Backendless
Backend-as-a-Service with database, realtime, auth, files, and cloud code
Open-Source Projects
Discover top open-source software, updated regularly with real-world adoption signals.
Discover top open-source software, updated regularly with real-world adoption signals.
Real-time database for your frontend with multiplayer by default
Modern Firebase alternative delivering a client-side real-time database with relational queries, automatic offline caching, optimistic updates, and built-in multiplayer support for React and JavaScript applications.
Instant is a client-side real-time database that eliminates the complexity of modern app development. Instead of building servers, ORMs, endpoints, stores, and selectors, developers write relational queries directly in their frontend code using InstaQL—a GraphQL-inspired query language that fetches data in the shape you need.
Every query is multiplayer by default, updating instantly across all connected clients. Offline mode, optimistic updates, and automatic rollbacks work out of the box. The platform handles data fetching, permission checking via Google's CEL library, and persistence to IndexedDB (web) or AsyncStorage (React Native). Ephemeral updates like cursors and presence indicators are natively supported.
Built on a triple-store model backed by Postgres, Instant uses a Clojure-powered sync server with a custom datalog/InstaQL query engine. Inspired by Asana's WorldStore and Figma's LiveGraph, it tails Postgres WAL for real-time invalidation. A multi-tenant architecture enables a generous free tier.
Ideal for teams building collaborative tools, real-time dashboards, chat applications, or any product requiring instant synchronization without backend complexity. SDKs available for JavaScript, React, and React Native.
When teams consider Instant, these hosted platforms usually appear on the same shortlist.
Looking for a hosted option? These are the services engineering teams benchmark against before choosing open source.
Real-Time Chat Application
Build a fully functional multiplayer chat with offline support and optimistic updates in under 15 lines of code
Collaborative Document Editor
Enable multiple users to edit documents simultaneously with live cursors and presence indicators without managing WebSocket infrastructure
Live Dashboard for Analytics
Display real-time metrics that update instantly across all viewer sessions without polling or custom backend endpoints
Offline-First Mobile App
Create React Native apps that work seamlessly offline with automatic sync and conflict resolution when connectivity returns
Instant provides a relational query model with InstaQL instead of Firebase's document-based approach, and every query is multiplayer by default. It also handles optimistic updates and rollbacks automatically without additional code.
InstaQL is a relational query language inspired by GraphQL that lets you fetch data in the exact shape you need. You write queries as nested objects, and Instant handles joins, permissions, and real-time updates.
The project is open source under Apache-2.0 license. While the easiest path is the hosted service at instantdb.com, the codebase is available for inspection and potential self-deployment.
Instant automatically caches queries to IndexedDB (web) or AsyncStorage (React Native). When offline, writes are queued and optimistically applied. When reconnected, transactions sync and conflicts are resolved with automatic rollback if needed.
Instant currently provides SDKs for JavaScript, React, and React Native. The client-side architecture is designed for frontend frameworks, with plans to expand language support over time.
Project at a glance
ActiveLast synced 4 days ago
