Back4app vs Nhost (2026): which should you pick?
As of Nov 13, 2026, Back4app grades higher than Nhost: 2.4 against 1.8 out of 4.0.
Checked Nov 13, 2026 · graded Nov 13, 2026 by ToolGPA
Back4app grades higher on value for money, the free plan and platforms. They get the same grade on features and ease of use.
Price, platforms and features side by side. The table says where each price was read and when.
Back4app
Managed backend platform built on Parse, billed per app
Nhost
Managed Postgres backend with GraphQL, auth, storage and functions
Which one is for you
Pick Back4app if
- Fits if you want a hosted Parse backend for one prototype or small app
- Makes sense if you'd rather not run a database server
Look elsewhere if
- Skip it if you run several apps, because each app needs its own subscription
- Tight if you outgrow 25K requests, as the next plan is $15 per app a month billed annually
- Pricey if you grow, since Pay As You Go is $80 and Dedicated is $400 per app a month
- Watch out: monthly billing is higher than the annual prices, and the page shows only the saving
- Watch out: point-in-time backups are an add-on at $100 a month on lower plans
Pick Nhost if
- Fits if you want Postgres with GraphQL and auth without running servers
- Makes sense if a free project that pauses is fine for prototypes
Look elsewhere if
- Tight if you leave a project idle, as the free Starter pauses after a week
- Pricey if you grow, since usage is billed on top of $25 a month and Team is $599
- Watch out: compute is $15 a shared or $50 a dedicated vCPU a month
- Watch out: custom domains are $10 per project a month and point-in-time recovery starts at $100
How we grade them
| 2.4GPABack4appFair | 1.8GPANhostWeak | |
|---|---|---|
| Value for money | CThe MVP plan is $15 per app a month billed annually, in the middle of web hosting at $10.99 to $20.83. It covers one app, and the next step is $80. | DPro is $25 a month plus usage, above the $20.83 dearer-quarter line for web hosting, with compute at $15 per vCPU and custom domains $10 per project. The free tier pauses, so real use sits on Pro. |
| Free plan and trial | BA free plan with 25K requests, 250 MB database, 1 GB transfer and 1 GB files, no card needed. A prototype can live on it, a real app will not. | CA free Starter with 1 project, 1 GB database, 1 GB storage and 5 GB egress. It pauses after a week of inactivity and has one workspace member. |
| Features | CA database with generated APIs, auth, cloud functions, jobs, real-time and storage. Web deployment and the AI Agent have separate pricing pages that weren't readable for the listing. | CPostgres, Hasura GraphQL, auth, storage, functions and containers with a CLI. Point-in-time recovery starts at $100 and custom domains cost extra. |
| Ease of use | CNo store rating on record. You build the backend and its data model yourself. | CNo store rating on record. You design the data model and wire up the client yourself. |
| Platforms and integrations | BWeb only, but it has an API and connects to GitHub, MongoDB Atlas, DigitalOcean and Mailgun. | CWeb only, with a short list: Hasura, Postgres, Grafana and GraphQL. |
| Best for | a managed Parse backend for small apps | a managed Postgres backend with GraphQL, auth and storage |
The GPA is the average of the five grades: an A is 4 points, an F is none. The full reasons are on each tool's page: Back4app and Nhost. How we grade
Price against what you get
Back4app starts at $15 a month and scores 2.3 out of 4 on features, ease of use and platforms. Nhost starts at $25 a month and scores 2.0.
Back4app scores higher and starts $10 a month lower. Of the other web hosts on the chart, 5 score higher than Back4app for less, and 48 score higher than Nhost for less.
Features, ease of use and platforms, averaged
What paid plans start at, a month (each step along is roughly double) →
- The best score at each price
- Has a free plan
- No free plan
Where they differ
- Back4app also covers AI agents.
- Nhost also covers databases.
At a glance
| Back4app | Nhost | |
|---|---|---|
| Pricing | Free plan | Free plan |
| Starts at | $15 per app / month, billed annually (MVP plan) | $25 per month and up (Pro), with $15 of compute credits included |
| Free plan | Free plan with 25K requests, 250 MB database, 1 GB data transfer and 1 GB file storage, no credit card required. | Starter: 1 active project that pauses after a week of inactivity, with a 1 GB database, 1 GB storage and 5 GB egress. |
| Free trial | None listed | None listed |
| Web | ||
| Made by | Back4app | Nhost |
| Price read from | back4app.com | nhost.io |
| Checked | Nov 13, 2026 | Nov 13, 2026 |
Worth knowing
Back4app
- Each subscription covers one app, so several apps mean several subscriptions.
- The listed prices are billed annually; the monthly rate is higher and the page shows only the saving.
