Supabase vs Firebase in 2026 - Which Backend to Pick

Supabase vs Firebase comes down to the database. Supabase gives you Postgres: tables, joins, SQL, row level security and the option to self-host. Firebase gives you Firestore: a document database with excellent offline sync and mobile SDKs, tied to Google Cloud. Pick Supabase if your data is relational or you want to avoid lock-in. Pick Firebase if you build mobile-first, need offline sync out of the box and want Google's push, analytics and crash reporting in the same console.

Both are mature, both have generous free tiers, and both can carry a production app. The details below help you decide which trade-offs you'd rather live with.

#Quick comparison

#Data model: tables vs documents

This is 80% of the decision.

With Supabase you model data as tables with foreign keys. A blog with posts, authors and comments is three tables, and one query gets a post with its author and comment count:

select p.id, p.title, a.name as author, count(c.id) as comments
from posts p
join authors a on a.id = p.author_id
left join comments c on c.post_id = p.id
group by p.id, a.name
order by p.created_at desc
limit 20;

With Firestore you model data around the screens that read it. You'd likely store authorName on each post and keep a commentCount field updated by a Cloud Function, because there are no joins. Reads are fast and cheap per screen; changing the shape later means rewriting documents.

Rule of thumb: if you can draw your data as boxes with lines between them, and you'll need reports or admin queries across it, Postgres will save you time. If your data is mostly self-contained documents per user (notes, settings, chat threads), Firestore works well. Our SQL vs NoSQL for apps article goes deeper.

#Security: policies vs rules

Firebase security rules are a separate language deployed next to your data:

match /posts/{postId} {
  allow read: if true;
  allow write: if request.auth.uid == resource.data.authorId;
}

Supabase uses Postgres Row Level Security:

alter table posts enable row level security;
create policy "Anyone reads posts" on posts for select using (true);
create policy "Authors write their posts" on posts for all to authenticated
  using (author_id = auth.uid()) with check (author_id = auth.uid());

Policies apply to every path into the database: REST, Realtime and Storage. The catch in both systems is the same: forget to protect a collection or table and it's open. In Postgres, tables created with SQL start with RLS off, so turn it on everywhere. The row level security guide covers common policy patterns.

#Auth

Both include auth with e-mail, OAuth and phone sign-in.

• Firebase Authentication: 50K MAU on Spark; SAML/OIDC limited to 50 MAU there; phone sign-in only on Blaze. Spark also caps e-mail link sign-in at 5 e-mails a day (limits).
• Supabase Auth: 50,000 MAU on Free; Pro includes 100,000, then $0.00325 per MAU. Users live in auth.users in your database, so foreign keys can point at them.

#Pricing, as of November 2026

Firebase Spark (free) includes, among others: Firestore 1 GiB stored, 50K reads, 20K writes and 20K deletes per day, 10 GiB egress a month; Realtime Database 100 simultaneous connections and 1 GB stored; Hosting 10 GB. Cloud Storage and Cloud Functions are not on Spark. Blaze is pay as you go with free quotas, for example 2M Cloud Functions invocations a month. See Firebase pricing.

Supabase Free: 500 MB database, 1 GB file storage, 5 GB egress, 50,000 MAU, 500,000 Edge Function invocations, 200 realtime connections, 2 active projects, paused after a week of inactivity. Pro from $25/month: 8 GB disk per project, 100 GB storage, 250 GB egress, 100,000 MAU, and $10 of compute credits that cover one Micro instance. Each extra project adds compute (about $10/month for Micro). See Supabase pricing.

The pricing shapes differ. Firebase charges per operation, so cost tracks how many documents your screens read. A list screen that reads 50 documents counts 50 reads every time it opens. Supabase charges mainly for resources (database size, compute, egress), so a heavy query costs CPU, not a per-row fee. Read-heavy apps with large lists often come out cheaper on Postgres; write-light apps with tiny documents are often cheap on Firestore.

#Realtime and offline

Firestore's offline persistence is its best feature for mobile: writes queue locally, reads come from cache, and sync is automatic. Supabase Realtime streams Postgres changes, broadcasts and presence, but offline sync is not built in; you add a local store yourself.

#Lock-in

Supabase's core is open source and can be self-hosted with Docker (one project per install; branching, managed backups and PITR are platform features). Your data is a standard Postgres database you can pg_dump anywhere. Firebase runs only on Google Cloud, and moving off Firestore means rewriting queries and security rules. If an exit plan matters to you, that's a real difference.

#Where StitchDB fits

StitchDB is a third option for people who like the Supabase model. It's a hosted backend with a dedicated Postgres database per project and the same APIs as the open-source Supabase stack (REST, Auth, Storage, Realtime, Deno Edge Functions), so supabase-js and the other client libraries work by changing the URL and keys. See compatibility.

What's different, from its docs and plans as of November 2026:

• Free projects aren't paused while the account is used (only accounts abandoned for a year).
• Pro is $15.99/month (pricing) with 10 GB database, 100 GB storage, 1 TB egress and 100,000 MAU; PITR is included on every plan (24 hours on Free, 7 days on Pro).
• Offline sync is built in: Offline sync keeps chosen tables on the device with a conflict rule per table, closer to Firestore's offline behavior.
• Image resizing on every plan, plus app services such as push notifications, feature flags and crash reporting.
• EU hosting only (Germany and Finland). That helps with GDPR, but adds latency for users on other continents, and Supabase has far more regions.

It's a younger platform than either Supabase or Firebase, and there is no self-hosted edition. Compare in detail in StitchDB vs Firebase.

#Who should pick what

• Pick Firebase for a mobile-first app with simple, per-user data, heavy offline use, and a team already using Google's push, analytics and Crashlytics.
• Pick Supabase for relational data, SQL reporting, an open-source stack, self-hosting options and regions worldwide.
• Pick StitchDB if you want the Supabase-style Postgres stack with EU hosting, a cheaper Pro plan, PITR on every plan or built-in offline sync, and you can live with EU-only regions.

#FAQ

#Is Supabase better than Firebase?

Neither is better overall. Supabase is better for relational data and avoiding lock-in; Firebase is better for offline-first mobile apps and Google's surrounding services.

#Is Supabase cheaper than Firebase?

It depends on your read pattern. Firebase bills per document read and write; Supabase bills mostly for database size, compute and egress. Model your busiest screen on both before deciding.

#Can I migrate from Firebase to Supabase?

Yes, but it's a data model change, not a copy. Documents become rows, rules become policies. See Migrate from Firebase to Postgres.

#Does Supabase work offline like Firestore?

Not out of the box. You add a local cache or sync library. StitchDB, which is compatible with the Supabase APIs, has offline sync built in.

Want the Supabase model with EU hosting and no paused free projects? Try StitchDB free.