Firebase vs Supabase 2026: Complete Comparison for Mobile Apps

Firebase and Supabase are the leading Backend-as-a-Service (BaaS) platforms for mobile apps. This guide compares them to help you choose the right one for your project.

Quick Comparison

Platform Overview

Firebase

Owned by: Google Founded: 2011 (acquired by Google 2014) Best for: Rapid prototyping, real-time apps, Google ecosystem

Firebase offers a comprehensive suite of tools built around NoSQL databases (Firestore and Realtime Database).

Supabase

Type: Open Source Founded: 2020 Best for: SQL-based apps, self-hosting needs, PostgreSQL fans

Supabase positions itself as an "open source Firebase alternative" built on PostgreSQL.

Database Comparison

Firebase Firestore (NoSQL)

// Document-based structure
const user = {
  name: "John Doe",
  email: "john@example.com",
  posts: [
    { title: "Post 1", content: "..." },
    { title: "Post 2", content: "..." }
  ]
};

// Querying
const users = await firestore()
  .collection('users')
  .where('age', '>=', 18)
  .orderBy('createdAt', 'desc')
  .limit(10)
  .get();

Pros:

• Flexible schema
• Automatic scaling
• Offline support built-in
• Real-time listeners

Cons:

• No JOINs
• Complex queries limited
• Denormalization required
• Vendor lock-in

Supabase (PostgreSQL)

-- Relational structure
CREATE TABLE users (
  id UUID PRIMARY KEY,
  name TEXT,
  email TEXT UNIQUE
);

CREATE TABLE posts (
  id UUID PRIMARY KEY,
  user_id UUID REFERENCES users(id),
  title TEXT,
  content TEXT
);

-- Querying with JOINs
SELECT users.name, posts.title
FROM users
JOIN posts ON users.id = posts.user_id
WHERE users.age >= 18
ORDER BY posts.created_at DESC
LIMIT 10;

// Supabase client
const { data, error } = await supabase
  .from('users')
  .select(`
    name,
    posts (title, content)
  `)
  .gte('age', 18)
  .order('created_at', { ascending: false })
  .limit(10);

Pros:

• Full SQL power
• JOINs and relationships
• ACID transactions
• PostgreSQL extensions (PostGIS, pgvector)
• No vendor lock-in

Cons:

• Schema required upfront
• Manual scaling considerations
• More complex for simple use cases

Authentication Comparison

Firebase Auth

// Email/Password
await auth().createUserWithEmailAndPassword(email, password);
await auth().signInWithEmailAndPassword(email, password);

// Google Sign-In
const { idToken } = await GoogleSignin.signIn();
const credential = auth.GoogleAuthProvider.credential(idToken);
await auth().signInWithCredential(credential);

// Phone Auth
await auth().signInWithPhoneNumber(phoneNumber);

// Supported providers:
// Email, Google, Apple, Facebook, Twitter, GitHub, Microsoft, Yahoo, Phone

Supported Providers: 15+

Supabase Auth

// Email/Password
await supabase.auth.signUp({ email, password });
await supabase.auth.signInWithPassword({ email, password });

// OAuth
await supabase.auth.signInWithOAuth({
  provider: 'google',
  options: { redirectTo: 'myapp://callback' }
});

// Phone Auth
await supabase.auth.signInWithOtp({ phone: phoneNumber });

// Supported providers:
// Email, Google, Apple, Facebook, Twitter, GitHub, Discord, Spotify, etc.

Supported Providers: 20+

Verdict: Both offer comprehensive auth. Firebase has better mobile SDKs; Supabase has more OAuth providers.

