It seems to me that redbean is a much simpler, vastly lighter one-file web server + sqlite DB: https://redbean.dev/
As a bonus, the same file runs on basically any OS without any dependencies on the local system, not even libc.
As a bonus, the same file runs on basically any OS without any dependencies on the local system, not even libc.
You could replicate PocketBase in Readbean, but you would have to implement from scratch: - resources with CRUD API and real time subscriptions - admin UI - authz & authn system
Redbean requires you to write server code; Pocketbase does not. Redbean does not offer a realtime database, authentication, an admin dashboard, integrated file storage, or an inbuilt API.
I like Redbean, but it's in a completely different "market sector". It's like comparing a kit car to a luxury car: yes, they both technically serve the same purpose, but one requires much less assembly and offers a much more usable experience out of the box.
> It's like comparing a kit car to a luxury car
If all I need is a bicycle, a kit car is already over the top but will do. A luxury car makes no sense. You're thinking like everyone has the same needs that you have or something.
When Pocketbase is talking about a backend, they're talking about something like Firebase, which is a complete backend-as-a-service that implements everything you need for a service where the majority of the logic is in the frontend; it's meant to involve as little backend engineering as possible.
You're referring to the more general, standard sense of the word "backend". I agree with the sibling comment that you're not necessarily wrong in offering Redbean as a point of comparison, but the target user of Pocketbase has limited overlap with the targeted user of Redbean; the people looking for a Firebase-like solution would not be served by Redbean, and your initial post could be read as suggesting that they could be.
I do think the use of the word "backend" here is unfortunate, because it's really referring to something much more specific than the conventional use of the term.
I think you would have gotten a more positive reaction if you said something like "As an alternative take on the idea of an "open-source backend in one file, redbean is a much simpler, vastly lighter one-file web server + sqlite DB: https://redbean.dev/" to make redbean isn't necessarily intended to be the same type of "open-source backend in one file"
Anyway, redbean does look really neat even if it's not necessarily totally interchangeable with pocketbase
Redbean doesn't have authentication or the client SDKs at least.
wget https://cosmo.zip/pub/cosmos/bin/redbean
chmod +x redbean
./redbean