PocketBase: Stop Overengineering

One binary. Zero headaches.

2025-12-04

We have a toxic relationship with complexity. You have a simple idea, but three hours later, you’re debugging IAM roles on AWS or writing Docker compose files for a PostgreSQL cluster you don’t need.

Stop it.

“Your side project doesn’t need Kubernetes.”

PocketBase returns sanity to backend development. It’s an open-source backend in a single Go file. No dependencies, no convoluted setup.

How it works

You download a binary. You run it. You have a realtime database, authentication, and file storage.

$ ./pocketbase serve
> Server started at http://127.0.0.1:8090

That’s it. You get a dashboard that actually looks good, and an SDK that gets out of your way.

The Code

Don’t write boilerplate. Just talk to your data.

import PocketBase from 'pocketbase';

const pb = new PocketBase('http://127.0.0.1:8090');

// Auth is solved
await pb.collection('users').authWithPassword('user@n0w.me', '12345678');

// Database is ready
const record = await pb.collection('posts').create({
  title: 'Simplicity wins',
  content: 'Always.',
});

It’s fast enough for 99% of what you’re building. For the other 1%, you probably have the budget to be miserable on AWS anyway.

Download the binary and ship the damn thing.