Published 2026-03-26 · Reviewed 2026-10-21 · Figures compiled 2026-03-26, last checked 2026-10-21 · 28 of 28 figures in the “Other BaaS Alternatives” table come from our records for 1,498 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, more free projects than Supabase's 2, and tight Google Cloud integration.
On free tiers: Firebase offers more raw storage (1 GiB vs 500 MB) and more free projects (about 5-10 per account, against Supabase's 2), 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. File storage now needs Blaze with a credit card, and Blaze's spend caps do not cover Cloud Storage. Supabase includes 1 GB file storage on the free tier.
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
About 5-10 per account (Google's project quota)
Firebase wins on project count. Supabase pauses inactive projects
Supabase verified data: Postgres development platform: database, Auth, Storage, Realtime and Edge Functions. The Free plan is $0: unlimited API requests, 50,000 monthly active users, a 500 MB database on a shared CPU with 500 MB RAM, 5 GB egress plus 5 GB cached egress, 1 GB file storage, 500,000 Edge Function invocations, and Realtime with 200 concurrent connections and 2 million messages a month. Free projects are paused after 1 week of inactivity, with a limit of 2 active projects. Pro starts at $25 a month for the first project and includes $10 a month of compute credits, enough for one Micro instance.
Supabase makes daily backups only for Pro, Team and Enterprise projects, so a free project has none, and Supabase recommends exporting it yourself with the CLI's db dump command. (From supabase.com/docs/guides/platform/backups, read 2026-10-05.)
A paused project can be restored from the dashboard for 1 year. After that, only its backup file and Storage objects can be downloaded. (From supabase.com/docs/guides/platform/upgrading, read 2026-10-05.)
Supabase notifies you when you exceed the Free Plan quota. Continued overuse brings restrictions that can include a read-only database, 402 responses to every API request, or paused projects. They lift when the quota refills next billing cycle or on upgrade to Pro. (From supabase.com/docs/guides/platform/billing-faq, read 2026-10-05.)
A Spark account can create a small number of projects, usually about 5-10. (From firebase.google.com/support/faq, read 2026-10-05.)
Linking a Cloud Billing account to a Spark project, including one with $300 Google Cloud free trial credits, automatically upgrades it to the pay-as-you-go Blaze plan. (From firebase.google.com/docs/projects/billing/firebase-pricing-plans, read 2026-10-05.)
On Spark, email-link sign-in is limited to 5 emails a day; sending more needs a billing account (Blaze). (From firebase.google.com/docs/auth/limits, read 2026-10-07.)
Phone (SMS) sign-in is not available on the Spark plan; on Blaze each SMS sent is billed. (From firebase.google.com/pricing, read 2026-10-20.)
Since September 1, 2026, Remote Config allows up to 100,000 fetch requests a day per Spark project at no cost. A Spark project that exceeds this limit gets 30 days of normal service, then is throttled unless it upgrades to Blaze. Blaze projects pay $0.06 per 10,000 requests above 100,000 a day, up to 10,000,000, and $0.01 per 10,000 above that. (From firebase.google.com/docs/remote-config/pricing, read 2026-10-17.)
Spark projects that used Remote Config before September 1, 2026 are subject to the 100,000-fetches-a-day limit from December 1, 2026 until they upgrade to Blaze. Blaze projects that used Remote Config before September 1, 2026 start Remote Config billing on February 1, 2027. A Spark project that used Remote Config before September 1, 2026 and upgrades to Blaze before November 15, 2026 starts Remote Config billing on February 1, 2027. (From firebase.google.com/docs/remote-config/pricing, read 2026-10-17.)
On the Blaze plan, all Gemini Developer API usage, including calls through Firebase AI Logic, is pay-as-you-go, and most projects must prepay. A project with no billing account (on Spark) can use the Gemini Developer API's free tier with no payment method. (From firebase.google.com/docs/ai-logic/pricing, read 2026-10-21.)
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 and cheap at low usage. Spend caps cover only AI Logic, App Hosting, Cloud Functions and Extensions, so a traffic spike on Firestore or Cloud Storage can still cause a surprise bill.
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).
Metric
Supabase
Firebase
Notes
Starter paid plan
$25/mo (Pro)
Pay-as-you-go (Blaze)
Supabase is a flat rate; Firebase is usage-based with spend caps on only four services.
