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It's a split decision.
Pick Supabase if your app should center on portable Postgres: its Pro plan is $25/month, with 100,000 monthly active users, 8 GB disk and 250 GB egress included. Pick Firebase if you prefer Google's managed NoSQL services and want a free Spark tier; Blaze has a $0 base fee, then usage charges apply. Supabase also has a free tier, but its two-project cap and pause-after-inactivity rule matter. Neither wins outright: data model and billing tolerance decide.
01Side by side
| Supabase | Firebase | |
|---|---|---|
| Starting price | Free; Pro starts at $25/month | Free; Blaze has a $0 base fee plus usage |
| Free plan | 50,000 MAU; 500 MB DB; 2 projects; pauses after inactivity | 50,000 auth MAU; Firestore 50K reads and 20K writes daily |
| Best for | Apps needing portable Postgres with auth, storage and APIs | Apps wanting managed NoSQL, testing and monitoring tools |
| Core strength | Postgres database with built-in Auth and Row Level Security | Managed app services spanning databases, functions and monitoring |
| Learning curve | Ease-of-use review score: 7.5/10 | Ease-of-use review score: 7.5/10 |
| Integrations / data | Portable Postgres; ready-to-use REST APIs | Firestore and Realtime Database; NoSQL with offline persistence |
| Team / seat costs | Per-seat price not listed; Team is $599/month | Per-seat price not listed; Blaze bills by usage |
| Support | Support review score: 6/10 | Support review score: 6/10 |
Supabase Choose Supabase if
- Choose Supabase if you need portable Postgres and Row Level Security.
- Choose Supabase if built-in Auth, storage and REST APIs fit your stack.
- Choose Supabase if the Pro plan's included limits match your workload.
Firebase Choose Firebase if
- Choose Firebase if you want Firestore or Realtime Database.
- Choose Firebase if offline persistence matters for your app.
- Choose Firebase if you want app testing and monitoring tools alongside backend services.
02Pricing compared
Supabase has a free tier and a fixed-price Pro plan at $25/month. Pro includes 100,000 monthly active users, 8 GB of disk per project and 250 GB of egress. The free plan is capped at two active projects, and projects pause after one week of inactivity. Supabase lists overage rates for Pro and Team, so costs can rise past the plan price.
Firebase Spark is free within its quotas; excess usage stops services until quotas reset. Blaze has a $0 base fee and bills for usage beyond its no-cost quotas, including Firestore reads, writes and storage. That can suit variable workloads, but the final bill depends on use. Firebase lists 50,000 monthly active users for authentication on Spark. Neither product publishes annual prices in the published pricing details.
03Features and depth
The key difference is the database model. Supabase gives each project a portable Postgres database, with built-in authentication and Row Level Security. It also provides file storage, ready-to-use REST APIs, realtime sync and Edge Functions. Its feature set includes tools for vectors, scheduled jobs and message queues.
Firebase centers on Cloud Firestore and Realtime Database, both NoSQL options with realtime synchronization; the published details also list queries and offline persistence. Firebase adds authentication, Cloud Functions, object storage and CDN-backed hosting. Its broader app toolkit includes Crashlytics, Performance Monitoring, Test Lab, messaging and Remote Config.
Choose Supabase when Postgres and its access model fit your app. Choose Firebase when its managed NoSQL databases and app monitoring, testing and engagement tools fit better. Both offer authentication and serverless functions, but they are not interchangeable database choices. Supabase’s portability is a stated product feature; Firebase’s published database options are Firestore and Realtime Database.
04Ease of use and learning curve
Neither option removes the need to understand how your app stores and secures data. Supabase is built around Postgres and Row Level Security, so your team needs to be comfortable with that model. Firebase asks teams to choose between its managed NoSQL databases, Firestore and Realtime Database, and understand usage-based billing as traffic grows.
Firebase positions itself as a platform that runs apps without managing backend infrastructure, and bundles services for monitoring, testing and engagement. Supabase offers ready-to-use REST APIs and Edge Functions without deploying or scaling servers. The easier fit depends less on feature count than on your database preference and which bundled services your team needs.
Questions people ask
Why use Supabase instead of Firebase?
Choose Supabase if you want a portable Postgres database with built-in authentication and Row Level Security. It also includes storage, REST APIs, realtime features and Edge Functions. Firebase is a better fit if you prefer its managed NoSQL databases and bundled app monitoring, testing and engagement tools.
Which is better for free, Supabase or Firebase?
Both offer a free tier. Supabase Free includes 50,000 monthly active users, 500 MB of database per project and two active projects, but pauses projects after one week inactive. Firebase Spark includes free quotas; exceeding them stops services until quotas reset. The better fit depends on which limits suit your project.
What is cheaper, Firebase or Supabase?
Firebase Spark is free within its quotas, while Blaze has a $0 base fee and charges for usage beyond them. Supabase Pro is $25/month, with listed included limits and overage rates. A light project may fit Firebase’s free quotas; costs above those quotas depend on usage, so neither is always cheaper.
What is replacing Google Firebase?
There is no single replacement established by the published information. Supabase is an alternative if you want a Postgres-based backend with auth, storage, APIs and functions. It differs from Firebase’s Firestore and Realtime Database, so compare the data model and pricing before planning a switch.