Back4App

Managed Parse Server backend with an auto-generated REST and GraphQL API, plus a container platform that builds and runs Docker images from GitHub.

www.back4app.compricing

Parse, kept alive commercially.

Classification

Categories: Serverless, Containers as a Service
Operating system: Self-managed
Metal: Resells someone else's
Use cases: API backends, Web apps, AI and LLM apps, Side projects, Learning and experiments
Audience: Solo and freelance, Startups, Education and research

Tech stack

Runtimes: Node.js, Docker

Pricing

Pricing model: Fixed tier
Entry price: $15 to $50 a month 3
Typical ceiling: $150 to $500 a month3
Currencies: USD 3
Billed: Monthly, Yearly3
Paid: In advance3
Exit: Within a month 3
Free tier: Permanent

39 of 59 fields not recorded yet

Founded, Headcount, Favorite, Parent, Status, Wikidata, Runs on, CDN from, Control panel, Software, Specialised in, Shell, Managed databases, GPU, Persistent storage, Backups, Starting price, Money back, Renewal multiple, Minimum contract, Payment, Regions, DPA, Energy claim, Certifications, Green Web directory, Domain registration, DNS hosting, Email hosting, CDN, Test domain, Collaboration, Staging, Support, Hours, Tiering, Published SLA, MCP, Infrastructure as code

Back4App runs two distinct products under one account. The first is a managed Parse Server: database, authentication, push notifications, Cloud Code and an automatically generated REST and GraphQL API over whatever schema you define. The second, Back4App Containers, connects to a GitHub repository, builds a Dockerfile and runs the resulting image with automatic scaling.

Its position is largely custodial. Parse was open-sourced when Facebook shut the hosted service down, and Back4App is the commercial platform that kept the ecosystem purchasable, maintaining the server and the client SDKs around it.

The company states that it runs on AWS, Google Cloud, Azure and Alicloud rather than owning infrastructure, and publishes no list of data-centre countries.

Worth knowing

Pricing is per application rather than per account, so a portfolio of small apps multiplies the bill rather than sharing one plan. A permanent free tier sits below the paid steps, which are also charged per app.

There is no provider-wide status page. The App Status feature is a per-application dashboard inside the product, not an incident history for the platform.

Identity

Reach: ↑740 1
Ownership: VC-backed 2

Deployment

Deployment: Git, Container image

Regions and law

Headquarters: United States 2

Automation

CLI: Official
API: Public

Sources

2026-09-07: Reach
majestic.com/reports/majestic-million
2026-08-09: Headquarters, Ownership
www.back4app.com/about
2026-08-02: Entry price, Typical ceiling, Currencies, Billed, Paid, Exit
www.back4app.com/pricing/backend-as-a-service

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Last reviewed 2026-08-09 · Updated 2026-09-07 · Listed since 2026-07-31Edit on GitHub This page as markdown

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