Database at 10 GB
$25.25/mo (8 GB included, then $0.125/GB)
$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 on Blaze (2M a month at no cost)
Firebase needs Blaze for any function.
50 GB storage
$25/mo (100 GB included in Pro)
Blaze required, about $1/mo (first 5 GB free)
Firebase cheaper for raw storage on Blaze pay-as-you-go
Billing protection
Hard limits, spend caps available
Budget alerts, plus optional spend caps for AI Logic, App Hosting, Cloud Functions and Extensions
Supabase safer for indie devs. Firebase can generate surprise bills
Bottom line on scaling: At every volume in this table, Firebase's pay-as-you-go prices come to less than Supabase Pro's $25 a month. Supabase's advantage is a predictable bill, since Pro's spend cap is on by default. Blaze's spend caps must be set up and cover only AI Logic, App Hosting, Cloud Functions and Extensions, not Firestore or Cloud Storage.
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 several 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.
Open-source BaaS — 75K MAU, 2 GB storage, 750K function executions/month, 5 GB bandwidth, 1 database, 1 bucket and 2 functions per project, 500K database reads and 250K writes a month. Limit of 2 projects.
The Free plan's resources are shared across the account's 2 projects, which draw on one allowance. Paid plans give each project its own resources. (From appwrite.io/docs/advanced/billing/free, read 2026-10-11.)
A Free project with no development activity in the Appwrite Console for 7 days is paused. User traffic does not prevent pausing. The project becomes inaccessible to users and stops running backups, cron jobs, and scheduled functions until reactivated in the Console. (From appwrite.io/changelog/entry/2026-02-20-1, read 2026-10-11.)
From October 19, 2026, cron schedules for functions on Appwrite Cloud need a paid plan. On the Free and Education plans, functions run only on an interval of 60 minutes or longer. Existing cron schedules become intervals close to how often they ran. (From appwrite.io/changelog/entry/2026-10-15-1, read 2026-10-19.)
If a Free project reaches any resource limit, such as function executions or monthly active users, it freezes and the Console becomes read-only until the next billing cycle, or the owner upgrades to Pro or removes the resources over the limit. (From appwrite.io/pricing, read 2026-10-05.)
From November 5, 2026, Appwrite Cloud deletes inactive function and site deployments more than 30 days old by default. A deployment's age counts from the day it was created. The active deployment and any deployment a custom domain points to are kept. On the Free plan, retention can be raised to at most 90 days and each function or site keeps at most its 100 newest inactive deployments. (From appwrite.io/blog/post/default-deployment-retention, read 2026-10-22.)
Pro starts at $25 a month. It includes one project with 2TB bandwidth, 150GB storage, 3.5M executions and 200K monthly active users. Each additional project costs $15. (From appwrite.io/pricing, read 2026-10-29.)
Additional API bandwidth costs $15 per 100GB a month. Additional storage costs $2.8 per 100GB. Additional executions cost $2 per 1m. Additional users cost $3 per 1,000 users. Additional reads cost $0.060 per 100k and writes $0.10 per 100k. (From appwrite.io/pricing, read 2026-10-29.)
On Pro, Appwrite automatically buys extra resources when an organization exceeds its limits. The budget cap limits how much it can scale. (From appwrite.io/docs/advanced/billing/pro, read 2026-10-29.)
Open-source backend with Postgres and Hasura GraphQL, plus Auth, Storage and Functions. The Starter plan is $0 a month: 1 GB database, 1 GB storage and 5 GB egress, with functions, realtime APIs and unlimited users. It is limited to 1 project, and the project is paused after 1 week of inactivity. Pro starts at $25 a month with $15 of compute credits, a 10 GB database, 50 GB storage and 50 GB egress.
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 dependenciesThe page we cite for this offer states no amount, tier or rate we can read when we last looked, on 2026-10-30, so we cannot confirm these terms today.
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:
Firebase — 2026-09-01
From September 1, 2026, Firebase limits Remote Config on the no-cost Spark plan to 100,000 fetch requests a day per project. A Spark project over the limit keeps full service for 30 days from the first day it goes over, and after that requests above the limit are throttled unless it upgrades to Blaze. Blaze has the same 100,000 a day at no cost and then $0.06 per 10,000 requests. Firebase's pricing page had listed Remote Config as no-cost before. This applies to projects that enable Remote Config on or after September 1, 2026. Older Spark projects follow on December 1, 2026. Source ↗
Google announced the sunset of Firebase Studio (formerly Project IDX) on 2026-03-19. New workspaces and signups stopped on 2026-06-22, and Firebase Studio shuts down on 2027-03-22, when remaining data is deleted. Other Firebase products are not affected. Source ↗
These are announced changes that have not taken effect yet, listed soonest first.
