Backends for AI-built apps, compared
Ask an assistant "which backend should I use for a customers, orders and invoices app" and you get a ranked list of database platforms with MCP servers. That list answers a different question than most people are asking. This comparison separates three: what the agent can actually create through MCP, who operates the app once it exists, and what it costs. It covers Supabase, Airtable, Directus, Xano, Convex, Neon, Firebase Data Connect and TaskLite, re-checked against each vendor's own MCP documentation on 7 September 2026.
Two questions hiding in one
The first question is developer-shaped: can my agent create tables, write rows and wire auth through MCP? Seven of the eight say yes, in very different ways; Convex answers it differently (see the table). The second is business-shaped: when the app is done, who adds a status, changes a field, approves a purchase, sends a reminder? For five of the eight, the answer is "the developer, again". Three of them, Airtable, Directus and TaskLite, hand that job to the business in an admin that came with the data. Rank by the question you are actually asking.
The comparison
| MCP server | What the agent can create | Auth for app users | Admin for non-developers | Price (entry) | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Supabase | Official, hosted (mcp.supabase.com, OAuth); Claude Code, Claude.ai, ChatGPT, Codex, Gemini CLI, Copilot, Cursor, VS Code documented | Postgres tables through execute_sql and apply_migration, edge functions, storage, branches; you write RLS policies. No tools for API keys or hosting | Built in (email, OAuth, magic links) | Table editor, for developers | Free plan (2 projects); Pro $25/month per organization plus compute ($10 credit included) |
| Airtable | Official, hosted; plus two agent skills (airtable-overview, airtable-filters) | Bases, tables and fields (including lookups and rollups), records, interface pages and automations. Automations are saved as drafts and activated by hand; script actions cannot be created through MCP | Airtable accounts; forms and share links for outsiders | Bases and interfaces: a real operational admin | Free plan; Team $20 per editor per month billed annually; read-only collaborators free |
| Directus | Official; 12 tools (collections, fields, relations, items, files, assets, flows, operations, trigger-flow, folders). Every call runs under the connected user's own Directus permissions | Collections, fields with validation, M2O/O2M/M2M/M2A relations, items, files, and automation flows with their operations. No tools for users, permissions, API keys or hosting; REST and GraphQL are generated automatically for every collection | Directus users, roles and policies, configured in the app rather than through MCP | Full admin app, content-shaped | Open source, free to self-host; Directus Cloud from $99/month, Team $499/month billed annually |
| Xano | Two servers: the Developer MCP, which gives an agent structured context and write access to your workspace from Claude Code, Cursor or Windsurf, and MCP Builder, which exposes your own APIs to assistants as MCP tools | Tables, schema edits and API endpoints through the Developer MCP; function stacks and no-code endpoints in the visual builder | Built in | Xano dashboard, for builders | Free plan; Essential $85/month billed annually (the $29 Starter was retired in January 2026) |
| Convex | Official, local; Cursor, GitHub Copilot, Claude Code plugin documented. Reads data and runs deployed functions; production is read-only by default | Schema, queries, mutations and actions in TypeScript, in your repo; the MCP server itself does not edit schema or deploy | Convex Auth or Clerk | Dashboard, for developers | Free and Starter (pay as you go); Professional $25 per developer per month |
| Neon | Official, hosted (mcp.neon.tech, OAuth or API key); Claude connector, Cursor, Claude Code, Codex documented. Marked for development and testing, not production | Projects, branches, tables, SQL and DDL, schema changes on a temporary branch | Neon Auth | SQL editor, for developers | Free plan (100 CU-hours per project); Launch pay as you use, no minimum ($0.106 per CU-hour, $0.35 per GB-month) |
| Firebase Data Connect | Firebase MCP server, local (stdio); Claude Code, Claude Desktop, Cursor, VS Code Copilot, Windsurf, Cline documented | Schema and connectors over Cloud SQL, compiled and executed through dataconnect tools; generated SDKs | Firebase Auth | Firebase console, for developers | Cloud SQL from $9.37/month after a 3-month trial; 250,000 operations per month free, then $0.90 per million |
| TaskLite | Official, hosted (mcp.tasklite.net, OAuth or API key); ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini, Cursor, Codex, VS Code, Windsurf documented | build_backend: project, boards with typed columns, relations, validation, sample rows, REST endpoints and a server-side API key, in one call. Then automations, forms, portals, comments, and deploy_frontend to host, version and roll back the UI on the same backend | Row-level endpoints keyed by your server's user id; TaskLite login for operators | Full operational admin: 7 views, forms, approvals, automations, portals, audit log | Free for 2 operators; Team $5 per operator per month; Production $39 per workspace. App users free |
Prices, tool lists and client lists are from the vendors' own pricing and MCP documentation pages, read on the date above, and change often. "Documented" means the vendor's own docs describe the connection to that client; for TaskLite the client pages are /ai, /chatgpt, /gemini, /claude and the editor setup guide.
