diff --git a/apps/multiplatform/common/build.gradle.kts b/apps/multiplatform/common/build.gradle.kts
index 5b7f89f2df..345a75b1e7 100644
--- a/apps/multiplatform/common/build.gradle.kts
+++ b/apps/multiplatform/common/build.gradle.kts
@@ -154,6 +154,7 @@ buildConfig {
     buildConfigField("int", "ANDROID_VERSION_CODE", "${extra["android.version_code"]}")
     buildConfigField("String", "DESKTOP_VERSION_NAME", "\"${extra["desktop.version_name"]}\"")
     buildConfigField("int", "DESKTOP_VERSION_CODE", "${extra["desktop.version_code"]}")
+    buildConfigField("String", "DATABASE_BACKEND", "\"${extra["database.backend"]}\"")
   }
 }
 
diff --git a/apps/multiplatform/common/src/commonMain/kotlin/chat/simplex/common/platform/AppCommon.kt b/apps/multiplatform/common/src/commonMain/kotlin/chat/simplex/common/platform/AppCommon.kt
index 60a65eaac6..780f8c25b4 100644
--- a/apps/multiplatform/common/src/commonMain/kotlin/chat/simplex/common/platform/AppCommon.kt
+++ b/apps/multiplatform/common/src/commonMain/kotlin/chat/simplex/common/platform/AppCommon.kt
@@ -28,6 +28,8 @@ val appVersionInfo: Pair<String, Int?> = if (appPlatform == AppPlatform.ANDROID)
 else
   BuildConfigCommon.DESKTOP_VERSION_NAME to BuildConfigCommon.DESKTOP_VERSION_CODE
 
+val databaseBackend: String = if (appPlatform == AppPlatform.ANDROID) "sqlite" else BuildConfigCommon.DATABASE_BACKEND
+
 class FifoQueue<E>(private var capacity: Int) : LinkedList<E>() {
   override fun add(element: E): Boolean {
     if(size > capacity) removeFirst()
diff --git a/apps/multiplatform/common/src/commonMain/kotlin/chat/simplex/common/platform/Core.kt b/apps/multiplatform/common/src/commonMain/kotlin/chat/simplex/common/platform/Core.kt
index 5262714099..276d3e3909 100644
--- a/apps/multiplatform/common/src/commonMain/kotlin/chat/simplex/common/platform/Core.kt
+++ b/apps/multiplatform/common/src/commonMain/kotlin/chat/simplex/common/platform/Core.kt
@@ -63,7 +63,11 @@ suspend fun initChatController(useKey: String? = null, confirmMigrations: Migrat
     }
     val dbKey = useKey ?: DatabaseUtils.useDatabaseKey()
     val confirm = confirmMigrations ?: if (appPreferences.developerTools.get() && appPreferences.confirmDBUpgrades.get()) MigrationConfirmation.Error else MigrationConfirmation.YesUp
-    var migrated: Array<Any> = chatMigrateInit(dbAbsolutePrefixPath, dbKey, MigrationConfirmation.Error.value)
+    var migrated: Array<Any> = if (databaseBackend == "postgres") {
+      chatMigrateInit("simplex_v1", "postgresql://simplex@/simplex_v1", MigrationConfirmation.Error.value)
+    } else {
+      chatMigrateInit(dbAbsolutePrefixPath, dbKey, MigrationConfirmation.Error.value)
+    }
     var res: DBMigrationResult = runCatching {
       json.decodeFromString<DBMigrationResult>(migrated[0] as String)
     }.getOrElse { DBMigrationResult.Unknown(migrated[0] as String) }
diff --git a/apps/multiplatform/gradle.properties b/apps/multiplatform/gradle.properties
index 8877e1fb8e..276bb8127f 100644
--- a/apps/multiplatform/gradle.properties
+++ b/apps/multiplatform/gradle.properties
@@ -33,3 +33,6 @@ desktop.version_code=90
 kotlin.version=1.9.23
 gradle.plugin.version=8.2.0
 compose.version=1.7.0
+
+# Choose sqlite or postgres backend
+database.backend=sqlite
diff --git a/scripts/db/README.md b/scripts/db/README.md
index 067aa35400..68d4f74ac7 100644
--- a/scripts/db/README.md
+++ b/scripts/db/README.md
@@ -17,13 +17,21 @@
 