Firebase — effective 2026-12-01
Firebase Spark projects that enabled Remote Config before September 1, 2026 can use it under the old terms until December 1, 2026. From December 1, 2026, the 100,000-fetches-a-day limit applies to them, with 30 days of full service from the first day they go over, then throttling unless they upgrade to Blaze. A Spark project that upgrades to Blaze before November 15, 2026 is not billed for Remote Config until February 1, 2027. Blaze projects from before September 1, 2026 start Remote Config billing on February 1, 2027. Source ↗
Firebase keeps running. The Firebase Extensions service can be used until March 31, 2027. Installed extensions keep running after that date. After March 31, 2027, they cannot be updated, reconfigured or uninstalled, and their configuration cannot be downloaded. Google's replacement is function kits in Cloud Functions for Firebase (2nd gen). Source ↗
Firebase keeps running. Firebase Test Lab can be used until September 30, 2027. After that date, no tests can run. Google's replacement is the Developer Device Platform on Google Cloud. The Developer Device Platform requires billing. The no-cost Spark plan includes 10 virtual-device tests a day and 5 physical-device tests a day. Source ↗
Methodology: 28 of 28 figures in the “Other BaaS Alternatives” table come from our records for 1,498 developer tools. Supabase data verified against supabase.com/pricing (2026-11-02). Firebase data verified against firebase.google.com/pricing (2026-10-03). Cost-at-scale analysis based on published pricing tiers. Deal changes tracked from official vendor announcements.
This comparison covers Supabase vs Firebase free tiers. For more database options, see our full database comparison with 30+ free options. Browse all 1,498 developer tools at /search.
More Alternatives Guides
LocalStack CE Alternatives— In March 2026, LocalStack merged Community and Pro images, requiring an auth token for the latest image — compare 9 free open-source AWS emulators
Postman Alternatives— Postman killed free team collaboration March 1, 2026 — 5 free API testing alternatives
HCP Terraform Alternatives— HCP Terraform legacy free plan ended March 31, 2026; free tier now caps managed resources at 500 — free IaC alternatives compared
Freshping Alternatives— Freshping shut down March 6, 2026 — 13 free uptime monitoring alternatives
Heroku Alternatives— Heroku removed free tier Nov 2022, entered sustaining mode Feb 2026 — 8 free PaaS options
Firebase Alternatives— Firebase Studio is closing (no new workspaces since June 22, 2026; shutdown March 22, 2027) + Cloud Storage for Firebase now requires Blaze — 7 BaaS alternatives
GitHub Actions Alternatives— GitHub postponed its self-hosted runner fee, so self-hosted runners stay free — 10 free CI/CD alternatives compared
Best Free AI & ML Tools for Developers in 2026— 65+ AI/ML tools and their free tiers compared — LLM APIs, AI coding assistants, ML platforms, observability, and specialized AI services
Best Free LLM APIs in 2026— 25+ LLM API providers and their free tiers compared — proprietary model APIs, open-model inference platforms, and AI gateways with exact rate limits
Best Free API Development Tools in 2026— 39+ free API development tools compared — REST/GraphQL clients, mocking, documentation, marketplaces, and integration platforms
The Complete Free Startup Stack for 2026— Complete free SaaS infrastructure stack — 10 categories with recommended picks, scaling guidance, and stability ratings
The Complete Free AI/ML Stack for 2026— Complete free AI/ML development stack — 10 categories with recommended picks, scaling guidance, and stability ratings
The Complete Free DevOps Stack for 2026— Complete free DevOps infrastructure stack — 10 categories with recommended picks, scaling guidance, and stability ratings
The Complete Free Frontend Stack for 2026— Complete free frontend/Jamstack development stack — 10 categories with recommended picks, scaling guidance, and stability ratings
The Complete Free Next.js Stack for 2026— Complete free Next.js full-stack infrastructure — 10 layers with recommended picks, growth cost analysis, and stability ratings
Google Developer Program 2026— Standalone Google Developer Program Premium no longer takes sign-ups — current plans, Cloud credits and free alternatives
Vercel vs Netlify Free Tier Comparison— Deep comparison of Vercel and Netlify free tiers — bandwidth, functions, builds, commercial use, and scaling costs
Railway vs Render Free Tier Comparison— Deep comparison of Railway and Render free tiers — usage-based vs fixed pricing, databases, sleep behavior, and scaling costs
Datadog vs New Relic Free Tier Comparison— Deep comparison of Datadog and New Relic free tiers — per-host vs per-GB pricing, APM, logs, synthetics, and scaling costs
Free Tier Risk Index— Predictive risk analysis for developer free tiers — grades dated and scored against what happened next, category heatmap, pattern analysis, counter-trends
Gemini API Pricing 2026— Gemini API billing guide — spend caps ($250-$100K+/mo), prepaid billing, 3.1 Pro paid-only, free tier changes, 8-provider comparison
Free Tier Tracker 2026— A list of developer tool free tiers that were removed or cut in 2026, grouped by quarter, with dates and what changed.
