# Supabase vs Firebase

URL: https://buildstackweekly.com/supabase-vs-firebase
Updated: October 15, 2026
Prices checked: October 15, 2026

Pick Supabase if you want a Postgres database you can open and read as rows, plus login and file storage. Pick Firebase if you want Google's no-cost Spark plan and you are fine storing documents instead of rows. If an app builder is already saving the data for you, you do not need either one yet.

Honest pick for most beginners: Supabase. You can see the rows. Firebase is the pick when you want the Spark quotas and you do not want a card on file.

This is the database choice after the waitlist in issue 0, for when you want to pick the database yourself. Neon and the wider set are on https://buildstackweekly.com/best-database-for-vibe-coders.

Prices checked October 15, 2026 on the official pages linked in the table. Firebase Blaze has no flat monthly price on that page, so a subscription number stays TBD. Firestore overage past the no-cost quotas is listed as Google Cloud pricing, not a single rate, so that rate stays TBD.

## Comparison

### Supabase
Best for: Tables, login, and files in one project
Hosted Postgres with auth, file storage, and an API. You open a table and read the rows.
Site: https://supabase.com
- Free tier: $0. 500 MB database per project, 50,000 monthly active users, 5 GB egress, 1 GB file storage, and 2 active projects. Free projects pause after 1 week of inactivity. Checked October 15, 2026 on https://supabase.com/pricing.
- Paid: Pro starts at $25 a month. That includes $10 in compute credits, which covers one project on the Micro instance, 8 GB disk per project (then $0.125 per GB), and 100,000 monthly active users (then $0.00325 each). Team starts at $599 a month. Checked October 15, 2026 on https://supabase.com/pricing.
- Downside: A free project pauses after a week if you do not use it. On Pro, the $10 compute credit covers one Micro project. A second project adds its own compute cost.

### Firebase
Best for: No-cost quotas, documents instead of rows
Google's app backend. The database most people mean is Cloud Firestore, which stores documents. Spark does not ask for a payment method.
Site: https://firebase.google.com
- Free tier: Spark is $0 and does not need a payment method. Cloud Firestore standard edition includes 1 GiB stored, 10 GiB of egress a month, 50,000 document reads a day, 20,000 writes a day, and 20,000 deletes a day. Auth other than phone auth is included. Hosting includes a custom domain and SSL, 10 GB of storage, and 360 MB of data transfer a day. Cloud Functions are not on Spark. Checked October 15, 2026 on https://firebase.google.com/pricing.
- Paid: Blaze is pay as you go. The pricing page does not list a flat monthly price, so that number is TBD. Spark's no-cost quotas stay included. Past those quotas, Firestore is billed at Google Cloud pricing, and that per-unit rate is not printed as one number, so it stays TBD. Cloud Functions on Blaze include 2 million invocations a month, then $0.40 per million. Eligible accounts can get $300 in free credit. Checked October 15, 2026 on https://firebase.google.com/pricing.
- Downside: Firestore is documents, not a table of rows. Cloud Functions and phone auth are not on the free Spark plan. The overage rate past the free Firestore quotas is TBD.

## Who each tool is for

- **Supabase.** You want login and a database, and you want to open the data and see rows.
- **Firebase.** You want Google's no-cost quotas, a custom domain on hosting, and you are fine with documents.

## Honest downsides

- **Supabase.** A free project pauses after a week if you do not use it. On Pro, the $10 compute credit covers one Micro project. A second project adds its own compute cost.
- **Firebase.** Firestore is documents, not a table of rows. Cloud Functions and phone auth are not on the free Spark plan. The overage rate past the free Firestore quotas is TBD.

## Who it is not for

- **Supabase.** Not for a free project you will leave idle for a week. It pauses. Also the wrong pick if you specifically want Firestore-style documents.
- **Firebase.** Not for you if the data has to be SQL, or if you need Cloud Functions before you add a billing account.

## Questions

### Which one should a beginner use?

Supabase, if you want to see rows. Firebase Spark, if you want to start with no card and you are fine with documents. If Lovable or another builder is already storing the emails, stay there until that gets in the way.

### What is free?

Supabase Free is $0: 500 MB database, 50,000 monthly active users, and 2 active projects, paused after 1 week idle. Firebase Spark is $0 with no payment method: 1 GiB in Firestore, 50,000 reads a day, 20,000 writes a day, and hosting with a custom domain. Cloud Functions are not on Spark. Checked October 15, 2026 on https://supabase.com/pricing and https://firebase.google.com/pricing.

### What does paid cost?

Supabase Pro starts at $25 a month and the included compute credit covers one Micro project. Firebase Blaze has no flat monthly price on the pricing page, so that number is TBD. It keeps the Spark quotas, then bills past them. Cloud Functions on Blaze include 2 million invocations a month, then $0.40 per million.

### Where do the other databases go?

Neon, and how this pair fits a vibe-coded app, is on https://buildstackweekly.com/best-database-for-vibe-coders. The waitlist that does not make you pick a database is issue 0: https://buildstackweekly.com/issues/0.

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