Supabase Has a Free Firebase Alternative — Postgres, Auth, and Storage in Minutes

Firebase Locks You In. Supabase Sets You Free.

Firebase uses proprietary NoSQL. Your data structure is Google-specific. Migrating away means rewriting your entire data layer.

Supabase uses PostgreSQL. The most battle-tested database in the world.

Supabase: The Open Source Firebase Alternative

Supabase gives you a full backend in minutes:

• PostgreSQL database with auto-generated APIs
• Authentication (email, OAuth, magic links)
• File storage
• Real-time subscriptions
• Edge Functions
• Vector search for AI

Free Tier

• 2 projects
• 500MB database
• 1GB file storage
• 50,000 monthly active users
• 500K Edge Function invocations
• Unlimited API requests

Start Building in 2 Minutes

import { createClient } from '@supabase/supabase-js'

const supabase = createClient(
  'https://your-project.supabase.co',
  'your-anon-key'
)

// Query your database
const { data: posts } = await supabase
  .from('posts')
  .select('*, author:users(name, avatar)')
  .eq('published', true)
  .order('created_at', { ascending: false })
  .limit(10)

No SQL needed (but you can use raw SQL too). Auto-generated REST and GraphQL APIs.

Auth in 5 Lines

// Sign up
await supabase.auth.signUp({ email, password })

// Sign in
await supabase.auth.signInWithPassword({ email, password })

// OAuth
await supabase.auth.signInWithOAuth({ provider: 'github' })

// Get current user
const { data: { user } } = await supabase.auth.getUser()

Row Level Security

-- Users can only read their own data
CREATE POLICY "users_own_data" ON posts
  FOR SELECT USING (auth.uid() = user_id);

Security at the database level. Even if your API is exposed, users only see their own data.

Real-Time Subscriptions

supabase
  .channel('posts')
  .on('postgres_changes', {
    event: 'INSERT',
    schema: 'public',
    table: 'posts'
  }, (payload) => {
    console.log('New post:', payload.new)
  })
  .subscribe()

Listen to database changes in real-time. Build chat apps, live dashboards, collaborative tools.

Vector Search for AI

-- Enable pgvector extension
CREATE EXTENSION vector;

-- Store embeddings
ALTER TABLE documents ADD COLUMN embedding vector(1536);

-- Semantic search
SELECT * FROM documents
ORDER BY embedding <-> '[0.1, 0.2, ...]'
LIMIT 5;

Build RAG applications with your Supabase database. No separate vector store needed.

Supabase vs Firebase vs PocketBase

Feature	Supabase	Firebase	PocketBase
Database	PostgreSQL	NoSQL	SQLite
Self-host	Yes	No	Yes
Vendor lock-in	Low	High	None
Scaling	Horizontal	Auto	Vertical
Vector search	Built-in	No	No
Edge Functions	Yes	Yes	No
Free tier	Generous	Generous	Free (self)

Get Started

Visit supabase.com, create a project, start building.

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