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Firebase vs Neon
Firebase and Neon are not the same database. Firebase Spark stores documents, needs no payment method, and includes hosting with a custom domain. Neon Free is Postgres, 1 GB per project, and compute scales to zero after 5 minutes. Use Firebase when you want Google's no-cost quotas and documents are fine. Use Neon when the app expects SQL.
Honest pick with no card and a document database: Firebase Spark. Honest pick for Postgres: Neon.
Prices were checked October 15, 2026 on the official pages linked in the table. A number that was not printed there stays TBD. Pair pages that repeat a full guide are not listed here. Those guides stay the canonical page.
Comparison
Prices checked on the official pages linked in the cells.
| Tool | Best for | Free | Paid |
|---|---|---|---|
| Firebase (opens in a new tab) | Documents, hosting, and no card | Spark is $0 and does not need a payment method. Firestore includes 1 GiB stored, 10 GiB of egress a month, 50,000 reads a day, 20,000 writes a day, and 20,000 deletes a day. Non-phone auth is included. Hosting includes a custom domain and SSL. Cloud Functions are not on Spark. Checked October 15, 2026 on https://firebase.google.com/pricing (opens in a new tab). | Blaze is pay as you go. A flat monthly price is not listed, so that number is TBD. Spark quotas stay included. Firestore overage is Google Cloud pricing and the per-unit rate stays TBD. Cloud Functions include 2 million invocations a month, then $0.40 per million. Checked October 15, 2026 on https://firebase.google.com/pricing (opens in a new tab). |
| Neon (opens in a new tab) | Postgres for an app you are already writing | $0, no credit card. 1 GB per project, 20 GB across the account, 100 CU-hours per project, 5 GB egress per project, and up to 60,000 monthly active users. Compute scales to zero after 5 minutes. Checked October 15, 2026 on https://neon.com/pricing (opens in a new tab). | No monthly minimum, so a flat price is TBD. Launch compute is $0.106 per CU-hour. Storage is $0.35 per GB-month. Checked October 15, 2026 on https://neon.com/pricing (opens in a new tab). |
Who each tool is for
Firebase
You want to ship a small app, use a custom domain on the free plan, and you are fine with documents instead of tables.
Neon
Your framework already talks to Postgres, and you want the database to sleep when the side project is idle.
One downside each
- Firebase. Cloud Functions are not on Spark. The price past the free Firestore quotas is TBD. This is not a SQL database.
- Neon. You do not get Firebase Hosting's custom domain as part of this product. Hit 100 CU-hours or 5 GB of egress and free compute stops until the period resets.
Questions
Can I use Firebase and Neon for the same job?
Only if you are choosing a database shape. Firestore is documents with daily read and write quotas. Neon is Postgres with a gigabyte cap and CU-hours. A SQL tutorial will not run on Firestore. A Firestore security rule will not run on Neon.
Which free plan needs a credit card?
Neither. Firebase Spark does not need a payment method. Neon Free does not need a credit card. Firebase Blaze is the plan that adds billing. Neon Launch is metered and has no monthly minimum.
Which one includes a custom domain?
Firebase Hosting on Spark includes a custom domain and SSL. Neon is the database, so a custom domain for the website is a hosting question. Vercel vs Netlify is at https://buildstackweekly.com/compare/vercel-vs-netlify (opens in a new tab).
What about Supabase?
Supabase is the Postgres option that also includes a table editor, auth, and file storage. Compare it with Firebase on https://buildstackweekly.com/supabase-vs-firebase (opens in a new tab) and with Neon on https://buildstackweekly.com/compare/supabase-vs-neon (opens in a new tab).
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