Appwrite is an open-source backend platform, a set of server services that an app uses instead of a backend its developers write and run themselves. The company Appwrite makes it and offers it both as a managed cloud service, Appwrite Cloud, and as software that anyone can self-host.
An app talks to Appwrite through client and server SDKs or the REST, GraphQL and Realtime APIs. Auth signs users in with email, SMS, OAuth providers, anonymous sessions or magic URLs. Databases store and query the app's data, with Appwrite's own databases or managed PostgreSQL and MySQL. Storage keeps files with compression, encryption, image transformations and access control. Functions run serverless code in isolated runtimes when events occur, Messaging sends email, SMS and push notifications, and Sites deploys web front ends from Git. An included MCP server lets coding agents such as Cursor, Claude Code and Codex work on a live project.
The source code is under the BSD-3-Clause license, and self-hosting runs on any system with Docker. Appwrite Cloud has a Free plan and paid plans that charge for extra usage.