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Render

Deploy Postbase on Render using a single Blueprint for the app and database.

Published: September 6, 2026Updated: September 6, 2026

Postbase is a self-hosted auth and database platform for Next.js. Drop it into your stack, configure 25+ auth providers from a dashboard, and connect your app with a single SDK call. Think self-hosted Supabase or Clerk — you own the data, you control the infra.

About Hosting Postbase

On Render, Postbase runs as a Web Service built from Dockerfile.railway, paired with a Render Postgres database — both defined in a single render.yaml Blueprint. Render builds and deploys the Blueprint automatically when you click Deploy to Render; the app is stateless and rebuilds independently of the database, same split-service model as Railway and DigitalOcean.

Common Use Cases

  • Add auth to a Next.js app — enable email/password, magic links, or any of 25+ OAuth providers (GitHub, Google, Discord, and more) from the dashboard without writing auth code

  • Self-host your user database — store users, sessions, and OAuth accounts in your own Postgres instance with full SQL access via the built-in editor

  • Manage files and storage — connect Amazon S3, Cloudflare R2, Backblaze B2, or any S3-compatible bucket per-project from the dashboard

Dependencies

  • Docker — Render builds and runs Dockerfile.railway automatically per render.yaml

  • Render Postgres — a managed Postgres database, wired to the app via fromDatabase

Implementation Details

render.yaml defines two resources:

  • postbase: Web service, Docker runtime, built from Dockerfile.railway, port 3000, health check at /api/health

  • postbase-db: Render Postgres 16 (starter plan)

Environment variables set by the Blueprint:

DATABASE_URL      = <from postbase-db, via fromDatabase>
AUTH_SECRET         = <auto-generated by Render>
NEXTAUTH_SECRET      = <mirrors AUTH_SECRET>
POSTBASE_JWT_SECRET  = <mirrors AUTH_SECRET>
NEXTAUTH_URL          = <the service's public host>
HOSTNAME              = 0.0.0.0

No manual variable entry is required — AUTH_SECRET is generated automatically by Render’s generateValue: true.

Redeploying after a code change

Render auto-deploys on push to the connected branch by default (Blueprint services inherit the repo’s deploy settings). No extra configuration needed.

Why Deploy Postbase on Render?

Render’s Blueprint format keeps the app and database defined together in git, with automatic deploys on push and zero-downtime deploys out of the box.