Database choice for a Malaysian startup MVP — what I picked and why
by Fieza Mustafa·May 19, 2026
Built 3 MVPs in the last 2 years. Here's my database reasoning each time.
MVP 1 (SaaS tool): PostgreSQL on Supabase. Best decision. Supabase gives you Postgres + auth + realtime + storage in one hosted platform. For a Malaysian startup, the Singapore region is fast. Free tier covers early users. Moving off is straightforward if you need to.
MVP 2 (Mobile app with offline sync): SQLite via Expo SQLite on-device + PocketBase for backend. Works well for offline-first apps. PocketBase is a single binary, trivial to self-host on a RM30/month VPS.
MVP 3 (Simple content site): Just JSON files read at build time. Sometimes the correct database is no database.
General guidance: Use Postgres. The question is which Postgres host (Supabase, Neon, Railway, or self-hosted). Don't use MongoDB unless you have a very specific reason. Don't choose Redis as your primary database.