Real-time Features

Firebase Real-time

// Firestore real-time listener
const unsubscribe = firestore()
  .collection('messages')
  .where('chatId', '==', chatId)
  .orderBy('createdAt', 'desc')
  .onSnapshot(snapshot => {
    const messages = snapshot.docs.map(doc => ({
      id: doc.id,
      ...doc.data()
    }));
    setMessages(messages);
  });

Supabase Real-time

// Supabase real-time subscription
const subscription = supabase
  .channel('messages')
  .on(
    'postgres_changes',
    {
      event: '*',
      schema: 'public',
      table: 'messages',
      filter: `chat_id=eq.${chatId}`
    },
    payload => {
      if (payload.eventType === 'INSERT') {
        setMessages(prev => [...prev, payload.new]);
      }
    }
  )
  .subscribe();

Verdict: Firebase has more mature real-time with offline sync. Supabase real-time is improving rapidly.

Storage Comparison

Firebase Storage

// Upload file
const reference = storage().ref(`users/${userId}/profile.jpg`);
await reference.putFile(filePath);
const url = await reference.getDownloadURL();

// Security rules
rules_version = '2';
service firebase.storage {
  match /b/{bucket}/o {
    match /users/{userId}/{file} {
      allow read: if true;
      allow write: if request.auth.uid == userId;
    }
  }
}

Supabase Storage

// Upload file
const { data, error } = await supabase.storage
  .from('avatars')
  .upload(`${userId}/profile.jpg`, file);

const { data: { publicUrl } } = supabase.storage
  .from('avatars')
  .getPublicUrl(`${userId}/profile.jpg`);

// Row Level Security (RLS)
CREATE POLICY "Users can upload their own avatar"
ON storage.objects FOR INSERT
WITH CHECK (bucket_id = 'avatars' AND auth.uid()::text = (storage.foldername(name))[1]);

Verdict: Similar capabilities. Firebase has better CDN integration; Supabase has SQL-based policies.

Serverless Functions

Firebase Cloud Functions

// functions/index.js
const functions = require('firebase-functions');
const admin = require('firebase-admin');

exports.onUserCreate = functions.auth.user().onCreate(async (user) => {
  // Create user profile document
  await admin.firestore().collection('users').doc(user.uid).set({
    email: user.email,
    createdAt: admin.firestore.FieldValue.serverTimestamp()
  });
});

exports.sendNotification = functions.https.onCall(async (data, context) => {
  if (!context.auth) throw new Error('Unauthenticated');

  await admin.messaging().send({
    token: data.token,
    notification: { title: data.title, body: data.body }
  });

  return { success: true };
});

Supabase Edge Functions

// supabase/functions/send-notification/index.ts
import { serve } from 'https://deno.land/std@0.168.0/http/server.ts';
import { createClient } from 'https://esm.sh/@supabase/supabase-js@2';

serve(async (req) => {
  const supabase = createClient(
    Deno.env.get('SUPABASE_URL')!,
    Deno.env.get('SUPABASE_SERVICE_ROLE_KEY')!
  );

  const { token, title, body } = await req.json();

  // Send notification logic here

  return new Response(JSON.stringify({ success: true }), {
    headers: { 'Content-Type': 'application/json' },
  });
});

Verdict: Firebase has more mature functions with triggers. Supabase uses Deno with PostgreSQL triggers.

Pricing Comparison

Firebase Pricing

Free Tier (Spark):

• Firestore: 1 GB storage, 50K reads/day
• Auth: Unlimited users
• Storage: 5 GB
• Functions: 2M invocations/month

Pay-as-you-go (Blaze):

Firestore:
├── Storage: $0.18/GB/month
├── Reads: $0.06/100K
├── Writes: $0.18/100K
└── Deletes: $0.02/100K

Functions:
├── Invocations: $0.40/million
├── Compute: $0.0000025/GB-second
└── Networking: $0.12/GB

Supabase Pricing

Free Tier:

• Database: 500 MB
• Storage: 1 GB
• Auth: 50K monthly active users
• Edge Functions: 500K invocations

Pro ($25/month):

• Database: 8 GB
• Storage: 100 GB
• Auth: 100K MAU
• Daily backups

Team ($599/month):

• Database: 16 GB
• Storage: 200 GB
• Auth: Unlimited
• Point-in-time recovery

Cost Comparison Example

App with 10K DAU, 100K reads/day:

Firebase:
├── Firestore reads: ~$180/month
├── Storage (10GB): $1.80/month
├── Functions: ~$50/month
└── Total: ~$230/month

Supabase Pro:
├── Base plan: $25/month
├── Database (within 8GB): $0
├── Functions: Included
└── Total: $25/month

Verdict: Supabase is often more cost-effective at scale. Firebase can be cheaper for very small apps.

