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Phat Tran
Phat Tran

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How to deploy your first PocketBase instance on PocketBase Cloud

#pocketbase #pocketbaseloud #tutorial #backend

Why I chose PocketBase Cloud

If you haven't used PocketBase: it's an open-source backend in a single Go binary. Embedded SQLite, auth, real-time subscriptions, file storage, REST API, admin UI — all included.
The catch has always been hosting it: renting a VPS, configuring a reverse proxy, SSL, backups, monitoring.

That's exactly the gap PocketBase Cloud fills. It's a hosting platform built specifically for PocketBase: you click a button and get a fully managed instance — deployed on real infrastructure, secured with SSL and DDoS protection, backed up, and monitored — live in about 30 seconds, with a free plan to start. Think Vercel, but for your PocketBase backend.

This post walks through creating your first instance on it, start to finish.

I looked at a few hosts and went with PocketBase Cloud for three reasons:

  1. Free plan to test with — 1 instance, 50 MB storage, no charge. (Heads-up: it asks for a Stripe subscription at $0 to verify you're human. You don't get billed.
  2. 6 regions — Germany ×2, Finland, US East/West, Singapore. My users are mostly in Asia, so Singapore was the deciding factor.
  3. SSL, DDoS protection, and backups are automatic.

The Pro plan is also interesting if you hoard side projects like I do: from $13/mo you get a dedicated server with unlimited instances, so 10 projects cost the same as 1.

Step 1: Sign up and create a project

Go to portal.pocketbasecloud.com, sign up, complete the $0 Stripe step.

Create a Project, then open its PocketBase tab.

Step 2: Create the instance

Click New PocketBase. The form has three sections:

General Information

  • Instance Name — this becomes your subdomain, so keep it short. I used my-pocketbase → https://my-pocketbase.pocketbasecloud.com
  • Description — optional, skipped it
  • PocketBase Version — v0.39.3 was the latest when I did this. Take the latest unless you have a reason not to.

Admin Credentials

  • Admin email + password (12–20 chars). These are for the PocketBase admin dashboard, the same /_/ login you know from self-hosting.
  • There's a copy button next to the password field — copy it into your password manager before clicking Create.

Location

  • Pick the region closest to your users. I picked Singapore.

Click Create.

Step 3: Provisioning

You get a live progress screen while it:

  • picks a server based on current capacity
  • provisions the instance and assigns a port
  • sets up DNS
  • issues the HTTPS cert

Your backend is now at:

https://<instance-name>.pocketbasecloud.com
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Step 4: Log in and sanity-check it

The admin panel is where it always is:

https://<instance-name>.pocketbasecloud.com/_/
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Log in with the credentials from Step 2. It's a completely standard PocketBase admin UI — collections, users, API rules, logs.

I created a todos collection, added a record, and hit it from the browser console:

import PocketBase from 'pocketbase';

const pb = new PocketBase('https://my-pocketbase.pocketbasecloud.com');

const todos = await pb.collection('todos').getFullList();

// real-time works out of the box, no extra config
pb.collection('todos').subscribe('*', (e) => {
  console.log(e.action, e.record);
});
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Final thoughts

After using PocketBase Cloud for a while, I found that it makes starting a side project much simpler. Instead of spending time setting up servers, SSL, and backups, I can jump straight into building the product.

If you're already using PocketBase—or you're thinking about trying it for your next project—I recommend giving PocketBase Cloud a try. The free plan is more than enough to explore the platform and see whether it fits your workflow.

I hope this guide helps you get started a little faster. If you end up trying it, I'd love to hear what you think. Happy building! 🚀

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