Compare Supabase and Firebase free tiers side-by-side. Database, auth, storage, functions, bandwidth — verified data, cost-at-scale analysis, and BaaS alternatives. Verified August 2026.

AgentDeals › Databases › Supabase vs Firebase

Supabase vs Firebase — Free Tier Comparison

Published 2026-03-26 · Reviewed 2026-09-07 · Data verified from our index of 1,547 developer tools

500 MB
Supabase DB
1 GiB
Firebase DB
$25/mo
Supabase Pro
Pay-as-you-go
Firebase Blaze

Quick verdict: Choose Supabase if you want PostgreSQL, open source, predictable pricing, and no vendor lock-in. Choose Firebase if you need a mature NoSQL ecosystem, unlimited free projects, and tight Google Cloud integration.

On free tiers: Firebase offers more raw storage (1 GiB vs 500 MB) and unlimited projects, but imposes daily read/write caps (50K reads, 20K writes). Supabase has no API request limits and includes 200 concurrent realtime connections, but limits you to 2 free projects that pause after 1 week of inactivity.

The big caveat: Firebase removed Cloud Storage from the free Spark plan in February 2026. If you need file storage on Firebase, you now need a Blaze (pay-as-you-go) account with a credit card — no hard spending caps. Supabase includes 1 GB file storage on the free tier.

Jump to section

  1. Free Tier Comparison Table
  2. Key Differences
  3. Cost at Scale
  4. When to Choose Each
  5. Other BaaS Alternatives
  6. Recent Deal Changes

1. Free Tier Comparison Table

Side-by-side comparison using verified data from our index. Supabase and Firebase free tiers. Verified August 2026.

FeatureSupabase FreeFirebase SparkNotes
Database 500 MB PostgreSQL 1 GiB Firestore Supabase: SQL + joins. Firebase: NoSQL document model
Auth 50K MAU 50K MAU Equivalent. Both include email, OAuth, social login
Storage 1 GB file storage 5 GB Cloud Storage* *Firebase removed Cloud Storage from Spark plan (Feb 2026). Blaze required
Functions 500K Edge Function invocations 2M Cloud Function invocations/mo Firebase has higher invocation limit. Supabase runs on Deno edge runtime
Bandwidth 10 GB total (5 GB cached + 5 GB uncached) 10 GB/mo hosting, 1 GB/day Firestore download Supabase: database egress limited. Firebase: per-service bandwidth
Realtime 200 concurrent connections 100 concurrent (Realtime DB) Both support real-time sync. Supabase uses Postgres changes
API Requests Unlimited API requests 50K reads + 20K writes/day (Firestore) Supabase has no request caps. Firebase daily limits can be restrictive
Projects 2 free projects Unlimited Spark projects Firebase wins on project count. Supabase pauses inactive projects
Supabase verified data: Superseded: As of 2026-09-03, supabase.com/pricing reads: The free tier includes unlimited API requests, 50,000 monthly active users, 500 MB database size, 5 GB egress, 1 GB file storage. Free projects are paused after 1 week of inactivity. Paid plans include $10/mo in compute credits. We are not publishing our stored Supabase terms beside it — our own pricing change record, discovered 2026-09-03, names them as the previous ones. Read what we recorded ↓
Verified: 2026-08-17 · Full profile →
Firebase verified data: Full BaaS — Auth (50K MAU), Firestore (1 GiB storage, 50K reads/day), Cloud Functions (2M invocations/month), Hosting, Analytics, Crashlytics all free
Verified: 2026-08-25 · Full profile →

2. Key Differences

Beyond the raw numbers, these architectural differences matter for your long-term stack choice.

Open Source vs. Proprietary

Supabase is fully open source (MIT license) — you can self-host and avoid vendor lock-in entirely. Firebase is proprietary to Google with no self-hosting option. If you leave Firebase, you rewrite your data layer.

SQL vs. NoSQL

Supabase runs PostgreSQL — full relational queries, joins, indexes, migrations. Firebase uses Firestore (document model) — great for simple reads but complex queries require denormalization. Choose based on your data model needs.

Pricing Model

Supabase Pro is $25/month with predictable limits. Firebase Blaze is pay-as-you-go with no hard caps — great for low usage, but unexpected traffic spikes can cause surprise bills. Supabase is 30-50% cheaper at scale for most workloads.

Ecosystem & Lock-in

Firebase deeply integrates with Google Cloud — great if you're already on GCP, but creates tight coupling. Supabase uses standard Postgres, compatible with any Postgres client, ORM, or hosting provider.

3. Cost at Scale

What happens when you outgrow the free tier? Supabase Pro ($25/mo) vs Firebase Blaze (pay-as-you-go).