- Point-in-time backups on Dedicated include an add-on priced at $100 a month on lower plans.
- Web deployment and the AI Agent have their own pricing pages, which were not readable for this entry.
Nhost
- The free Starter project is paused after a week of inactivity, and it is limited to one project and one workspace member.
- Usage beyond included amounts is charged: $0.20 per GB of database, $0.05 per GB of storage and $0.10 per GB of egress.
- Compute is billed separately at $15 per shared or $50 per dedicated vCPU core a month.
- Custom domains cost $10 per project per month, and point-in-time recovery starts at $100.
Key features
Back4app
- Database with auto-generated APIs
- A MongoDB-backed database with REST, GraphQL and SDK access, created automatically for each class, cloud function or job.
- Authentication and access control
- User sign-up and login with ACLs and role-based access control, plus email templates for verification and password reset.
- Cloud functions and jobs
- Server-side JavaScript functions that connect to the database and auth; the number of Cloud Code jobs rises by plan.
- Web deployment
- Deploy full-stack web apps from GitHub to a b4a.app URL with automatic CI/CD.
- Real-time and storage
- Live queries for instant data sync, and file storage delivered through a global CDN.
- AI Agent
- Describe an app and the AI Agent provisions the Back4app backend and deploys a web app, per the vendor's home page.
Nhost
- Postgres database
- Every project has a dedicated Postgres instance, with 7 days of daily backups on paid plans and point-in-time recovery as an add-on.
- Hasura GraphQL API
- A GraphQL engine gives instant real-time APIs over the data, with event triggers, subscriptions and role-based authorization.
- Authentication
- Email and password, magic links, social OAuth providers, WebAuthn and 2FA, with unlimited users on every plan.
- Storage and functions
- File storage with a global CDN and image transformation, plus serverless JavaScript and TypeScript functions with per-plan execution limits.
- Nhost Run containers
- A managed container runtime for your own services in any language, billed per vCPU and memory allocated.
- CLI and git deploys
- A CLI runs the whole stack locally, and pushing to git deploys the backend; infrastructure can be managed as code.
Plans
Back4app
Free$0
25K requests a month, 250 MB database, 1 GB transfer and 1 GB files, for developing, learning and prototyping.
MVP$15
per app / month, billed annually
500K requests, 1 GB data storage, 250 GB transfer, 50 GB files and daily backups. The page shows a 40% annual saving.
Pay As You Go$80
per app / month, billed annually
5M requests, 3 GB data storage, 1 TB transfer, 250 GB files, daily backups, SOC 2 and ISO 27001. Annual saving of 20% shown.
Dedicated$400
per app / month, billed annually
Unlimited requests on 10 CPUs and 14 GB RAM, 8 GB data storage, 2 TB transfer, point-in-time backups, HIPAA after a BAA.
EnterpriseCustom
Custom SLAs, on-premises or your own infrastructure, multi-region, professional services and a dedicated engineer.
Nhost
Starter$0
1 project and 1 workspace member, unlimited users, functions, realtime APIs and community support.
Pro$25
per month and up, plus usage
10 GB database, 50 GB storage, 50 GB egress, daily backups, email support and $15 of compute credits; unlimited projects.
Team$599
per month and up, plus usage
Everything in Pro plus SOC 2 Type II, email support SLA, a dedicated Discord channel and external database connections.
EnterpriseCustom
SLAs, a dedicated technical account manager and optional dedicated clusters. Sold through sales.
Ways to pay less
Back4app
- Annual discount
Annual billing saves 20% to 40%
The pricing page shows 40% off on MVP and 20% off on Pay As You Go and Dedicated when billed annually.
Nhost
No public discounts listed.
Common questions
Which is cheaper, Back4app or Nhost?
As of Nov 13, 2026, Back4app is cheaper to start with: $15 a month, against $25 a month for Nhost. Back4app starts at $15 per app / month, billed annually (MVP plan), and Nhost starts at $25 per month and up (Pro), with $15 of compute credits included.
Which has a free plan, Back4app or Nhost?
As of Nov 13, 2026, both Back4app and Nhost have a free plan.
More comparisons
How this page was made
- The verdict at the top follows a fixed rule. When both tools are in the same category and either is in our top three for it, the verdict follows that ranking: the higher-placed tool is our pick. The top three weigh who each tool suits as well as its grades, so a pick can go against the GPA. Otherwise the page does not pick one and says which grades higher: the higher GPA first; on a tie, the one with a free plan, then the one that starts cheaper in dollars a month, counted the same way for both; if they are still level, what the choice depends on.
- The grades are our own, from each tool’s review or report card. The GPA is their average.
- Prices, plans and platforms come from each tool’s listing. The table above says where each price was read and when.
- The differences and the answers to the questions are worked out from those listings.