Infrastructure

Firebase

Google's BaaS platform. Firestore (NoSQL), Realtime Database, Auth, Cloud Functions, Hosting, and ML. Free Spark tier; pay-as-you-go Blaze.

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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.

infrastructure baas google nosql auth real-time

Firebase at a glance

Last verified October 17, 2026

Pricing: 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 -g firebase-tools
curl -sL https://firebase.tools | bash
Models: 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.
Recent changes: Oct 15Firebase CLI v15.34.0 adds commands for Crashlytics Android heap dump collection. Firebase SDK for Flutter v5.0.0 and Unity v14.0.0 ship.
Oct 13Firebase AI Logic supports the Gemini stable model gemini-4-argon, which needs the Blaze plan and does not support the MINIMAL thinking level or thinkingBudget.
Oct 7Firebase JavaScript SDK v13.0.0 and Apple SDK v13.0.0 ship, and the Android BoM moves to v35.0.0.

Sources: Firebase pricing, Firebase CLI reference, Firebase release notes

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Get started with Firebase

Google's BaaS platform. Firestore (NoSQL), Realtime Database, Auth, Cloud Functions, Hosting, and ML. Free Spark tier; pay-as-you-go Blaze.

Try Firebase

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