# instantdb/instant

Instant is the best backend for AI-coded apps.  You get auth, permissions, storage, presence, and streams — everything you need to ship apps your users will love.

Repository: https://github.com/instantdb/instant
Canonical: https://ross.abutalabs.com/products/instant
Homepage: https://instantdb.com
Language: TypeScript
License: Apache-2.0
License Family: permissive
Last push: 2026-08-25T23:54:24+00:00

## Health v2 (maintenance only)
Score: 67/100 (v2, computed 2026-09-03T02:20:16.233290+00:00)
- activity 99, release rhythm 35, longevity 53
- inputs: {"age_days": 744, "days_push": 8, "days_rel": null, "gap_med": null, "n_releases_24m": 0}
- flags: no_releases
- formula: round(0.45*activity + 0.35*rhythm + 0.20*longevity); archived -> min(score, 10)

## Adoption (not part of the score)
Stars 10493, forks 389 (observed 2026-08-28T04:10:42.118752+00:00)

## What it is
Instant is an open-source backend platform (the 'Modern Firebase') providing a real-time relational database, auth, permissions, storage, presence, and streams for frontend apps. It offers JavaScript, React, and React Native SDKs with declarative relational queries, optimistic updates, offline caching, and CLI-first tooling aimed at AI-coded apps.

## Use cases
- build a real-time multiplayer chat app with react
- firebase alternative with relational queries
- add auth and permissions to a next.js app
- offline-first todo app with optimistic updates
- backend for ai-generated apps from the cli
- presence and ephemeral updates like cursors
- spin up a database and push schema from the terminal

## When to choose
- you want a batteries-included backend with real-time, auth, storage, and permissions in one data model
- you're building multiplayer or offline-capable frontends in React or React Native
- you want an agent/CLI-friendly backend that LLMs already know how to use

## When to avoid
- you need a backend with long-term support — Instant is sunsetting with services ending August 31st, 2027
- you need heavy server-side processing, custom backend logic, or non-JavaScript SDKs
- you require self-hosting as a primary supported path or strict data-residency compliance

## Facets
- artifact type: service
- maturity: maintenance
- function: database, auth, caching, websocket, sdk, cli, file-upload
- domain: databases, web-development, backend, developer-tools, large-language-models
- platform: cloud, self-hosted, cli, cross-platform
- tags: backend-as-a-service, firebase-alternative, realtime-database, relational-queries, optimistic-updates, offline-first, multiplayer, triple-store, react, react-native, ai-coded-apps, sunsetting, real-time, nodejs, web-server

## Member repositories
- instantdb/instant (main) score 67

## Provenance
- Observed fields: from GitHub, fetched 2026-08-28T04:10:42.118752+00:00.
- Health v2: computed from the inputs above; adoption is never an input.
- Inferred fields (summary, facets, guidance): AI-extracted, prompt v1, taxonomy v1, on 2026-08-29T17:18:58.091309+00:00, confidence not recorded.
  - readme: https://github.com/instantdb/instant (fetched 2026-08-28T04:10:42.118752+00:00, sha 3831aa9c6e09)
  - homepage: https://instantdb.com (fetched 2026-08-29T08:18:17.465154+00:00, sha 259edb6f3270)
  - site_page: https://www.instantdb.com/docs (fetched 2026-08-29T08:18:17.468189+00:00, sha 0e79f7e7d5bc)
  - site_page: https://www.instantdb.com/about (fetched 2026-08-29T08:18:17.470204+00:00, sha e1ee77cf234b)
- Data as of 2026-08-30T08:39:29.467469+00:00.