How much does Electric cost and is there a free plan?

Electric is a paid tool with usage-based pricing, charging only for writes and data retention, while reads, egress, and fan-out are free. There is no free plan, but a self-hosted option is available for developers who want to avoid managed service costs.

Does Electric offer a free trial?

Electric does not offer a free trial for its managed service, but you can self-host the open-source components (Electric Agents, Streams, Sync) for free. This allows you to test the functionality without upfront payment.

What are the best alternatives to Electric?

Electric is a strong alternative to Supabase Realtime and Firebase for developers needing real-time sync from Postgres. Other alternatives include Convex for local-first apps and Durable Objects (Cloudflare) for agent-based systems. Unlike these, Electric offers Durable Streams and Shapes for granular control.

Who is Electric best for?

Electric is best for developers building collaborative multi-agent systems, real-time local-first applications, or AI agent runtimes that require resumable, forkable agents. It's ideal for teams using Postgres and needing scalable sync to many clients.

Who should avoid using Electric?

Non-technical users, teams needing a traditional REST API without real-time sync, simple static websites, and applications requiring built-in authentication should avoid Electric. It requires technical expertise and external auth providers.

What are the key limitations of Electric?

Electric lacks built-in authentication, so you need external identity providers. It also requires a Postgres database and is not suitable for non-real-time applications. The learning curve is moderate, as it involves understanding Durable Streams, Shapes, and agent runtimes.

What integrations does Electric support?

Electric integrates with React, Next.js, Phoenix, Yjs for collaborative editing, and major cloud platforms. It also supports Postgres and PGlite for embedded databases. Client libraries are available for TypeScript, Elixir, and Phoenix.

How easy is it to set up and learn Electric?

Electric's setup requires technical knowledge of Postgres and real-time systems. The learning curve is moderate, as you need to understand concepts like Shapes (partial replication) and Durable Streams. Documentation and examples help, but it's not beginner-friendly.

Is Electric good for building multi-agent AI systems?

Yes, Electric is specifically designed for building collaborative multi-agent systems with durable agent loops. Its Electric Agents runtime provides long-lived, resumable, and forkable agents, making it ideal for AI engineers needing observability and control.

Can Electric be used for local-first app development?

Yes, Electric is well-suited for local-first applications. With PGlite (embeddable Postgres) and TanStack DB (reactive client store), it enables sub-millisecond reactivity and offline sync, making it a strong choice for teams building real-time local-first apps.

Does Electric support collaborative editing?

Yes, Electric integrates with Yjs for CRDT-based collaborative editing via its Durable Streams. This allows multiple users to edit in real-time with conflict resolution, making it suitable for collaborative document or whiteboard apps.

What is the performance of Electric's sync engine?

Electric's sync engine achieves nearly 1M ops/sec on a single 4vCPU machine, thanks to its Durable Streams architecture. Reads, egress, and fan-out are free, making it highly scalable for many clients syncing from Postgres.

Electric

Paid

Build collaborative multi-agent systems with Postgres sync and durable streams.

By Tanmay Verma, Founder · Last verified 03 Jul 2026

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Added 5d ago

77/100Safe Bet

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In short

Electric — Build collaborative multi-agent systems with Postgres sync and durable streams. Best for Developers building collaborative multi-agent systems with durable agent loops, Teams creating real-time local-first applications with Postgres sync, AI engineers needing resumable, forkable agent runtimes with observability. Plans from $5/mo.

Compared withvs Presto Voice vs Spider Cloud vs Temporal Ai

Is Electric actually worth it?

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Editorial Verdict

Best for

Developers building collaborative multi-agent systems with durable agent loopsTeams creating real-time local-first applications with Postgres syncAI engineers needing resumable, forkable agent runtimes with observabilityOrganizations requiring scalable sync from Postgres to many clientsDevelopers embedding Postgres in browser/edge with PGlite

Not ideal for

Non-technical users looking for a no-code solutionTeams needing a traditional REST API without real-time syncSimple static websites with minimal data requirementsApplications requiring built-in authentication (auth via external providers)

Electric is a powerful sync layer for multi-agent systems, but its APIs and concepts demand a deep understanding of sync primitives. Best for experienced developers building local-first apps or agent runtimes; less suited for teams wanting a simple REST API or no-code solution.

Compare with: Electric vs Spider Cloud, Electric vs Truleo, Electric vs Arize Phoenix

Last verified: July 2026

What independent users actually report about Electric

We ran a structured research pass across product reviews, community discussions, and post-purchase forum threads to surface the patterns vendors won't publish themselves. Below: the recurring strengths, the hidden costs people mention most, and the cohort that consistently regrets adopting this tool.

67 mentions across 6 sources (Reddit, Hacker News, App Store, GitHub, Lemmy, Tech Press).

49% positive51% critical

Recurring strengths

+High-performance sync engine using Rust (nearly 1M ops/sec).
+Deep Postgres integration with Shapes for partial replication.
+CRDT support via Yjs for real-time collaborative editing.
+Open-source (Apache 2.0) with TypeScript and Elixir clients.
+Reactive client store (TanStack DB) with sub-millisecond reactivity.

