India disrupts access to popular developer platform Supabase with blocking order

Supabase, a popular developer database platform, is facing disruptions in India — one of its key markets — has been blocked in India, TechCrunch has learned. New Delhi ordered internet providers to block its website, resulting in patchy access across networks.

The blocking order was issued on February 24 under Section 69A of India’s Information Technology Act, according to a source familiar with the matter. The provision empowers the government to restrict public access to online content.

The Indian government did not publicly cite a reason for the move, and it was not immediately clear whether the action was linked to a cybersecurity concern, copyright complaint, or another issue. It was also unclear how long the restrictions would remain in place.

Access to Supabase has been inconsistent in India over the past several days, with the San Francisco-based company acknowledging the issue in posts on social media starting Wednesday. While the restrictions were first reported by Supabase on Reliance Industries’ JioFiber network, users have since flagged similar problems across multiple internet providers and telecom networks. In one post on Friday, Supabase tagged India’s IT minister Ashwini Vaishnaw, asking him to intervene and restore access, though the company later removed the message and said in a subsequent update that the site remained blocked for many users in the country.

An Indian founder, who asked not to be named to avoid potential repercussions, told TechCrunch they had stopped seeing new user sign-ups from India over the past two to three days. A technology consultant working with local startups, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said they were unable to reliably access Supabase for both development and production purposes.

While Supabase suggested workarounds such as switching DNS settings or using a VPN (which reroute internet traffic to bypass local restrictions), the founder said such steps were not practical for most end users.

At the time of publication, TechCrunch was able to verify that supabase.co remained inaccessible on ACT Fibernet, JioFiber and Airtel connections in New Delhi. However, two users on ACT Fibernet in Bengaluru said they were still able to access the service, suggesting the restrictions may be unevenly implemented.

Notably, Supabase’s main website remained accessible in India — but its underlying developer infrastructure did not.

India is Supabase’s fourth-largest source of traffic, accounting for about 9% of global visits, according to data from Similarweb, highlighting the potential fallout for the country’s developer ecosystem. The platform’s global traffic jumped more than 111% year over year to about 4.2 million visits in January. In India, visits rose roughly 179% to about 365,000, compared with a 168.5% increase in the U.S. to about 627,000.

The incident highlights broader concerns about India’s website blocking regime, said Raman Jit Singh Chima, Asia Pacific policy director at Access Now.

“This is a simple fact that has grave consequences for developers and others,” he told TechCrunch. “You don’t know where you can safely run projects without the danger that something might happen where it gets blocked, and suddenly you’re scrambling to find a way.”

India has previously faced criticism over broad website blocking measures. In 2014, authorities briefly restricted access to developer platform GitHub, along with services such as Vimeo, Pastebin and Weebly, during a security probe. Users on some Indian networks in 2023 also reported that a key GitHub content domain had been blocked by certain ISPs, according to earlier reports.

Founded in 2020 by CEO Paul Copplestone and CTO Ant Wilson, Supabase positions itself as an open-source alternative to Firebase built on PostgreSQL. The startup has gained traction amid rising interest in so-called “vibe coding” tools and AI-driven app development, and has raised about $380 million across three funding rounds since September 2024, lifting its valuation to $5 billion.

India’s Ministry of Electronics and IT, as well as telecom providers including ACT Fibernet, Bharti Airtel, and Reliance Jio, did not respond to requests for comment. Copplestone and Wilson also did not respond.