supabase/apps/docs/content/guides/platform/database-size.mdx

---
id: 'database-size'
title: 'Database size'
description: 'Understanding how database size applies to your subscription.'
---

Database size refers to the _monthly average storage usage_, as reported by Postgres. This metric is reported in your organization's [billing usage](https://supabase.com/dashboard/org/_/usage) and is updated daily. As you read this document we will refer to "database size" and "disk size":

- "Database size" is the total size of used storage from your database.
- "Disk Storage size" describes the size of the underlying available storage.

## Database space management

### Database size

This SQL query will show the current size of your Postgres database:

```sql
select
  sum(pg_database_size(pg_database.datname)) / (1024 * 1024) as db_size_mb
from pg_database;
```

This value is reported in the [database report page](https://supabase.com/dashboard/project/_/reports/database).

Database Space is consumed primarily by your data, indexes, and materialized views. You can reduce your disk size by removing any of these and running a Vacuum operation.

<Admonition type="note">

Depending on your billing plan, your database can go into read-only mode which can prevent you inserting and deleting data. There are instructions for managing read-only mode in the [Disk Management](#disk-management) section.

</Admonition>

### Vacuum operations

Postgres does not immediately reclaim the physical space used by dead tuples (i.e., deleted rows) in the DB. They are marked as "removed" until a [vacuum operation](https://www.postgresql.org/docs/current/routine-vacuuming.html) is executed. As a result, deleting data from your database may not immediately reduce the reported disk usage. You can use the [Supabase CLI](https://supabase.com/docs/guides/cli/getting-started) `inspect db bloat` command to view all dead tuples in your database. Alternatively, you can run the [query](https://github.com/supabase/cli/blob/c9cce58025fded16b4c332747f819a44f45c3b83/internal/inspect/bloat/bloat.go#L17) found in the CLI's GitHub repo in the [SQL Editor](https://supabase.com/dashboard/project/_/sql/)

```bash
# Login to the CLI
npx supabase login

# Initialize a local supabase directory
npx supabase init

# Link a project
npx supabase link

# Detect bloat
npx supabase inspect db bloat --linked
```

If you find a table you would like to immediately clean, you can run the following in the [SQL Editor](https://supabase.com/dashboard/project/_/sql/new):

```sql
vacuum full <table name>;
```

<Admonition type="note">

Vacuum operations can temporarily increase resource utilization, which may adversely impact the observed performance of your project until the maintenance is completed. The [vacuum full](https://www.postgresql.org/docs/current/sql-vacuum.html) command will lock the table until the operation concludes.

</Admonition>

Supabase projects have automatic vacuuming enabled, which ensures that these operations are performed regularly to keep the database healthy and performant.
It is possible to [fine-tune](https://www.percona.com/blog/2018/08/10/tuning-autovacuum-in-postgresql-and-autovacuum-internals/) the [autovacuum parameters](https://www.enterprisedb.com/blog/postgresql-vacuum-and-analyze-best-practice-tips), or [manually initiate](https://www.postgresql.org/docs/current/sql-vacuum.html) vacuum operations.
Running a manual vacuum after deleting large amounts of data from your DB could help reduce the database size reported by Postgres.

### Preoccupied space

New Supabase projects have a database size of ~40-60mb. This space includes pre-installed extensions, schemas, and default Postgres data. Additional database size is used when installing extensions, even if those extensions are inactive.

## Disk management

Supabase uses network-attached storage to balance performance with scalability. The behavior of your disk depends on your billing plan.

### Paid plan behavior

Projects on the Pro Plan and above have auto-scaling Disk Storage.

Disk Storage expands automatically when the database reaches 90% of the disk size. The disk is expanded to be 50% larger (e.g., 8GB -> 12GB). Auto-scaling can only take place once every 6 hours. If within those 6 hours you reach 95% of the disk space, your project will enter read-only mode.

<Admonition type="note">

The automatic resize operation will add an additional 50% capped to a maximum of 200GB. If 50% of your current usage is more than 200GB then only 200GB will be added to your disk (e.g. a size of 1500GB will resize to 1700GB).

</Admonition>

The Disk Storage Size can also be manually expanded on the [Database settings page](https://supabase.com/dashboard/project/_/settings/database). The maximum default you can expand the Disk Storage to is 200GB. If you wish to manually expand it to any more than 200GB, please [contact us](https://supabase.com/dashboard/support/new) to discuss expanding the 200GB limit.

<Admonition type="note">

You may want to import a lot of data into your database which requires multiple disk expansions; for example, uploading more than 1.5x the current size of your database storage will put your database into [read-only mode](#read-only-mode). If so, it is highly recommended you increase the Disk Storage Size manually on the [Database settings page](https://supabase.com/dashboard/project/_/settings/database).

Due to provider restrictions, disk expansions can occur only once every six hours. During the six-hour window, the disk cannot be resized again.

</Admonition>

The maximum Disk Storage Size for the Pro/Team Plan is 60TB. If you need more than this, [contact us](https://forms.supabase.com/enterprise) to learn more about the Enterprise Plan.

### Free Plan behavior

Free Plan projects enter [read-only](#read-only-mode) mode when you exceed the 500MB limit. Once in read-only mode, you have several options:

- [Upgrade to the Pro Plan](https://supabase.com/dashboard/org/_/billing) to increase the limit to 8GB. [Disable the Spend Cap](https://app.supabase.com/org/_/billing?panel=costControl) if you want your Pro instance to auto-scale and expand beyond the 8GB database size limit.
- [Disable read-only mode](#disabling-read-only-mode) and reduce your database size.

### Read-only mode

In some cases Supabase may put your database into read-only mode to prevent your database from exceeding the billing or disk limitations.

In read-only mode, clients will encounter errors such as `cannot execute INSERT in a read-only transaction`. Regular operation (read-write mode) is automatically re-enabled once usage is below 95% of the disk size,

### Disabling read-only mode

You manually override read-only mode to reduce disk size. To do this, run the following in the [SQL Editor](https://supabase.com/dashboard/project/_/sql):

First, change the [transaction access mode](https://www.postgresql.org/docs/current/sql-set-transaction.html):

```sql
set session characteristics as transaction read write;
```

This allows you to delete data from within the session. After deleting data, consider running a vacuum to reclaim as much space as possible:

```sql
vacuum;
```

Once you have reclaimed space, you can run the following to disable [read-only](https://www.postgresql.org/docs/current/runtime-config-client.html#GUC-DEFAULT-TRANSACTION-READ-ONLY) mode:

```sql
set default_transaction_read_only = 'off';
```

### Reducing disk size

Disks don't automatically downsize during normal operation. Once you have (reduced your database space usage)[/docs/guides/platform/database-size#database-space-management], they _will_ automatically "right-size" when a Supabase (or Postgres) update is applied. Their final size after the update is 1.2x the size of the database (min 8 GB). For example, if your database is 100GB in size, and you have a 200GB disk, the size after a Supabase update will be 120GB.

Learn more about [upgrading your project](/docs/guides/platform/migrating-and-upgrading-projects#upgrade-your-project).