 2. Prepare Postgres database.
 
-   Build `simplex-chat` executable with `client_postgres` flag and run it to initialize new Postgres chat database.
+   - Create Postgres database. In shell:
 
-   This should create `simplex_v1` database with `simplex_v1_agent_schema` and `simplex_v1_chat_schema` schemas, and `migrations` tables populated. Some tables would have initialization data - it will be truncated via pgloader command in next step.
+      ```sh
+      createdb -O simplex simplex_v1
+      ```
+
+      Or via query.
+
+   - Build `simplex-chat` executable with `client_postgres` flag and run it to initialize new chat database.
+
+      This should create `simplex_v1_agent_schema` and `simplex_v1_chat_schema` schemas in `simplex_v1` database, with `migrations` tables populated. Some tables would have initialization data - it will be truncated via pgloader command in next step.
 
 3. Load data from decrypted SQLite databases to Postgres database via pgloader.
 
-   Install pgloader and add it to PATH.
+   Install pgloader and add it to PATH. Run in shell (substitute paths):
 
    ```sh
    SQLITE_DBPATH='simplex_v1_agent.db' POSTGRES_CONN='postgres://simplex@/simplex_v1' POSTGRES_SCHEMA='simplex_v1_agent_schema' pgloader --on-error-stop sqlite.load
@@ -61,7 +69,7 @@
 
    Repeat for `simplex_v1_chat_schema`.
 
-5. Compare number of rows between Postgres and SQLite tables.
+5. \* Compare number of rows between Postgres and SQLite tables.
 
    To check number of rows for all tables in Postgres database schema run:
 
@@ -83,3 +91,15 @@
    ```
 
    Repeat for `simplex_v1_chat_schema`.
+
+6. Build and run desktop app with Postgres backend.
+
+   Run in shell (paths are from project root):
+
+   ```sh
+   ./scripts/desktop/build-lib-mac.sh arm64 postgres
+
+   ./gradlew runDistributable -Pdatabase.backend=postgres
+   # or
+   ./gradlew packageDmg -Pdatabase.backend=postgres
+   ```
diff --git a/scripts/desktop/build-lib-mac.sh b/scripts/desktop/build-lib-mac.sh
index 070257ea5f..66af5cbb0c 100755
--- a/scripts/desktop/build-lib-mac.sh
+++ b/scripts/desktop/build-lib-mac.sh
@@ -6,6 +6,7 @@ OS=mac
 ARCH="${1:-`uname -a | rev | cut -d' ' -f1 | rev`}"
 COMPOSE_ARCH=$ARCH
 GHC_VERSION=9.6.3
+DATABASE_BACKEND="${2:-sqlite}"
 
 if [ "$ARCH" == "arm64" ]; then
     ARCH=aarch64
@@ -24,7 +25,14 @@ for elem in "${exports[@]}"; do count=$(grep -R "$elem$" libsimplex.dll.def | wc
 for elem in "${exports[@]}"; do count=$(grep -R "\"$elem\"" flake.nix | wc -l); if [ $count -ne 2 ]; then echo Wrong exports in flake.nix. Add \"$elem\" in two places of the file; exit 1; fi ; done
 
 rm -rf $BUILD_DIR
-cabal build lib:simplex-chat lib:simplex-chat --ghc-options="-optl-Wl,-rpath,@loader_path -optl-Wl,-L$GHC_LIBS_DIR/$ARCH-osx-ghc-$GHC_VERSION -optl-lHSrts_thr-ghc$GHC_VERSION -optl-lffi" --constraint 'simplexmq +client_library'
+
+if [[ "$DATABASE_BACKEND" == "postgres" ]]; then
+    echo "Building with postgres backend..."
+    cabal build -f client_postgres lib:simplex-chat lib:simplex-chat --ghc-options="-optl-Wl,-rpath,@loader_path -optl-Wl,-L$GHC_LIBS_DIR/$ARCH-osx-ghc-$GHC_VERSION -optl-lHSrts_thr-ghc$GHC_VERSION -optl-lffi" --constraint 'simplexmq +client_library'
+else
+    echo "Building with sqlite backend..."
+    cabal build lib:simplex-chat lib:simplex-chat --ghc-options="-optl-Wl,-rpath,@loader_path -optl-Wl,-L$GHC_LIBS_DIR/$ARCH-osx-ghc-$GHC_VERSION -optl-lHSrts_thr-ghc$GHC_VERSION -optl-lffi" --constraint 'simplexmq +client_library'
+fi
 
