Userbase
Open SourceUser authentication and database for static websites without backend
AI Summary
Userbase is a serverless solution for user management and data storage in static websites. All functions are executed directly in the browser via a JavaScript SDK, including end-to-end encryption. The open-source tool enables authentication and database operations without backend code.
✓ Pros
- +No backend or server required - completely client-side
- +Integrated end-to-end encryption for maximum data security
- +Open source and self-hostable with MIT license
✗ Cons
- −Functionality is limited to frontend technologies
- −Potential performance limitations with large amounts of data in the browser
Use Cases
- →Develop static web apps with user login and personal data without a backend
- →Implement GDPR-compliant data storage with client-side encryption
- →Create rapid prototypes with authentication without server infrastructure
- →Build privacy-first applications with user-controlled encryption keys
Who is it for?
Frontend developers and indie hackers who want to create static websites with user accounts and data persistence without backend programming.
Tags
What is Userbase?
Userbase is an open-source tool that handles user authentication and data persistence entirely in the browser. No backend, no server, no API endpoint on your own infrastructure. All operations run through a JavaScript SDK directly on the client side, including end-to-end encryption of stored data. The project is MIT-licensed and can be self-hosted.
Core features
- In-browser user authentication: Registration, login and session management without backend code, exclusively through the JavaScript SDK.
- Client-side data storage: Database operations run directly in the browser. Data only leaves the device in encrypted form.
- End-to-end encryption: Encryption keys stay with the user. The operator cannot read the stored content.
- GDPR-compliant architecture: Because data is encrypted on the client side, privacy compliance can be enforced structurally, not just organisationally.
- Self-hostable: Anyone who needs full control over the infrastructure can run Userbase on their own servers.
Who is Userbase for?
Frontend developers and indie hackers who want to build a static web app with user accounts without getting into backend programming. Userbase makes particular sense when privacy is a product requirement, not just a compliance checkbox. Anyone who wants to validate prototypes with authentication quickly can skip the usual infrastructure work by using Userbase.
The limitations are straightforward: complex server-side logic cannot be implemented. As data volumes grow, the browser-based approach hits performance limits that cannot be optimised away as long as the architecture stays client-side.
Context & alternatives
Userbase fills a niche between full backend-as-a-service platforms like Firebase or Supabase and pure authentication services like Auth0. The difference from these alternatives lies in the encryption architecture: with Userbase, user data is by design unreadable on the server side. Anyone who specifically needs that will find few direct alternatives with a comparable approach. Anyone who needs server-side functions, real-time features or scalable queries is better served by one of the BaaS platforms mentioned above.
