How much RAM does PocketBase need? We measured: 31 MB idle
PocketBase (backend-as-a-service (db + auth + api)) used 31 MB of RAM across 1 process sitting idle with default configuration — measured by us, on real hardware, not copied from another blog. Runtime: Single Go binary (embedded SQLite)
31 MB for a database, auth server and REST API combined. This is the strongest argument on the site against 2 GB 'minimum' advice.
What the vendors say
PocketBase is explicit that it runs on the smallest instances available, and our measurement backs that up — which is notable for something replacing a whole Firebase-style stack.
What changes under load
SQLite means the OS page cache does the heavy lifting, so RSS stays flat while the dataset grows. Sustained write concurrency, not memory, is the ceiling here.
Methodology
Each app was started with its default configuration and an empty data directory, left to settle for 25–30 seconds, and confirmed alive with an HTTP request to its web interface. We then recorded the resident set size (RSS) of the app's entire process tree via ps. Apps were run directly on the host (no Docker), so numbers exclude container overhead (~10–30 MB with Docker).
A fresh minimal Ubuntu 24.04 VPS typically idles at roughly 200–300 MB RSS (kernel, systemd, sshd, journald). All 'fits on' verdicts below assume ~300 MB reserved for the OS.
Where to run it
A 512 MB instance from Hetzner, Vultr or DigitalOcean covers this app with the OS overhead included. Don't pay for RAM the measurements say you won't use.
Other apps we measured
File Browser (16 MB), Gotify (20 MB), ntfy (27 MB), Caddy (40 MB), Navidrome (47 MB), Syncthing (57 MB), Prometheus (70 MB), MinIO (132 MB), Uptime Kuma (136 MB), Gitea (158 MB), Forgejo (173 MB), code-server (VS Code in the browser) (191 MB)