Supabase vs Firebase: What I Chose and Why

Source: Dev.to

My Requirements as a Solo Developer

• Fast MVP development
• Relational data modeling
• SQL flexibility
• Clean auth + role‑based access
• Open‑source‑friendly stack
• Predictable pricing

Quick Comparison Overview

Why Firebase Is Great (And Why I Didn’t Choose It)

What Firebase Does Well

• Extremely fast setup
• Excellent real‑time features
• Rock‑solid infrastructure
• Mature ecosystem

Where Firebase Didn’t Work for Me

NoSQL Complexity at Scale

Simple at first, but complex relationships (e.g., users → posts → comments → likes) become awkward quickly.

Query Limitations

Firestore queries often require:

• Pre‑planned indexes
• Data duplication
• Workarounds for basic joins

Vendor Lock‑in

Your data model becomes tightly coupled to Firebase patterns.

Unpredictable Costs

Reads scale fast—and bills scale faster.

Firebase is great for: real‑time apps, chat systems, and small‑to‑medium products with flat data, but it didn’t fit my long‑term vision.

Why I Chose Supabase

PostgreSQL (This Was the Deal Breaker)

SQL is:

• Predictable
• Powerful
• Battle‑tested

Joins, constraints, views, triggers—everything just works. For example:

SELECT users.name, posts.title
FROM users
JOIN posts ON users.id = posts.user_id;

Supabase feels natural for anyone comfortable with relational queries.

Built‑in Auth That Doesn’t Fight You

Supabase Auth supports:

• Email/password
• OAuth providers
• Row Level Security (RLS)

Permissions can be enforced at the database level, not just in application code—a massive win for security and clarity.

Row Level Security (RLS)

RLS lets me define rules such as:

• Users can only read their own data
• Admins can see everything
• Public data is readable without auth

This reduces backend complexity significantly.

Open Source & Less Lock‑in

Supabase is:

• Open source
• PostgreSQL‑based
• Portable

If I ever leave Supabase, my data remains standard SQL, providing peace of mind.

Predictable Pricing

Supabase pricing is easier to reason about (storage, requests, bandwidth), so I don’t worry about surprise bills.

When Firebase Might Be the Better Choice

• You need real‑time sync at massive scale
• Your data model is simple
• You prioritize speed over flexibility
• You’re building a prototype or hackathon project

Firebase isn’t “bad”; it’s optimized for different problems.

Final Verdict

I chose Supabase because:

• SQL scales better for my product
• RLS simplifies security
• PostgreSQL keeps my data future‑proof
• Open source reduces long‑term risk

If you think in tables, relationships, and constraints, Supabase will feel like home. If you think in documents and real‑time streams, Firebase may be your tool.

My Advice

Don’t choose based on hype. Choose based on:

• Your data model
• Your growth plans
• Your tolerance for lock‑in

What did you choose—Supabase or Firebase? I’m curious what tipped the scale for you.