Recurring frustrations

−App forces ads even for purchased devices.
−Requires account sign-up and unnecessary permissions.
−Frequent device offline status requiring app restart.
−Steep learning curve for sync primitives and agent runtime.
−Limited third-party integrations beyond React/Next.js/Phoenix.

Patterns worth knowing

Intrusive ads in the app anger loyal customers

Seen on App Store

High performance and modern architecture praised by developers

Seen on GitHub, Hacker News

Reliability issues with device connectivity and playback

Seen on App Store

Learning curve

intermediateProductive in ~A few hours

Hidden costs people mention

• Self-hosting requires infrastructure costs
• Usage-based cloud billing can scale with data volume

Viability Score

77/100

Safe Bet

How likely is Electric to still be operational in 12 months? Based on 4 signals — momentum (how recently it shipped), wrapper dependency, revenue model, and web presence.

momentum

funding runway

website health

wrapper dependency

100

Last calculated: July 2026

How we score →

Key Features

Postgres Sync read-path engine with partial replication via Shapes
Durable Streams: persistent, addressable real-time HTTP streams
Electric Agents: runtime for long-lived, resumable, forkable agents
TanStack DB: reactive client store with sub-millisecond reactivity
PGlite: embeddable Postgres with reactivity and sync (10M weekly downloads)
Shapes: control sync subsets and partial replication
Fork: branching for Durable Streams – rewind, branch, probe
Yjs integration: CRDT-based collaborative editing via streams
Function-based params/headers in TypeScript client for dynamic auth
Multiple client libraries: TypeScript, Elixir, Phoenix integration
Electric Cloud managed service with CDN caching for scalable delivery
PostGIS support in PGlite
Agent skills in npm packages (collaboration with TanStack)
Durable Transports for TanStack AI and Vercel AI SDK
Self-hosted deployment option

About Electric

PaidAdvancedAPI availableWeb · API · CLI

Electric provides the data primitives and infrastructure for building real-time, collaborative multi-agent systems. Its platform includes three core open-source products: Electric Agents (a runtime for long-lived, resumable agents), Electric Streams (persistent, addressable real-time streams), and Electric Sync (a read-path sync engine for Postgres with partial replication via Shapes). Developers use TanStack DB for reactive client-side state with sub-millisecond updates and PGlite for an embeddable Postgres database that syncs. Electric is designed for teams building local-first apps, agent orchestrations, and systems requiring live data sync across users, devices, and AI agents. The platform is available as a managed service (Electric Cloud) or self-hosted, with usage-based pricing that charges only for writes and retention while reads, egress, and fan-out are free. It integrates with React, Next.js, Phoenix, Yjs, and major cloud platforms. Electric differentiates through its sync-first architecture and Durable Streams, which achieve nearly 1M ops/sec on a single 4vCPU machine, making it a strong alternative to Supabase Realtime or Firebase for developers who need granular control over partial replication and agent state.

Behind the Verdict

Electric solves a real problem: keeping data consistent across distributed agents and clients in real-time. Its Durable Streams and Shapes give you fine-grained control over what syncs and how, which is invaluable for complex apps like collaborative editors or AI agent orchestrators. The new Rust-based server hitting nearly 1M ops/sec is a serious performance upgrade. PGlite reaching 10M weekly downloads shows real traction. But this isn't a drop-in replacement for Firebase or Supabase Realtime. The learning curve is steep—you need to understand Shapes, streams, and write-path logic. Also, the cloud pricing can be confusing with separate service costs for Postgres Sync. For simpler real-time needs, Supabase Realtime or Ably might be faster to adopt. If you need durable, forkable streams for agent loops and don't mind investing in the architecture, Electric is ahead of the curve. Just budget time for setup.

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Use Cases

Build a real-time collaborative editor by syncing Yjs CRDT data via Durable Streams
Create a long-lived AI agent that persists state across sessions and devices using Electric Agents
Sync Postgres data to a React or TanStack DB client for instant local reactivity
Fork a Durable Stream to test an agent behavior without affecting the main session
Embed PGlite in a browser application for a full local database with Postgres sync

Limitations

Electric Cloud charges for writes ($1 per 1M writes) and retention ($0.10 per GB-month), though reads and egress are free.
The free tier allows up to 10 databases and 50 users per workspace; larger plans require paid subscriptions.
Self-hosting is possible but complex, requiring Postgres and HTTP infrastructure.
The platform is relatively new, with limited third-party integrations compared to mature providers.

12-month cost

Project the real annual outlay, including the implied monthly cost when only an annual tier is published.

Plan

Annual total

Free

Over 12 months

Effective monthly

Free

Billed monthly

Vendor list price only. Add-on usage, seat overages, and contract minimums are surfaced under Hidden costs & gotchas.

Integrations

PostgresYjsReactNext.jsPhoenix (Elixir)MobXTanStackRedisLiveStoreSupabase CloudflareAmazon Web Services (AWS)TanStack AIVercel AI SDKExpo

Resources & Guides

Frequently Asked Questions

Tools that pair well with Electric

Common stack mates teams adopt alongside Electric, with the specific reason each pairing earns its keep.

Spider Cloud

Fast web crawling, scraping, and search API for AI agents

Truleo

AI intelligence agents for law enforcement that surface case leads from siloed data.

Arize Phoenix

Open-source AI observability for LLM agent tracing and evaluation.

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