permissions, file storage, presence and streams are part of the same service.

The server is a sync server written in Clojure that runs on the JVM. It keeps user data as triples in one PostgreSQL database and watches the database's write-ahead log to decide which queries to refresh. The [self-hosting guide](https://www.instantdb.com/docs/self-hosting) describes a docker compose setup that runs Instant beside PostgreSQL, MinIO for files and Caddy as the reverse proxy, and it asks for an email provider so that login codes reach users.

## Worth knowing

Instant Cloud, the hosted service, no longer accepts new signups and is scheduled to shut down. The project states that all of Instant is open source and publishes a migration guide for moving a cloud app to a self-hosted instance. Until an email provider is configured, login codes are written to the backend logs.

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Data licensed CC BY 4.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). Attributes are recorded, never scored; absent means unknown.
Credit, in full: FindSoftware, CC BY 4.0