Introducing Appwrite Start_
Appwrite Start is Appwrite Cloud production pricing for India, built so more developers can grow on Appwrite rather than maximize margin on this tier.
On Appwrite Cloud, Free is built for learning and early builds. Pro is built for production at scale. Between those two plans, we kept hearing from developers who were ready to ship real apps but not ready for Pro-level spend: freelancers, founders, and engineers at small companies who had outgrown Free limits.
That feedback was loudest in markets where our standard Pro price weighs more heavily on monthly budgets. The product fit was already there. The missing piece was a paid tier sized for that moment.
Today we are introducing Appwrite Start: a paid plan built so more developers can grow on Appwrite without skipping straight to Pro. It is one of the most intentional accessibility moves we have made on Cloud, and it is not designed to be our most profitable tier. Appwrite Start sits between Free and Pro, with production-sized included resources and a price we are keeping deliberately low in the regions where the plan is live.
Appwrite Start at a glance
Appwrite Start is Appwrite Cloud’s production plan for developers who need more than Free and a clearer runway before Pro, with regional pricing in the markets where the plan is offered. Qualifying organizations can select it on the pricing page and when creating or upgrading an organization in the Console.
Why we built Appwrite Start
Appwrite’s mission is to give developers an open, capable backend and hosting stack. Cloud exists so you can focus on product work instead of operating databases, functions, and storage yourself.
That only matters if Cloud is reachable. Without a step between Free and Pro, some teams stall: they hit Free limits, hesitate on Pro, or self-host before they are ready. None of those outcomes match what we want for Appwrite Cloud.
Our goal is simple: every developer should have a chance to grow on Appwrite. Free gets you building. Pro and Enterprise carry you at scale. Appwrite Start is the step we were missing in between, especially in markets where Pro is the right product but not yet the right price.
Appwrite Start is part of that commitment, alongside the Free tier and programs like Startups and OSS credits. We are clear-eyed about the economics: this plan prioritizes access over profit for Appwrite. We price it so teams can run authenticated apps, store files, execute functions, and deploy sites on managed infrastructure with backups and email support, then graduate to Pro when they are ready. That growth path is the point.
Who Appwrite Start is for
Appwrite Start is not a “lite” hobby tier and it is not Enterprise. It targets a specific middle:
- Indie developers and freelancers shipping client projects or personal products that outgrew Free.
- Early-stage founders validating an MVP with real users, without committing to Pro-scale spend on day one.
- Student and community builders moving from hackathon demos to something that stays online.
- Small product teams in price-sensitive markets who need dependable Cloud operations but watch monthly burn closely.
You are a strong fit if you need more than Free (higher bandwidth, storage, executions, and MAU) and production basics (daily backups retained for seven days, email support), but you do not yet need Pro’s highest quotas, organization roles, or pay-as-you-go headroom.
When traffic, team size, or compliance needs outgrow Start, Pro is the natural next step. Appwrite Start exists so you can reach that moment on Appwrite instead of leaving the platform because the only jump was Free to Pro.
What you get on Appwrite Start
Appwrite Start uses the same Appwrite Cloud surface area you already know: Auth, Databases, Storage, Functions, Sites, Messaging, and the rest of the platform. The difference is the included quota bundle and monthly price.
At launch, Appwrite Start includes per project:
- 80GB API bandwidth per month
- 40GB storage
- 1.5M function executions per month
- 100K monthly active users
- Email support
- Daily backups stored for 7 days
- 10 databases, 10 buckets, and 10 functions per project
- 25-minute build duration for Sites and Functions
Those numbers sit meaningfully above Free and below Pro. For example, Free includes 5GB bandwidth, 2GB storage, and 750K executions; Pro starts at 2TB bandwidth, 150GB storage, and 3.5M executions with pay-as-you-go beyond included usage. Appwrite Start is the middle path: enough room to operate a modest production app with predictable included limits.
See the full comparison table on pricing for rows like reads, writes, Realtime messages, webhooks, and domains.
Where Appwrite Start is available
Appwrite Start is live in India today. If your organization qualifies, the pricing page and Console show Free, Appwrite Start, Pro, and Enterprise together. You get the full Appwrite Cloud stack on Start; only the included quotas and monthly price differ from Pro.
Regional pricing is how we deliver this plan responsibly: the product is the same everywhere, but Appwrite Start is offered where it matches our accessibility goals for that market. India is our first Appwrite Start region. We chose it to launch with a large, active developer community and to refine support and upgrade paths as teams move from Start to Pro. We will bring Appwrite Start to additional markets with a similar economic profile as part of the same mission: make sure developers in those regions can grow on Appwrite, not only start on Free.
Outside Appwrite Start regions, Free, Pro, and Enterprise are unchanged. Check the pricing page or Organization → Billing → Change plan in the Console for the plans available to your organization.
Appwrite Start vs Free vs Pro
| Free | Appwrite Start | Pro | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Best for | Learning and small experiments | Production apps on a budget | Scaling production with headroom |
| Monthly price | $0 | From $10 | From $25 |
| Bandwidth (included) | 5GB | 80GB | 2TB |
| Storage (included) | 2GB | 40GB | 150GB |
| Executions (included) | 750K | 1.5M | 3.5M |
| MAU (included) | 75K | 100K | 200K |
| Backups | - | Daily, 7-day retention | Daily, 7-day retention |
| Support | Community | ||
| Beyond included limits | Project freezes | See pricing comparison | Pay-as-you-go available |
| Organization roles | - | - | Yes |
Exact billing amounts may display in local currency at checkout. Treat the pricing page and Console as the source of truth for your organization.
How to get started on Appwrite Start
- Create an account on Appwrite Cloud or sign in to an existing one.
- Open the pricing page and confirm Appwrite Start is listed for your organization.
- Create an organization and choose Start during setup, or upgrade an existing organization from Organization → Billing → Change plan in the Console.
- Build as you would on any Cloud plan: create a project, wire up Auth, model data in Databases, and deploy with Sites or Functions.
If you are evaluating Appwrite for the first time, the quick starts walk through a full stack in your framework of choice.
Getting started with Appwrite Start
Appwrite Start exists because accessibility is a product decision for us, not a footnote. We would rather see developers grow from Free to Start to Pro on Appwrite Cloud than lose them in the gap between tiers, even when Start is not the most profitable plan in our lineup.
If you qualify for Appwrite Start, use it to ship production with confidence. When you outgrow it, Pro and Enterprise are the next steps on the same platform, with higher limits and the features larger teams expect.
