Side-by-side comparison · Databases & Backend
Firebase vs Supabase vs Airtable
Everything that matters when choosing between them, in one place: our rating, what each can do, what they cost, and the trade-offs.
Comparing 3 tools, the maximum.
At a glance
Firebase
4.1Pick it if: Teams building mobile or real-time apps, especially if you already live in Google's world.
Supabase
4.3Pick it if: Anyone building an app with AI tools who needs somewhere real to keep user accounts and data.
Airtable
3.9Pick it if: Small marketing and ops teams who need a shared database and don't have a developer.
Overview
| Attribute | Firebase | Supabase | Airtable |
|---|---|---|---|
| In one line | Google's backend for mobile and web apps, with logins, data and hosting in one. | A ready-made database, logins and file storage for apps you build with AI tools. | Spreadsheets that behave like a database, with forms, views and automations built in. |
| Pricing model | Freemium | Open source | Freemium |
| Starting price | Pay as you go | From $25/mo | $24/seat/mo |
| Free plan | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Works with Claude Code | Yes | Yes | Yes |
Rating breakdown
Our scores out of 5. The higher bar in each row is highlighted.
| Attribute | Firebase | Supabase | Airtable |
|---|---|---|---|
| Overall rating | 4.1 | 4.3Winner | 3.9 |
| Ease of useHow quickly someone non-technical gets value from it. | 3.5 | 4.0 | 4.5 |
| FeaturesHow much it can do, and how well the pieces fit together. | 4.5 | 4.5 | 4.0 |
| Output qualityHow good the results are before you fix them. | 4.0 | 4.5 | 4.0 |
| Value for moneyWhat you get for the price, including the free plan. | 4.0 | 4.5 | 3.0 |
| Speed & reliabilityHow fast it is and how often it falls over. | 4.5 | 4.0 | 4.0 |
Feature comparison
A tick means it does this today. A dash means we haven't checked.
| Attribute | Firebase | Supabase | Airtable |
|---|---|---|---|
| Access & platform | |||
| Free plan | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Mobile app | No | No | Yes |
| Desktop app | No | No | Yes |
| Browser extension | No | No | No |
| API access | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Teams & business | |||
| Team workspace | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Enterprise plan or SSO | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Connects to other apps | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Open source or self-hosted | No | Yes | No |
| AI abilities | |||
| Works with your files | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Understands images | Yes | No | No |
| Makes images | Yes | No | No |
| Makes video | No | No | No |
| Writes code | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Runs agents or automations | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Learns your brand or style | No | No | No |
| Works in many languages | – | – | Yes |
| Capabilities score | 10/ 17 | 9/ 17 | 11/ 17 |
Pricing
Plans as listed on each vendor's site when we last checked. Confirm before you buy.
| Attribute | Firebase | Supabase | Airtable |
|---|---|---|---|
| Plans | SparkOur pick Free Early projects and apps with a small audience. | Free Free Prototypes, side projects and seeing if it suits you. | Free Free One person or a tiny team with a small list. |
Blaze Pay as you go, no monthly fee Anything that might grow past the free quotas. | ProOur pick From $25/mo Anything real people will use. | TeamOur pick $24/seat/mo, or $20/seat/mo billed yearly Most small teams. | |
Team From $599/mo Companies that need SSO and compliance paperwork. | Business $54/seat/mo, or $45/seat/mo billed yearly Bigger teams syncing data from other systems. | ||
Enterprise Custom Large products with uptime guarantees. | Enterprise Scale Custom Large organisations with many workspaces. | ||
| Which plan to pick | Spark is enough until real users arrive. Move to Blaze when you need Cloud Functions or you're close to a quota, and set a budget alert the moment you do. There's no middle tier, so your bill goes straight from nothing to usage based. | Build on Free. Switch to Pro the day you share the app with anyone outside your team, mostly so the project stops pausing. Team is a big jump that only makes sense once a client or auditor asks for SSO or a SOC 2 report. | Free is only for testing; you'll hit the 1,000-record cap fast. Team is the plan for nearly everyone, and billing yearly saves about 17 percent. Keep editor seats to the people who actually change data, since viewers and form fillers are free. |
Key features
Pros and cons
| Attribute | Firebase | Supabase | Airtable |
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Who each one is for
| Attribute | Firebase | Supabase | Airtable |
|---|---|---|---|
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How we compare
Ratings are our own, from using each tool, across ease of use, features, output quality, value for money, speed & reliability. The "Visit" buttons may use affiliate links, which never affect a score.
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