Startup Credits Comparison 2026— The definitive startup credits comparison — 16 programs across cloud infrastructure, fintech, and developer tools with eligibility requirements, vesting schedules, and stacking strategies
AI Coding Tools Pricing Comparison 2026— The definitive AI coding tools comparison — 17 tools across IDE, CLI, cloud agent, and app builder categories with free tier analysis and cost breakdowns
CI/CD Tools Pricing Comparison 2026— The definitive CI/CD pricing comparison — 17+ tools across general, cloud-native, mobile, and self-hosted categories with free tier analysis and cost breakdowns
Database Pricing Comparison 2026— The definitive database pricing comparison — 25+ services across managed Postgres, serverless/edge, document/NoSQL, cloud provider, and specialized categories with free tier analysis and cost breakdowns
Vector Database Pricing Comparison 2026— The definitive vector database pricing comparison — 11 services across dedicated cloud, open-source, pgvector, embedded, and serverless categories with free tier analysis for RAG/AI
Cloud Hosting & PaaS Pricing Comparison 2026— The definitive cloud hosting pricing comparison — 15 platforms across PaaS, edge/serverless, full-featured, and static categories with free tier analysis, pricing gotchas, and Railway referral
LLM API Free Tiers & Free Credits 2026— Which LLM APIs have a genuinely free tier or free credits — frontier labs, inference providers, open-source hosts, and specialized services with free tier analysis and token cost breakdowns
AWS Free Tier 2026— AWS Free plan: up to $200 in credits over 6 months, 30+ always-free services, short-term trials, hidden costs, cheaper alternatives.
GCP Free Tier Complete Guide 2026— Complete GCP free tier guide — 20+ always-free products, $300 trial, hidden costs, and comparison with AWS and Azure
Azure Free Tier 2026— Azure free tier guide — 65+ always-free services, $200 trial, Cosmos DB lifetime free tier, and comparison with AWS and GCP
Testing & QA Tools Free Tier Comparison 2026— Side-by-side comparison of 15+ testing tool free tiers — E2E, visual regression, load testing, API testing, local dev, and the testing cost trap at scale
API Development Tools Free Tier Comparison 2026— Side-by-side comparison of 12+ API development tool free tiers — users, collections, requests, mock servers, local-first vs cloud, and the API tool migration trap
Hosting & PaaS Free Tier Comparison 2026— Side-by-side comparison of 12+ hosting free tiers — bandwidth, compute, build minutes, cold starts, commercial use restrictions, and the hosting cost trap at scale
Developer Security Tools Free Tier Comparison 2026— Side-by-side comparison of 20+ developer security tool free tiers — SAST, SCA, DAST, secrets detection, container security, and the DevSecOps cost trap at scale
Firebase Studio Shutdown Guide— Firebase Studio shuts down March 22, 2027 — free cloud IDE alternatives with compute, storage, and collaboration limits compared
Developer Tool Shutdown Tracker 2026— Living tracker of developer tool shutdowns, API sunsets, and deprecation deadlines in 2026 — with migration paths and alternatives
Forming a US Company in 2026: Costs and Changes— Firstbase Start costs $99 under an offer plus a required $299-a-year agent. Stripe pays the $500 Atlas fee back for a $5,000 Treasury deposit. Delaware's LLC tax is $400.