diff --git a/cmd/start.go b/cmd/start.go
index bd1cc1f8a..41815d4cd 100644
--- a/cmd/start.go
+++ b/cmd/start.go
@@ -40,6 +40,7 @@ var (
 	excludedContainers []string
 	ignoreHealthCheck  bool
 	preview            bool
+	foreground         bool
 
 	startCmd = &cobra.Command{
 		GroupID: groupLocalDev,
@@ -47,7 +48,7 @@ var (
 		Short:   "Start containers for Supabase local development",
 		RunE: func(cmd *cobra.Command, args []string) error {
 			validateExcludedContainers(excludedContainers)
-			return start.Run(cmd.Context(), afero.NewOsFs(), excludedContainers, ignoreHealthCheck)
+			return start.Run(cmd.Context(), afero.NewOsFs(), excludedContainers, ignoreHealthCheck, foreground)
 		},
 	}
 )
@@ -58,6 +59,7 @@ func init() {
 	flags.StringSliceVarP(&excludedContainers, "exclude", "x", []string{}, "Names of containers to not start. ["+names+"]")
 	flags.BoolVar(&ignoreHealthCheck, "ignore-health-check", false, "Ignore unhealthy services and exit 0")
 	flags.BoolVar(&preview, "preview", false, "Connect to feature preview branch")
+	flags.BoolVarP(&foreground, "foreground", "f", false, "Run in foreground and stop services on exit")
 	cobra.CheckErr(flags.MarkHidden("preview"))
 	rootCmd.AddCommand(startCmd)
 }
diff --git a/docs/supabase/start.md b/docs/supabase/start.md
index a590610f1..1d74e1dbe 100644
--- a/docs/supabase/start.md
+++ b/docs/supabase/start.md
@@ -9,3 +9,5 @@ All service containers are started by default. You can exclude those not needed
 > It is recommended to have at least 7GB of RAM to start all services.
 
 Health checks are automatically added to verify the started containers. Use `--ignore-health-check` flag to ignore these errors.
+
+By default, `supabase start` starts the services and exits. Use `-f` or `--foreground` flag to run in foreground mode, which keeps the command running and automatically stops services when the terminal is closed or interrupted.
diff --git a/internal/start/start.go b/internal/start/start.go
index bcc2cde48..f453cddce 100644
--- a/internal/start/start.go
+++ b/internal/start/start.go
@@ -9,11 +9,13 @@ import (
 	"net"
 	"net/url"
 	"os"
+	"os/signal"
 	"path"
 	"path/filepath"
 	"slices"
 	"strconv"
 	"strings"
+	"syscall"
 	"text/template"
 	"time"
 
@@ -38,12 +40,13 @@ import (
 	"github.com/supabase/cli/internal/seed/buckets"
 	"github.com/supabase/cli/internal/services"
 	"github.com/supabase/cli/internal/status"
+	"github.com/supabase/cli/internal/stop"
 	"github.com/supabase/cli/internal/utils"
 	"github.com/supabase/cli/internal/utils/flags"
 	"github.com/supabase/cli/pkg/config"
 )
 
-func Run(ctx context.Context, fsys afero.Fs, excludedContainers []string, ignoreHealthCheck bool) error {
+func Run(ctx context.Context, fsys afero.Fs, excludedContainers []string, ignoreHealthCheck bool, foreground bool) error {
 	// Sanity checks.
 	{
 		if err := flags.LoadConfig(fsys); err != nil {
@@ -81,6 +84,10 @@ func Run(ctx context.Context, fsys afero.Fs, excludedContainers []string, ignore
 
 	fmt.Fprintf(os.Stderr, "Started %s local development setup.\n\n", utils.Aqua("supabase"))
 	status.PrettyPrint(os.Stdout, excludedContainers...)
+
+	if foreground {
+		return runForeground(ctx, fsys)
+	}
 	return nil
 }
 
@@ -1304,6 +1311,22 @@ func ExcludableContainers() []string {
 	return names
 }
 
+func runForeground(ctx context.Context, fsys afero.Fs) error {
+	sigChan := make(chan os.Signal, 1)
+	signal.Notify(sigChan, os.Interrupt, syscall.SIGTERM, syscall.SIGHUP)
+
+	fmt.Fprintln(os.Stderr, "Running in foreground. Press Ctrl+C to stop services.")
+
+	select {
+	case sig := <-sigChan:
+		fmt.Fprintf(os.Stderr, "\nReceived signal %v, stopping services...\n", sig)
+	case <-ctx.Done():
+		fmt.Fprintln(os.Stderr, "\nContext cancelled, stopping services...")
+	}
+
+	return stop.Run(ctx, true, "", false, fsys)  // backup=true, no specific project, not all
+}
+
 func formatMapForEnvConfig(input map[string]string, output *bytes.Buffer) {
 	numOfKeyPairs := len(input)
 	i := 0
diff --git a/internal/start/start_test.go b/internal/start/start_test.go
index a90d7a719..c3f820543 100644
--- a/internal/start/start_test.go
+++ b/internal/start/start_test.go
@@ -31,7 +31,7 @@ func TestStartCommand(t *testing.T) {
 		fsys := afero.NewMemMapFs()
 		require.NoError(t, afero.WriteFile(fsys, utils.ConfigPath, []byte("malformed"), 0644))
 		// Run test
-		err := Run(context.Background(), fsys, []string{}, false)
+		err := Run(context.Background(), fsys, []string{}, false, false)
 		// Check error
 		assert.ErrorContains(t, err, "toml: expected = after a key, but the document ends there")
 	})
@@ -47,7 +47,7 @@ func TestStartCommand(t *testing.T) {
 			Get("/v" + utils.Docker.ClientVersion() + "/containers").
 			ReplyError(errors.New("network error"))
 		// Run test
-		err := Run(context.Background(), fsys, []string{}, false)
+		err := Run(context.Background(), fsys, []string{}, false, false)
 		// Check error
 		assert.ErrorContains(t, err, "network error")
 		assert.Empty(t, apitest.ListUnmatchedRequests())
@@ -84,7 +84,7 @@ func TestStartCommand(t *testing.T) {
 			Reply(http.StatusOK).
 			JSON(running)
 		// Run test
-		err := Run(context.Background(), fsys, []string{}, false)
+		err := Run(context.Background(), fsys, []string{}, false, false)
 		// Check error
 		assert.NoError(t, err)
 		assert.Empty(t, apitest.ListUnmatchedRequests())