Firebase vs Appwrite - Google Cloud or Open Source Backend

Firebase vs Appwrite is closed platform vs open source. Firebase is Google's app backend: Firestore, Auth, Cloud Functions, Cloud Messaging, Crashlytics and Analytics, deeply integrated and only available on Google Cloud. Appwrite is an open-source backend you can use as Appwrite Cloud or run on your own servers, with auth, databases, storage, functions, messaging and site hosting. Pick Firebase when you want Google's mobile ecosystem and offline-first Firestore. Pick Appwrite when you want similar building blocks without being tied to one cloud, or need to self-host.

#Summary table

#Databases

Firebase has two document databases. Firestore stores documents in collections with indexed queries, offline persistence and live listeners. The Realtime Database is a JSON tree with very low-latency sync. Firebase also has SQL Connect, a managed Cloud SQL for PostgreSQL service where you define your schema and operations in GraphQL and get generated type-safe SDKs (docs).

Appwrite offers TablesDB for structured, relational data with typed columns and relationships, DocumentsDB for schemaless JSON, and VectorsDB for embeddings, all behind the Appwrite API with permissions and realtime. It also lists managed PostgreSQL with direct connections (Appwrite Databases).

Both now cover document and relational styles in some form. The day-to-day experience still differs: Firestore's SDKs and offline cache are more polished on mobile; Appwrite's typed tables feel closer to a classic database.

#Pricing, as of November 2026

Firebase Spark (free, no payment method) includes, per Firebase pricing:

• Firestore: 1 GiB stored, 50K reads, 20K writes and 20K deletes per day, 10 GiB egress a month
• Authentication: 50K MAU, SAML/OIDC 50 MAU, no phone auth
• Realtime Database: 100 simultaneous connections, 1 GB stored
• Hosting: 10 GB storage, 360 MB/day transfer
• Cloud Storage and Cloud Functions: not available

Firebase Blaze is pay as you go with free quotas, for example 2M function invocations a month.

Appwrite changed its pricing on September 1, 2025 (announcement): Pro is $25/month per project, each additional project $15, with unlimited seats and 2 TB of bandwidth per project per month. Your first project is free. On the Free plan, a project that hits a limit freezes, with the console read-only, until the next cycle or an upgrade. Pro keeps running and bills extra usage, with an optional budget cap.

The shapes differ. Firebase bills per operation: a feed that reads 30 documents costs 30 reads per open. Appwrite bills a flat per-project fee with included resources, which is easier to predict and caps nicely with the budget setting.

#Storage changes in Firebase

The biggest 2026 change on the Firebase side: since February 3, 2026, Cloud Storage for Firebase requires the Blaze plan, even for default buckets. Spark projects lose access to their buckets until they upgrade. If your Firebase app stores files, plan for a billing account. More in Firebase Storage alternatives.

#Auth

Both cover the common methods. Firebase Auth's Spark limits are worth knowing: e-mail link sign-in is capped at 5 e-mails a day and password resets at 150 a day (limits). Appwrite has Teams built in, which helps for B2B apps with shared workspaces.

#Lock-in and self-hosting

This is Appwrite's main argument. Appwrite can run on any machine with Docker, or on Kubernetes with its Helm chart (self-hosting). If you outgrow the cloud plan, have compliance requirements, or the vendor changes direction, you can take the same stack in-house.

Firebase runs only on Google's infrastructure. Exporting data is possible, but Firestore queries and security rules don't run anywhere else; leaving means rewriting.

#Where each one wins

Firebase wins when:

• You build a mobile app and want push (FCM), Crashlytics, Analytics, Remote Config and A/B testing in one console.
• Offline-first behavior matters and you want it without extra work.
• You're already on Google Cloud.

Appwrite wins when:

• You want open source and the option to self-host.
• You prefer predictable per-project pricing to per-operation billing.
• You want one platform for auth, data, files, functions, messaging and front-end hosting.

#A Postgres option: StitchDB

If neither document databases nor Appwrite's API feel right and you'd rather have plain Postgres, StitchDB is a hosted backend with a dedicated Postgres database per project, plus Auth, REST and GraphQL APIs, Realtime, Storage and Edge Functions. It also includes app services that Firebase users look for:

• Push notifications, feature flags and crash reporting
• Offline sync for chosen tables, with conflict rules per table
• Storage on every plan, including Free (1 GB), with image resizing

Plans as of November 2026: Free $0 (2 projects, 500 MB database each, 50,000 MAU), Pro $15.99/month (10 GB database, 100 GB storage, 100,000 MAU), Scale $49/month. Data stays in EU data centers (Germany and Finland), which simplifies GDPR but means more latency for users far from Europe. There's no self-hosted edition, and it's younger than both Firebase and Appwrite. See StitchDB vs Firebase and StitchDB vs Appwrite for direct comparisons.

#Test both before you commit

A weekend spike tells you more than any comparison table. Build the same small slice of your app on each platform and watch for these:

1. Model your hardest screen. Pick the view that combines the most data (a feed with authors and counts, a dashboard). Note how many reads or queries it takes and what you had to copy between documents or tables.
2. Write the access rule you're least sure about. For example, "members of a team can edit its projects, guests can only read". See how it looks in Firebase security rules and in Appwrite permissions.
3. Price your busiest month. For Firebase, estimate document reads per screen view times views. For Appwrite, check whether your bandwidth and storage fit one project's quota.
4. Try leaving. Export the data and see what you'd have to rewrite. With Firebase that's queries and rules; with Appwrite, mostly SDK calls, since you could keep the same stack self-hosted.
5. Check the mobile path. Run the app with the network off and see what still works without extra code.

Whichever platform makes these five steps feel easier is usually the right one for your team.

#Who should pick what

#FAQ

#Is Appwrite a good Firebase alternative?

Yes, it's one of the most complete open-source alternatives, covering auth, databases, storage, functions, messaging and hosting, with a self-hosted option.

#Is Appwrite cheaper than Firebase?

It depends on usage. Appwrite Pro is a flat $25/month per project; Firebase Blaze bills per operation. Low-traffic apps can be very cheap on Firebase's free quotas; read-heavy apps are often more predictable on Appwrite.

#Can I self-host Firebase?

No. Firebase runs only on Google Cloud. The Firebase Local Emulator Suite is for development, not production.

#Does Appwrite work offline?

Check Appwrite's docs for current offline support. Firestore has offline persistence built into its SDKs.

Prefer Postgres with push, flags and crash reporting included? Start free on StitchDB.