Supabase vs Firebase
Supabase and Firebase side by side: what each one is, verified plan pricing and install commands where we have them, and the full review of each.
Supabase
Open-source Firebase alternative built on Postgres. Auth, real-time subscriptions, storage, edge functions, and pgvector for AI embeddings. Generous free tier.
Firebase
Google's BaaS platform. Firestore (NoSQL), Realtime Database, Auth, Cloud Functions, Hosting, and ML. Free Spark tier; pay-as-you-go Blaze.
At a glance
| Field | | |
|---|---|---|
| Category | Infrastructure | Infrastructure |
| Website | supabase.com | firebase.google.com |
| Pricing | Free - $0/mo: 50,000 MAUs, 500 MB database, 1 GB file storage, 5 GB egress; paused after 1 week of inactivity, 2 active projects; Pro - from $25/mo: 100,000 MAUs then $0.00325 per MAU, 8 GB disk per project, 250 GB egress, 100 GB file storage, $10/mo compute credits; Team - from $599/mo: SOC2 and ISO 27001, SSO for the dashboard, 14-day backups, priority support; Enterprise - custom; Compute add-ons - from $10/mo (Micro) up to $3,730/mo (16XL); additional projects from $10/mo | Spark - no-cost plan with usage limits, no payment method needed; Blaze - pay as you go, includes the Spark no-cost usage, $300 in free credit if eligible; Cloud Functions on Blaze - no cost up to 2M invocations/month, then $0.40/million; Remote Config - no cost up to 100,000 fetches/day per project, then $0.06 per 10K requests up to 10M/day and $0.01 per 10K above that (from September 1, 2026) |
| Install | npm install supabase --save-dev | npm install -g firebase-tools or curl -sL https://firebase.tools | bash |
| Models | Not a model host. Supabase stores embeddings in Postgres with the pgvector extension, and it exposes an MCP server for coding agents (the local CLI stack serves one at /mcp), with scoped personal access tokens to limit what an agent can touch. | Firebase AI Logic calls Gemini models from mobile and web apps through either the Gemini Developer API or the Agent Platform Gemini API (formerly Vertex AI). gemini-4-argon was added on October 13, 2026 and needs the Blaze plan. Backend services run on Google Cloud, including Cloud Run for App Hosting, Cloud SQL for PostgreSQL through SQL Connect, and BigQuery export. |
| Last verified | October 27, 2026 | October 17, 2026 |
In Depth
Supabase
Supabase gives you a full backend built on top of Postgres. You get a database with a REST and GraphQL API auto-generated from your schema, built-in auth with social providers, real-time subscriptions via websockets, file storage, and edge functions for serverless compute. The pgvector extension makes it a natural choice for AI applications that need vector similarity search alongside traditional relational data. The local development experience uses Docker to run the entire stack on your machine, and the CLI handles migrations and type generation. Supabase pairs exceptionally well with AI app builders like Lovable and Bolt, which use it as their default backend. The free tier includes 500MB database storage, 1GB file storage, and 50K monthly active users.
Firebase
Firebase is Google's backend-as-a-service for mobile and web. Firestore is the document database most teams pick today; Realtime Database is the older real-time JSON store. Authentication ships with social providers out of the box, Cloud Functions runs serverless code on Google Cloud, and Hosting handles static sites with CDN. Firebase shines for mobile apps, real-time multiplayer, and quick MVPs. The pricing model is consumption-based and can surprise teams at scale, which is part of why Postgres-based alternatives like Supabase have grown.
FAQ
Answers taken from each tool's verified fact sheet, with the date it was last checked.
How much does Supabase cost?
As of October 27, 2026: Free - $0/mo: 50,000 MAUs, 500 MB database, 1 GB file storage, 5 GB egress; paused after 1 week of inactivity, 2 active projects; Pro - from $25/mo: 100,000 MAUs then $0.00325 per MAU, 8 GB disk per project, 250 GB egress, 100 GB file storage, $10/mo compute credits; Team - from $599/mo: SOC2 and ISO 27001, SSO for the dashboard, 14-day backups, priority support; Enterprise - custom; Compute add-ons - from $10/mo (Micro) up to $3,730/mo (16XL); additional projects from $10/mo. Source: Supabase pricing, Supabase CLI getting started, Supabase changelog.
How do I install Supabase?
Official install commands as of October 27, 2026: npm install supabase --save-dev.
Which models does Supabase use?
As of October 27, 2026: Not a model host. Supabase stores embeddings in Postgres with the pgvector extension, and it exposes an MCP server for coding agents (the local CLI stack serves one at /mcp), with scoped personal access tokens to limit what an agent can touch.
How much does Firebase cost?
As of October 17, 2026: Spark - no-cost plan with usage limits, no payment method needed; Blaze - pay as you go, includes the Spark no-cost usage, $300 in free credit if eligible; Cloud Functions on Blaze - no cost up to 2M invocations/month, then $0.40/million; Remote Config - no cost up to 100,000 fetches/day per project, then $0.06 per 10K requests up to 10M/day and $0.01 per 10K above that (from September 1, 2026). Source: Firebase pricing, Firebase CLI reference, Firebase release notes.
How do I install Firebase?
Official install commands as of October 17, 2026: npm install -g firebase-tools or curl -sL https://firebase.tools | bash.
Which models does Firebase use?
As of October 17, 2026: Firebase AI Logic calls Gemini models from mobile and web apps through either the Gemini Developer API or the Agent Platform Gemini API (formerly Vertex AI). gemini-4-argon was added on October 13, 2026 and needs the Blaze plan. Backend services run on Google Cloud, including Cloud Run for App Hosting, Cloud SQL for PostgreSQL through SQL Connect, and BigQuery export.
