SurrealDB is Not a Silver Bullet: 3 Scenarios Where You Still Need a Backend

The author argues that despite SurrealDB's power for eliminating traditional backends, three scenarios still require a dedicated server: handling secret API keys for third-party integrations, CPU-intensive tasks like image processing or AI inference, and protecting proprietary business logic. A hybrid approach is recommended—using SurrealDB for data/CRUD/real-time sync and a slim backend for sensitive or compute-heavy operations.