Best Firebase Alternatives in 2026 (Compared)

The strongest Firebase alternatives in 2026 are Postgres-based backends (StitchDB, Supabase, Nhost), document backends with their own runtime (Appwrite, Convex), and self-hosted single-binary tools (PocketBase). Which one fits depends on one question more than any other: do you want a relational database you can query with SQL, or a document store like Firestore? This guide compares the main Firebase alternatives on data model, pricing, offline support and how hard it is to leave later.

Firebase is still a good product. Its mobile SDKs, offline cache, Crashlytics, Analytics and Cloud Messaging are mature, and it runs on Google Cloud. People look for a Firebase alternative for a few repeat reasons: Firestore's query model gets in the way once data becomes relational, per-operation billing is hard to predict, Cloud Storage and Cloud Functions now require the pay-as-you-go Blaze plan, and there is no way to take the whole backend with you.

#Quick comparison

Prices and limits change often. Check each vendor's own pricing page before you commit.

#What to look for in a Firebase alternative

Before comparing vendors, decide what you are actually replacing. Most Firebase apps use four or five pieces:

1. Database. Firestore or the Realtime Database. This is the hardest piece to move, because the data model shapes your app code.
2. Authentication. Firebase Auth. Every alternative here has e-mail, OAuth and magic links. Check phone sign-in, SAML and MFA if you need them.
3. File storage. Cloud Storage for Firebase. Look for access rules tied to the signed-in user and image resizing.
4. Server code. Cloud Functions. Look at runtime language, cold starts and limits.
5. Messaging and analytics. FCM push, Analytics, Crashlytics. Many backends skip these entirely, so check.

Then decide what matters most: SQL and joins, offline-first mobile, predictable bills, open source, or a specific region for data residency.

#The Firebase alternatives, one by one

#StitchDB

StitchDB gives every project its own Postgres database plus Auth, an auto-generated REST API, GraphQL, Realtime, Storage with image resizing and an S3-compatible endpoint, and Deno Edge Functions. It also covers several things Firebase users rely on that many Postgres backends skip: push notifications to iOS, Android and the web, crash reporting, product analytics, feature flags and offline sync with per-table conflict rules.

The offline sync is worth a look if Firestore's offline cache is the reason you stayed. You pick the tables, the SDK keeps a local copy, writes queue while offline, and row level security decides what each device receives:

const db = stitchdb.offline({ tables: ['todos'] })
await db.ready
const todos = db.table('todos')
await todos.upsert({ id: crypto.randomUUID(), title: 'Buy milk', done: false })
db.on('conflict', (c) => console.log(c.table, c.status))

Pricing is flat with a spend cap: Free at $0, Pro at $15.99/month, Scale at $49/month, Enterprise at $329/month (as of November 2026). Paid plans start with the spend cap on, so you never pay more than the plan price unless you turn it off. Free projects are not paused for inactivity; only accounts abandoned for a year are.

Trade-offs: StitchDB is a younger platform than Firebase. All regions are in the EU (Germany and Finland), which is good for GDPR but adds latency for users far from Europe. There is no self-hosted edition, though you can export the whole project as standard files (a pg_dump, auth users with bcrypt hashes, your files and function source) on every plan.

#Supabase

Supabase is the best-known open-source Firebase alternative built on Postgres. You get Auth, PostgREST, Realtime, Storage and Edge Functions, and you can self-host the stack with Docker Compose. Free includes 2 active projects with a 500 MB database; free projects are paused after a week of inactivity. Pro starts at $25/month with $10 of compute credits (as of November 2026).

Pick it if you want a large community, many regions worldwide and the option to self-host. Skip it if your free projects sit idle and you hate unpausing them.

#Appwrite

Appwrite is open source (BSD 3-Clause) and self-hosts with Docker. It covers Auth, Databases, Functions in many languages, Storage, Messaging and Sites. On Appwrite Cloud, Free includes 5 GB bandwidth, 2 GB storage, 750K executions and 75K MAU per project; Start is from $10 and Pro from $25 per month (as of November 2026).

Pick it if you want a Firebase-like SDK experience with built-in permissions, functions in languages other than TypeScript and a strong self-host story. Skip it if you want SQL and your access rules on the same database.

#Nhost

Nhost pairs Postgres with Hasura's GraphQL engine, plus Auth, Storage and Node.js functions. It is MIT licensed and self-hostable. Starter is free with a 1 GB database; Pro starts at $25/month (as of November 2026). Starter projects pause after a week of inactivity.

Pick it if you want GraphQL first and Hasura's permission model. Skip it if you prefer REST and SQL policies.

#Convex

Convex stores documents in tables and you write queries and mutations as TypeScript functions. Queries are reactive: Convex tracks what each query reads and pushes updates to clients. Free & Starter includes 1M function calls and 0.5 GB of database storage; Professional is $25 per developer per month (as of November 2026). The backend is open source under the FSL Apache 2.0 license.

Pick it if you want end-to-end TypeScript and reactivity without thinking about subscriptions. Skip it if you need plain SQL access for BI tools or other services.

#PocketBase

PocketBase is a single Go binary with embedded SQLite, auth, file storage, realtime and an admin UI. It is MIT licensed and self-hosted only. Its FAQ says it scales on a single server, and its README warns that full backward compatibility is not guaranteed before v1.0.

Pick it if you run a small app or internal tool and like owning one cheap VPS. Skip it if you need horizontal scale or a managed service.

#Where Firebase is still the better choice

Firebase wins in a few clear cases:

• Offline-first mobile at large scale with years of production history behind the SDKs.
• Deep Google Cloud integration: BigQuery export, Google Analytics, Vertex AI.
• Global regions: you can put Firestore near users on any continent.
• No database to design. For a prototype with loose data, a document store is fast to start.

If your app is mostly documents keyed by user and you are happy with Blaze billing, staying put is a reasonable decision.

#Who should pick what

• You want SQL, a predictable bill and app services like push and analytics in one place: StitchDB.
• You want Postgres and the option to self-host: Supabase.
• You want an SDK-first API and self-hosting: Appwrite.
• You want GraphQL on Postgres: Nhost.
• You want TypeScript everywhere and reactive queries: Convex.
• You want one binary on your own server: PocketBase.

#Moving off Firebase

There is no one-click importer from Firestore to Postgres on any platform in this list, because documents and tables are different shapes. The usual path is: export Firestore collections to JSON, design tables for the main collections (subcollections usually become child tables with a foreign key), load the data, then move auth users and files. We cover that in detail in Firebase to Postgres migration. For a head-to-head on features, read StitchDB vs Firebase.

#FAQ

#What is the closest alternative to Firebase?

For a like-for-like feature list (auth, database, storage, functions, realtime, push), StitchDB, Supabase and Appwrite come closest. Appwrite is closest in data model; StitchDB and Supabase replace Firestore with Postgres.

#Is there a free Firebase alternative?

Yes. StitchDB, Supabase, Appwrite, Nhost and Convex all have free tiers, and PocketBase is free software you host yourself. Free tiers differ a lot on pausing rules, so read them.

#Can I keep using Firebase Auth with another database?

Yes, but you then run two systems and must map Firebase user IDs into your database. Most teams move auth too, so access rules can use the signed-in user directly.

#Is Postgres a good replacement for Firestore?

For most apps with related data (users, orders, teams, comments), yes. You get joins, constraints and transactions. You lose the schemaless start, though jsonb columns cover loose data well.

Try a Postgres backend with push, analytics and offline sync built in: create a free StitchDB project.