Supabase vs Firebase
A detailed comparison of features, privacy, and developer experience.
Last reviewed: 2026-05-17
Executive Summary
Supabase is open-source and Postgres-native, your data lives in a relational database you can also query directly with SQL. Firebase is a polished, mobile-first BaaS built on a document store (Firestore) with Google Cloud integration.
Supabase
ExternalSupabase is an open-source Firebase alternative built on Postgres. It bundles auth, storage, realtime, and edge functions around a managed Postgres database you can also use directly via SQL.
Visit SupabaseFirebase
Externalby GoogleFirebase is Google's mobile-and-web BaaS. It includes Firestore (a document database), Authentication, Cloud Functions, Hosting, and analytics, all tightly integrated with Google Cloud.
Visit FirebaseEditor's Verdict
Pick Supabase when your data is relational, you want SQL access, and portability (self-hosting, dump/restore) matters. Pick Firebase when you're shipping a mobile app, want best-in-class realtime sync at the document level, and don't mind the Google-Cloud-only deployment. Supabase has closed most of the feature gap (auth, realtime, storage, edge functions) and now leads on developer experience for web teams; Firebase still leads on mobile SDK polish and integrated analytics.
🟢When to use Supabase
- Web apps with relational data
- Teams that want raw SQL access alongside the SDK
- Projects where self-hosting or portability matters
🔥When to use Firebase
- Mobile-first apps (iOS / Android)
- Document-shaped data with deep realtime sync needs
- Projects already on Google Cloud
| Feature | Supabase | Firebase |
|---|---|---|
| Database | Postgres (SQL) | Firestore (document) |
| Authentication | Built-in | Built-in |
| Realtime | Postgres replication | Native realtime (first-class) |
| Storage | S3-compatible | Cloud Storage |
| Functions | Edge Functions (Deno) | Cloud Functions (Node, Python) |
| Open source | ||
| Self-hostable | ||
| Mobile SDK polish | Good | Best-in-class |
| Vendor lock-in | Low (Postgres) | High (Google-only) |
Key Takeaways
- Supabase is open-source and Postgres-native, you own a real relational DB with SQL access.
- Firebase is Google's proprietary BaaS, Firestore (NoSQL), Realtime DB, Cloud Functions, full ecosystem lock-in.
- Supabase wins for teams who want SQL + open-source + portability; Firebase wins for mobile-first and tight Google integration.
- Realtime: both offer realtime subscriptions; Supabase uses Postgres logical replication, Firestore is purpose-built.
- Migration off Firestore is genuinely painful, its data model and security rules don't map cleanly to SQL.
Common Mistakes
- Choosing Firestore for relational data (users + posts + comments + likes), joins are the wrong shape for it.
- Underestimating Firestore read costs, denormalized reads at scale add up faster than people expect.
- Forgetting Supabase's Row Level Security setup, easy to expose tables publicly with default permissive RLS.
- Locking yourself into Firebase Auth without portability planning, exporting users is possible but painful.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can I migrate from Firebase to Supabase?+
Firestore → Postgres is non-trivial because the data shapes differ; auth users migrate cleanly. Plan for a real migration project, not a one-day import.
Does Supabase support realtime as well as Firebase?+
It's close at the row-level via Postgres replication. Firebase still leads for very fine-grained document sync, especially in offline-first mobile apps.
Which is cheaper?+
Both have generous free tiers and similar pricing curves. Supabase tends to be more predictable; Firebase can spike with reads on hot collections.
What about PlanetScale or Neon?+
Those are pure database services, not BaaS. If you don't need auth/storage/realtime as a package, pair Neon (Postgres) or PlanetScale (MySQL) with your own auth provider.
How we tested this
We evaluated both Supabase and Firebase in real developer workflows to build this comparison. Our assessment covers feature parity, privacy posture, developer experience, and ecosystem maturity.
Why these tools are worth your time
Privacy-respecting picks
We prefer tools that run locally or are explicit about what they send to the cloud.
Daily-driver tested
Recommendations come from real developer workflows, not marketing pages.
No vendor lock-in advice
We surface the trade-offs so you can switch later without rewriting your stack.