 cd $BUILD_DIR/build
 mkdir deps 2> /dev/null || true
@@ -99,8 +107,8 @@ cp $BUILD_DIR/build/libHSsimplex-chat-*-inplace-ghc*.$LIB_EXT apps/multiplatform
 
 cd apps/multiplatform/common/src/commonMain/cpp/desktop/libs/$OS-$ARCH/
 
-LIBCRYPTO_PATH=$(otool -l libHSdrct-*.$LIB_EXT | grep libcrypto | cut -d' ' -f11)
-install_name_tool -change $LIBCRYPTO_PATH @rpath/libcrypto.3.0.$LIB_EXT libHSdrct-*.$LIB_EXT
+LIBCRYPTO_PATH=$(otool -l libHSsmplxmq-*.$LIB_EXT | grep libcrypto | cut -d' ' -f11)
+install_name_tool -change $LIBCRYPTO_PATH @rpath/libcrypto.3.0.$LIB_EXT libHSsmplxmq-*.$LIB_EXT
 cp $LIBCRYPTO_PATH libcrypto.3.0.$LIB_EXT
 chmod 755 libcrypto.3.0.$LIB_EXT
 install_name_tool -id "libcrypto.3.0.$LIB_EXT" libcrypto.3.0.$LIB_EXT
@@ -111,14 +119,18 @@ if [ -n "$LIBCRYPTO_PATH" ]; then
     install_name_tool -change $LIBCRYPTO_PATH @rpath/libcrypto.3.0.$LIB_EXT $LIB
 fi
 
-LIBCRYPTO_PATH=$(otool -l libHSsmplxmq*.$LIB_EXT | grep libcrypto | cut -d' ' -f11)
-if [ -n "$LIBCRYPTO_PATH" ]; then
-    install_name_tool -change $LIBCRYPTO_PATH @rpath/libcrypto.3.0.$LIB_EXT libHSsmplxmq*.$LIB_EXT
-fi
+# We could change libpq and libHSpstgrsql for postgres (?), remove sqlite condition for exit below.
+# Unnecessary for now as app with postgres backend is not for distribution.
+if [[ "$DATABASE_BACKEND" == "sqlite" ]]; then
+    LIBCRYPTO_PATH=$(otool -l libHSdrct-*.$LIB_EXT | grep libcrypto | cut -d' ' -f11)
+    if [ -n "$LIBCRYPTO_PATH" ]; then
+        install_name_tool -change $LIBCRYPTO_PATH @rpath/libcrypto.3.0.$LIB_EXT libHSdrct-*.$LIB_EXT
+    fi
 
-LIBCRYPTO_PATH=$(otool -l libHSsqlcphr-*.$LIB_EXT | grep libcrypto | cut -d' ' -f11)
-if [ -n "$LIBCRYPTO_PATH" ]; then
-    install_name_tool -change $LIBCRYPTO_PATH @rpath/libcrypto.3.0.$LIB_EXT libHSsqlcphr-*.$LIB_EXT
+    LIBCRYPTO_PATH=$(otool -l libHSsqlcphr-*.$LIB_EXT | grep libcrypto | cut -d' ' -f11)
+    if [ -n "$LIBCRYPTO_PATH" ]; then
+        install_name_tool -change $LIBCRYPTO_PATH @rpath/libcrypto.3.0.$LIB_EXT libHSsqlcphr-*.$LIB_EXT
+    fi
 fi
 
 for lib in $(find . -type f -name "*.$LIB_EXT"); do
@@ -132,7 +144,9 @@ LOCAL_DIRS=`for lib in $(find . -type f -name "*.$LIB_EXT"); do otool -l $lib |
 if [ -n "$LOCAL_DIRS" ]; then
     echo These libs still point to local directories:
     echo $LOCAL_DIRS
-    exit 1
+    if [[ "$DATABASE_BACKEND" == "sqlite" ]]; then
+        exit 1
+    fi
 fi
 
 cd -