Security Comparison

Firebase Security Rules

rules_version = '2';
service cloud.firestore {
  match /databases/{database}/documents {
    match /users/{userId} {
      allow read: if request.auth != null;
      allow write: if request.auth.uid == userId;
    }

    match /posts/{postId} {
      allow read: if true;
      allow create: if request.auth != null;
      allow update, delete: if request.auth.uid == resource.data.authorId;
    }
  }
}

Supabase Row Level Security

-- Enable RLS
ALTER TABLE users ENABLE ROW LEVEL SECURITY;

-- Policies
CREATE POLICY "Users can read all users"
ON users FOR SELECT
USING (true);

CREATE POLICY "Users can update own profile"
ON users FOR UPDATE
USING (auth.uid() = id);

CREATE POLICY "Anyone can read posts"
ON posts FOR SELECT
USING (true);

CREATE POLICY "Authors can modify own posts"
ON posts FOR ALL
USING (auth.uid() = author_id);

Verdict: Different approaches, both effective. Firebase rules are JavaScript-like; Supabase uses SQL policies.

Developer Experience

Firebase DX

Pros:

• Excellent documentation
• Great console UI
• Strong mobile SDKs
• Emulator suite for local dev
• Large community

Cons:

• Firestore query limitations
• Complex pricing to predict
• Vendor lock-in

Supabase DX

Pros:

• SQL familiarity
• Open source (can self-host)
• Modern dashboard
• TypeScript generation
• Growing community

Cons:

• Younger platform
• Smaller ecosystem
• Mobile SDKs less mature

When to Choose Firebase

1. Rapid Prototyping - Quick setup, no schema needed
2. Real-time Apps - Chat, collaboration tools
3. Google Ecosystem - Using other Google services
4. Offline-First - Built-in offline support
5. Mobile-First - Excellent mobile SDKs
6. Simple Data - Document-based is sufficient

Firebase Use Cases

• Chat applications
• Social media apps
• Gaming (leaderboards, saves)
• IoT dashboards
• Prototypes and MVPs

When to Choose Supabase

1. Complex Queries - Need JOINs and SQL
2. Cost Sensitivity - Predictable pricing
3. Self-Hosting - Privacy/compliance requirements
4. PostgreSQL Features - Extensions, functions
5. No Vendor Lock-in - Migration flexibility
6. Relational Data - Complex relationships

Supabase Use Cases

• E-commerce platforms
• SaaS applications
• Enterprise apps
• Data-heavy applications
• Apps requiring compliance (HIPAA, GDPR)

Migration Considerations

Firebase to Supabase

// Export from Firestore
const snapshot = await firestore().collection('users').get();
const users = snapshot.docs.map(doc => ({
  id: doc.id,
  ...doc.data()
}));

// Import to Supabase
const { error } = await supabase
  .from('users')
  .insert(users);

Supabase to Firebase

// Export from Supabase
const { data: users } = await supabase
  .from('users')
  .select('*');

// Import to Firestore
const batch = firestore().batch();
users.forEach(user => {
  const ref = firestore().collection('users').doc(user.id);
  batch.set(ref, user);
});
await batch.commit();

Conclusion

Choose Firebase if:

• You want the fastest path to MVP
• Your data is document-oriented
• You need mature real-time and offline
• You're in the Google ecosystem

Choose Supabase if:

• You need complex queries and JOINs
• Cost predictability is important
• You want self-hosting option
• You're comfortable with PostgreSQL

Both are excellent choices. Firebase is more mature; Supabase is more flexible and cost-effective.

Need help choosing? Contact Hevcode for a free consultation. We'll analyze your requirements and recommend the best backend solution.

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