Supabase vs Firebase: Open-Source Postgres vs Google’s App Backend
Supabase is an open-source (Apache 2.0) backend built on PostgreSQL, with auth, storage, realtime, and functions; Firebase is Google’s proprietary app backend built around the Firestore document database. Firebase is excellent for mobile-first apps that fit a document model and benefit from Google’s ecosystem. Supabase is usually the better fit for business applications with relational data, reporting needs, or a requirement to self-host and avoid lock-in.
Prices are vendor list prices as of September 2026 — see sources below. Updated .
Supabase vs Firebase at a glance
| Dimension | Supabase | Firebase |
|---|---|---|
| Licensing | Apache 2.0 — can be self-hosted | Proprietary Google service |
| Database | PostgreSQL (relational, SQL) | Cloud Firestore (document) or Realtime Database |
| Pricing model | Free tier, then Pro $25/month or Team $599/month with included quotas | Spark (free) quotas, then Blaze pay-as-you-go per operation |
| Free tier (examples) | 500 MB database, 50,000 monthly active users, 5 GB egress | Firestore: 1 GiB storage, 50K reads/day, 20K writes/day; Auth: 50K MAUs |
| Self-hosting | Yes, with Docker | No |
| Reporting and BI | Any SQL or BI tool connects directly | Usually needs export to a warehouse first |
| Mobile SDKs and Google ecosystem | Good client libraries | Excellent — deep integration with Google Cloud, analytics, and messaging |
The honest answer
Choose Supabase if…
- Your data is relational — customers, orders, projects, invoices — and you’ll want to report on it
- You want predictable plan-based pricing rather than per-operation billing
- You need the option to self-host or move providers later
- You want access rules enforced in the database with row-level security
Choose Firebase if…
- You’re building a mobile-first app that fits a document model well
- You rely on Google services such as Cloud Messaging, Crashlytics, or Analytics
- Your usage is small enough to stay comfortably in the free tier
- Your team already knows Firebase well
A worked example
Supabase Pro is a flat $25 a month per organization, including 8 GB of disk per project, 100,000 monthly active users, and 250 GB of egress, with usage beyond that billed separately. Firebase’s Blaze plan bills each read, write, and gigabyte beyond the free quota (for example, 50,000 Firestore reads a day), so cost tracks traffic directly — a read-heavy screen used by many people can be surprisingly expensive. Model your expected reads and writes before choosing.
Run your own numbers in the cost calculator →What migration involves
Moving from Firebase means remodelling Firestore documents into relational tables, migrating auth users, moving files to Supabase Storage, and replacing Firebase SDK calls in the app. The data transfer is mechanical; the schema design is where the long-term value is.
If you decide to switch
Supabase vs Firebase — common questions
Is Supabase better than Firebase?+
Is Supabase cheaper than Firebase?+
Can Supabase be self-hosted?+
How hard is it to migrate from Firebase to Supabase?+
Sources
Vendor pricing changes. Figures reflect each source as of September 2026; check the vendor before deciding.
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