Supabase vs Firebase: SQL, pricing, realtime : and where Clicbase fits in

Supabase and Firebase aim at the same goal, giving you a serverless backend, but make opposite choices. Here are the differences that actually matter, and where Clicbase fits in.

The debate often boils down to "SQL or NoSQL," but the real decision plays out on four fronts: the data model, pricing at scale, freedom (self-hosting, lock-in), and realtime.

In short

• Supabase = PostgreSQL (relational), SQL queries, RLS.
• Firebase = Firestore (NoSQL), native realtime, Google ecosystem.
• At scale, Supabase is often 40–60% cheaper than Firebase's pay-as-you-go.
• Clicbase picks up the Postgres model and adds email on your domain, Google login on your domain, and European hosting.

1. The data model: SQL or NoSQL

Firebase stores NoSQL documents (Firestore): flexible at first, but relations, joins, and aggregations quickly become painful. Supabase bets on PostgreSQL: you write SQL, you get constraints, views, and transactions, familiar, durable ground.

2. Pricing at scale

Firebase bills by usage (reads, writes, bandwidth), which makes the bill unpredictable as traffic climbs. Supabase and Postgres platforms have more readable pricing, often 40 to 60% cheaper for an equivalent workload.

3. Self-hosting & lock-in

Firebase means the Google ecosystem (GCP): convenient, but it's lock-in. Supabase is open source and self-hostable. The portability of your data is an underrated factor, until the day you want to leave.

4. Realtime

Realtime is native in Firebase and has historically been its strength. Supabase offers it too, wired into Postgres (the write-ahead log), so with the full power of SQL behind it.

And where does Clicbase fit in?

Clicbase takes the best of the Postgres camp (SQL, RLS, realtime, readable pricing) and adds what neither Supabase nor Firebase includes: real email on your domain, an included domain for Google login, and European hosting.

Criterion	Firebase	Supabase	Clicbase
Database	Firestore (NoSQL)	PostgreSQL	PostgreSQL
Pricing at scale	Usage-based (unpredictable)	Readable	Flat VPS rate
Self-host / portability	No (GCP)	Yes	Migration included
Email @yourdomain	No	No	Available
Google login on your domain	No	No	Available
EU hosting	Varies	Varies	Available

Torn between the two? Compare with Clicbase, and if you're coming from Supabase, the migration is automatic.