MetricSupabaseFirebaseNotes
Starter paid plan $25/mo (Pro) Pay-as-you-go (Blaze) Supabase: predictable flat rate. Firebase: usage-based, no spending cap
Database at 10 GB $25/mo (8 GB included) $1.56/mo (Firestore) Firebase cheaper for pure storage. Supabase includes more in base price
100K MAU auth $25/mo (100K MAU included in Pro) $0 (unlimited on Spark) Both effectively free at this scale
1M function invocations $25/mo (2M included in Pro) ~$0.40 (beyond 2M free) Similar — both cover 1M in free/base tier
50 GB storage $25/mo + ~$2.50 overage Blaze required, ~$1.30/mo Firebase cheaper for raw storage on Blaze pay-as-you-go
Billing protection Hard limits, spend caps available No hard caps — set budget alerts only Supabase safer for indie devs. Firebase can generate surprise bills
Bottom line on scaling: Supabase is typically 30-50% cheaper at scale for most BaaS workloads because of its predictable flat-rate pricing. Firebase's pay-as-you-go model can be cheaper for very low usage but offers no hard spending caps — a risk for indie developers and startups. Supabase Pro includes enough headroom ($25/mo) that most small apps never pay overage.

4. When to Choose Each

Decision Guide

Choose Supabase if:

You need relational data (SQL, joins, foreign keys), want open source with self-hosting options, prefer predictable billing, or are building a project that may need to migrate away from its backend later. Best for: SaaS apps, dashboards, APIs, projects where data relationships matter.

Choose Firebase if:

You're building mobile-first apps with Google ecosystem integration, need unlimited free projects for prototyping, prefer document-model databases for simple CRUD, or want built-in analytics and crash reporting. Best for: mobile apps, rapid prototypes, real-time chat, apps already using Google Cloud.

Consider both if:

Use Firebase for auth + analytics + crash reporting (these are genuinely best-in-class and free), then Supabase for your primary database and file storage. This "best of both" approach is increasingly common.

Consider neither if:

You need full control — try PocketBase (single binary, self-hosted, unlimited) or Appwrite (open-source BaaS with generous free tier). See alternatives below.

5. Other BaaS Alternatives

If neither Supabase nor Firebase fits, these Backend-as-a-Service platforms offer competitive free tiers.

ProviderTierFree Tier Details
Convex Free Reactive backend — 1M function calls/month, 0.5 GB database + vector storage, 1 GB file storage, real-time sync
Appwrite Cloud Free Open-source BaaS — 75K MAU, 2 GB storage, 750K function executions/month, 5 GB bandwidth, 1 database, 1 bucket and 2 functions per project. Limit of 2 projects. Projects pause after 1 week of inactivity
Nhost Free Open-source Firebase alternative with Postgres + Hasura GraphQL — 1 GB database, 1 GB storage, 5 GB bandwidth free
PocketBase Free Open-source backend in a single Go binary — SQLite database, real-time subscriptions, built-in auth (email, OAuth2), file storage (S3-compatible), REST API. Completely free and self-hosted, no vendor lock-in. Single executable, no dependencies
Notable mentions: Nhost combines Postgres + Hasura GraphQL (closest to Supabase). Convex offers a reactive backend with real-time sync (closest to Firebase's real-time model). PocketBase is completely free and self-hosted — single Go binary, no vendor dependency. See our full database comparison for 30+ options.

6. Recent Deal Changes

From our deal change tracker:

Supabase — 2026-02-01

Project pause policy tightened — inactive projects now pause after 1 week Source ↗

Impact: medium · Source →

Firebase — 2026-02-03

Cloud Storage for Firebase now requires the pay-as-you-go Blaze plan, in effect from February 3, 2026. Projects on the no-cost Spark plan lose access to all Cloud Storage buckets, including default buckets; console access redirects to an upgrade page and API calls return 402 or 403. Provisioning a new default bucket also requires Blaze. Source ↗

Impact: high · Source →

Firebase Studio — 2026-03-19

Firebase Studio (formerly Project IDX) shut down March 19, 2026. Cloud IDE and AI code generation features discontinued. Existing projects accessible until March 2027 for migration Source ↗

Impact: medium · Source →

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All Pricing Changes Timeline
Full timeline of all 554 tracked developer tool pricing changes
Methodology: Free tier data sourced from our verified index of 1,547 developer tools. Supabase data verified against supabase.com/pricing (2026-08-17). Firebase data verified against firebase.google.com/pricing (2026-08-25). Cost-at-scale analysis based on published pricing tiers. Deal changes tracked from official vendor announcements.

This comparison covers Supabase vs Firebase free tiers as of March 2026. For more database options, see our full database comparison with 30+ free options. Browse all 1,547 developer tools at /search.

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