Supabase vs Google Firebase
Supabase wins — Supabase wins for web apps and teams that need relational data, portability, and open-source infrastructure
Scores: Supabase 9/10 · Google Firebase 8/10
Supabase wins for web apps and teams that need relational data, portability, and open-source infrastructure. Firebase wins for mobile apps with offline sync requirements and Flutter/React Native development. For new web projects in 2025, Supabase is the stronger default choice.
Spec-by-spec comparison
| Supabase | Google Firebase |
|---|
| database | PostgreSQL — full relational, row-level security, real-time via websockets | Firestore (NoSQL document) + Realtime Database (legacy JSON tree) |
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| auth | Email, OAuth, phone, magic link, SSO | Email, Google, Apple, phone, Anonymous |
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| storage | S3-compatible object storage | Firebase Storage (Google Cloud Storage under the hood) |
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| edge_functions | Deno-based serverless functions | Cloud Functions (Node.js, Python, Go) |
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| pricing | $25/month Pro plan (8GB DB, 100GB storage) | Blaze plan (pay-as-you-go) — $0.06/100K reads |
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| open_source | Yes — self-hostable on any Postgres server | — |
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Supabase
What works
- Full PostgreSQL means foreign keys, joins, complex queries, and pg extensions — Firestore's document model can't do this
- Open source and self-hostable — full data portability; you're not locked into Supabase's cloud infrastructure
- Row Level Security (RLS) at the database layer means auth policies live in the DB, not scattered across application code
What doesn't
- RLS policy configuration requires SQL knowledge — more complex to set up correctly than Firebase's security rules for non-SQL developers
- Offline-first and mobile SDK maturity is behind Firebase — Firestore's offline sync is more battle-tested
- Edge Functions (Deno) have fewer community examples than Firebase Functions (Node) — smaller ecosystem
Google Firebase
What works
- Firestore's mobile offline sync is the best-in-class for mobile apps — documents sync automatically when connectivity restores
- 10+ years of production usage means Firebase has the deepest mobile SDK and the largest community answer base
- Google Cloud integration — BigQuery export, Cloud Storage, and GCP ML services connect natively
What doesn't
- Firestore document model forces data denormalization — complex relational data requires duplicating fields and writing complex fanout logic
- Vendor lock-in: Firestore data is not easily portable to another provider or self-hosted
- Cloud Functions cold starts on the Spark free plan can hit 1-3 seconds — Supabase Edge Functions have more consistent latency
Bottom line
Our pick: Supabase.
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