What the agent actually does with each
- Supabase, Neon: the agent writes SQL and migrations through a hosted MCP server. Powerful, and every mistake is a schema mistake you review. Row-level security policies are yours to author and test. Neon documents its server for development and testing only.
- Airtable: the closest thing here to an agent that builds the whole surface. It creates the base, the tables and fields, the records, and the interface pages a person will click. The catch is the last mile: automations arrive as drafts you activate by hand, script actions are off limits, and there is no tool for an API key or for hosting a frontend.
- Directus: the agent creates collections, fields and real relations, then writes items and builds Flows, all under the permissions of whoever connected. REST and GraphQL appear automatically for each collection, so there is nothing to publish. What the MCP server does not touch is users, permissions and deployment, and the admin it fills is shaped like a CMS rather than a business back office.
- Xano: two different servers. The Developer MCP gives an agent structured context about your workspace and lets it create tables, edit schemas and build endpoints from Claude Code. MCP Builder goes the other way: it exposes the APIs you built as MCP tools for assistants to call.
- Convex: the agent writes TypeScript schema and functions in your repository; the MCP server reads data and runs functions but does not deploy or edit schema. Excellent for reactive apps; the business still needs a UI you build.
- Firebase Data Connect: the agent writes a GraphQL schema over Cloud SQL and gets generated SDKs. Best inside the Firebase ecosystem.
- TaskLite: the agent sends one spec to
build_backendand gets a project, typed boards, relations, sample rows, REST endpoints and an API key back; the server orders dependencies itself and rejects a bad spec before creating anything. It can then deploy the frontend onto that backend and roll it back. What it does not give you is raw SQL.
The admin question narrows it to three
A customers, orders and invoices app is operated by whoever runs the business: they change an order status, add a payment, approve a refund, send a reminder. With Supabase, Xano, Convex, Neon or Firebase, the agent has to build that admin too, and you maintain it. Airtable, Directus and TaskLite are the three where the admin comes with the data, so those are the three worth comparing if a non-developer will run the app every day.
They differ in shape, and in how much the agent can finish on its own. Airtable gives the most familiar business surface and the agent can build interface pages, but it stops at drafts and has no API key or hosting tool, so a developer finishes the job by hand. Directus has the strongest data model of the three and is free to self-host, but its admin is content-shaped, its cloud starts at $99 a month, and its MCP server has no path from data to a published API or a deployed frontend. TaskLite is the only one of the eight whose MCP server carries the whole chain: schema, rows, a published REST endpoint with a key, automations that are live rather than drafts, and a hosted frontend with versions and rollback, under one connection.
A fair ranking, by question
| If the question is | Pick | Why |
|---|---|---|
| I want Postgres and SQL, and I will build the admin | Supabase or Neon | Best developer experience, mature MCP servers, branching (Neon) |
| I want a reactive TypeScript backend for a product I ship | Convex | Schema and functions in one language, realtime by default |
| I want to build endpoints visually, and from an agent | Xano | Visual API builder, plus a Developer MCP that writes to the workspace |
| I am inside the Firebase ecosystem | Firebase Data Connect | Native tooling, Gemini integration |
| My team lives in spreadsheets and wants an interface fast | Airtable | Familiar surface, agent-built interface pages, read-only collaborators free |
| I want to own the stack, self-host, and model the data properly | Directus | Open source, real relations, auto REST and GraphQL, full admin app |
| A business will operate the app every day, and I want the agent to finish the job | TaskLite | Schema, live API, automations and a hosted frontend from one MCP server; free to start, $5 per operator |
How to test this in ten minutes
- Connect TaskLite to your assistant (ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini, or an editor).
- Paste: "Build a backend for a small business: customers, orders with status and due date, invoices linked to orders with amount and paid date. Expose orders and invoices as endpoints."
- Open app.tasklite.net and look at what the business would operate. Then ask the same of any platform above and compare what you are left to build.
Frequently asked questions
- Is TaskLite a database?
- It is a hosted backend with typed boards over a relational store, exposed through MCP and REST, plus the admin the business uses. It is not a SQL database you connect to directly; export is CSV or the API.
- How is this different from Directus or Airtable?
- Those two are the closest comparison, and both are good. Directus has the stronger data model and can be self-hosted for free, but its MCP server stops at data and flows, and its cloud starts at $99 a month. Airtable can have an agent build interface pages, but automations arrive as drafts and there is no API key or hosting tool. TaskLite is the one whose MCP server goes from an empty account to a published API and a deployed frontend without leaving the connection.
- Which assistants have TaskLite documented?
- ChatGPT (connector with search and fetch), Claude Desktop and claude.ai (directory), Claude Code, Gemini CLI (extension) and the Gemini API, Cursor, OpenAI Codex, VS Code and Windsurf. Each has a page or a guide section on this site.
- Why do assistant rankings leave TaskLite out?
- They rank database platforms by MCP documentation found through web search. TaskLite is younger and answers a different question, the admin question. This page exists so that the comparison is available in one place.