Does Django Work With Supabase?
Django and Supabase work together seamlessly—use Supabase as your PostgreSQL database and auth backend while Django handles your application logic and ORM.
Quick Facts
How Django Works With Supabase
Django pairs naturally with Supabase since Supabase is built on PostgreSQL and exposes a standard psycopg2-compatible connection string. You configure Django's DATABASE setting to point to your Supabase project URL, and everything works as if you're using any other PostgreSQL instance. Django's ORM (Django ORM) handles migrations, queries, and relationships without modification.
For authentication, you have two paths: use Django's built-in auth system with Supabase as the database backend, or integrate Supabase Auth via their Python client library for JWT-based authentication. The latter is cleaner for modern SPAs but requires custom middleware to validate Supabase tokens in Django views. The real advantage is Supabase's realtime subscriptions—you can listen to database changes in real-time using their JavaScript client on the frontend while Django handles server-side logic, making this particularly powerful for collaborative features.
Architecturally, treat Django as your REST API or template-rendering backend, Supabase PostgreSQL as your data layer, and optionally Supabase Auth for centralized identity management. This works beautifully for both traditional server-rendered Django apps and headless APIs consumed by modern frontends.
Best Use Cases
Quick Setup
pip install django django-environ python-decouple supabase-py# settings.py
import os
from decouple import config
DATABASES = {
'default': {
'ENGINE': 'django.db.backends.postgresql',
'NAME': config('SUPABASE_DB_NAME'),
'USER': config('SUPABASE_DB_USER'),
'PASSWORD': config('SUPABASE_DB_PASSWORD'),
'HOST': config('SUPABASE_DB_HOST'),
'PORT': '5432',
}
}
# views.py
from django.http import JsonResponse
from django.views.decorators.http import require_http_methods
from myapp.models import Article
@require_http_methods(["GET"])
def list_articles(request):
articles = Article.objects.all().values()
return JsonResponse(list(articles), safe=False)
# .env
SUPABASE_DB_NAME=postgres
SUPABASE_DB_USER=postgres
SUPABASE_DB_PASSWORD=your_password
SUPABASE_DB_HOST=xyz.supabase.coKnown Issues & Gotchas
Supabase connection pooling limits (tier-dependent) can exhaust if Django spawns many database connections
Fix: Use PgBouncer connection pooling or configure Django's CONN_MAX_AGE and connection pooling settings appropriately for your tier
Supabase JWT tokens expire; if using Supabase Auth instead of Django auth, you must handle token refresh manually
Fix: Implement a token refresh mechanism in middleware or use Supabase's refresh token flow; consider using Django sessions with Supabase JWT validation instead
Django migrations run against Supabase directly; ensure proper backups before running makemigrations in production
Fix: Always test migrations on a Supabase staging branch or separate project first
Row Level Security (RLS) policies in Supabase won't be enforced by Django ORM—RLS only works via Supabase client libraries
Fix: If using RLS, query Supabase via their Python client for sensitive data; use Django ORM for non-RLS tables or implement authorization checks in Django views
Alternatives
- •Django + traditional managed PostgreSQL (AWS RDS, DigitalOcean) — more control, no auth/realtime layer included
- •Django + Firebase (via django-firebase-auth) — serverless alternative but less Pythonic, Firebase Realtime Database instead of PostgreSQL
- •FastAPI + Supabase — lighter-weight Python framework, similar setup ease, better for async/realtime workloads
Resources
Related Compatibility Guides
Explore more compatibility guides