Firebase vs Supabase vs Pocketbase: Which BaaS Is Right for You?

Choosing the right backend-as-a-service (BaaS) can save you countless hours of development and let you focus on what actually matters: building. But with so many options out there, which one should you pick?

In this post, I'll compare Firebase, Supabase, and Pocketbase across four essential criteria. Whether you're building an MVP, launching a side project, or just exploring your options, this quick breakdown will help you make the right call.

1. Installation & Setup – How quickly can you get your project running?

2. Developer Experience - How easy is it to work with the platform's tools and resources?

3. Features - How comprehensive are the platform's built-in capabilities?

4. Self-Hosting & Migration – Is self-hosting supported, and can you migrate away easily?

I'll assign a score from 0 to 5 for each category. Keep in mind — this is a highly subjective comparison based on my own experience as a developer.

Comparison

Firebase

Firebase, developed by Google and launched back in 2012, is the most mature backend-as-a-service on this list. It offers a wide range of features out of the box — including real-time databases, authentication, cloud functions, analytics, and hosting — all backed by Google’s reliable infrastructure.

Firebase uses a NoSQL database model with Firestore and the Realtime Database. While it didn’t support traditional SQL for a long time, Firebase recently released Firebase Data Connect, bringing full SQL support by leveraging Google Cloud SQL for PostgreSQL.

With around 2.5 million weekly downloads of its SDK on npm, Firebase is also the most popular choice by a significant margin. For comparison, Supabase sees about 1.7 million, while Pocketbase trails far behind with roughly 20,000 downloads. Whether you're building a quick prototype or a production-grade app, Firebase has the tooling and scale to support you.

Installation & Setup: Getting started with Firebase is fairly straightforward. You create a project in the Firebase Console, enable the services you need (like Firestore or Authentication) and integrate the SDK into your frontend or backend with just a few lines of code.

The setup is entirely web-based, and while there’s some initial configuration (like API keys and project IDs), it’s mostly streamlined. That said, because Firebase offers such a wide range of features, the console can feel a bit cluttered at first — it might take a little time to get familiar with everything and find what you need. Point: 4/5

Developer Experience: Firebase offers a polished and well-supported developer experience. Its SDKs are stable, easy to integrate, and cover a wide range of use cases — from authentication and database queries to cloud functions and analytics. The documentation contains plenty of code examples across different platforms, but it can be hard to navigate at times, especially when you're looking for something specific.

Firebase offers a polished and well-supported developer experience. Its SDKs are stable and easy to integrate, though the documentation, while rich with code examples, can sometimes be hard to navigate, especially for specific use cases.

A major plus is Firebase Auth, which is incredibly easy to set up and works out-of-the-box, saving you time compared to other platforms.

Given its broad feature set, Firebase can feel complex, particularly when dealing with advanced configurations. However, its mature ecosystem, massive community, and abundance of tutorials ensure plenty of resources and support. Point: 4/5

Features: Firebase provides a comprehensive suite of features that cover nearly every aspect of app development. From Firestore and Realtime Database to Authentication, Notifications, and Analytics, Firebase has it all. While most features are available on the free plan, some services, like cloud storage, require an upgrade to the pay-as-you-go plan. Overall, Firebase offers a seamless and scalable solution for developers looking for an all-in-one backend service. Point: 5/5

Self-Hosting & Migration: One of Firebase's strengths is its fully managed infrastructure, meaning developers don’t have to worry about server setup or maintenance. However, migrating from Firebase can be complex, as there are no direct, fully automated paths for complete migration. Vendor lock-in is significant, making it difficult to transition away from Firebase once you're deeply integrated into its ecosystem. Point: 1/5

Supabase

Supabase is an open-source backend-as-a-service that positions itself as the open alternative to Firebase. Built on top of PostgreSQL, it offers a familiar SQL-based workflow with real-time capabilities, authentication, storage, and auto-generated APIs — all wrapped in a developer-friendly interface. Launched in 2020, Supabase has quickly gained traction among developers who want the convenience of a BaaS without being locked into a proprietary ecosystem.

Installation & Setup: Getting started with Supabase is quick and developer-friendly. You can create a project through the web dashboard in just a few clicks and the platform instantly provisions a PostgreSQL database along with Auth, Storage, and API access. The client libraries are easy to integrate, and most features work out of the box with minimal configuration.

Supabase also offers a wide range of templates and example projects — including popular stacks like Next.js and NestJS — which make it even easier to hit the ground running. Whether you're building a frontend or full-stack app, there’s likely a starter kit to help you move fast. Point: 4/5

Developer Experience: Supabase delivers a smooth and modern developer experience with a clean dashboard, powerful SQL editor, and real-time logs that make debugging and monitoring straightforward. The platform feels familiar, especially for developers used to relational databases, and most features work seamlessly out of the box.

From a UI perspective, Supabase is better structured and more intuitive than Firebase, making it easier to navigate. It’s almost on par with Pocketbase’s simplicity, while offering more advanced features and control through its Studio interface.

The documentation is solid, and there's a growing ecosystem of tutorials, example projects and community resources — making it easy to learn and get up to speed, even for newcomers. Point: 4.5/5

Features: Supabase offers all the essential building blocks for modern app development: a PostgreSQL database, authentication, storage, real-time updates and edge functions for running server-side logic. It also supports integrations with third-party services like Auth0, BigQuery, and Stripe, allowing you to extend its capabilities easily.

Supabase supports multi-tenancy; however, implementing more complex tenancy models may still require manual setup and thoughtful architectural design.

While Supabase does include basic analytics, it’s not as broad or deeply i ntegrated as what Firebase offers. Overall, the core offering is strong and flexible but certain advanced features may require a bit more setup. Point: 4/5

Self-Hosting & Migration: Supabase promotes self-hosting, but in practice, it’s not as straightforward as it seems. While the core components are open-source, much of what powers their hosted platform is closed-source or tightly integrated into their internal tooling. Setting up a full self-hosted version is possible but requires considerable effort and infrastructure knowledge.

On the bright side, migrating from Supabase is simple. Since it’s built on PostgreSQL, you can easily export your data using standard tools like pg_dump and restore it anywhere with pg_restore. This makes Supabase one of the most portable options in the BaaS space, giving you flexibility and peace of mind. Point: 2.5/5

Pocketbase

Pocketbase is a lightweight, open-source backend written in Go, designed to run locally or as a single binary on your server. It comes with a built-in SQLite database, real-time capabilities, file storage, user authentication, and an admin UI — all bundled in one tiny executable.

Installation & Setup: All you need to do is download a single binary from the official releases page, execute the command ./pocketbase serve and that's it.

It spins up an API and admin dashboard right out of the box at http://127.0.0.1:8090/_/. You can manage collections, users, and files directly from the built-in UI.

Pocketbase doesn't offer a hosted solution itself, but if you don’t want to self-host, services like PocketHost.io or Fly.io make deployment relatively painless. I had a great experience with PocketHost — it used to be free, but now it's priced at $5/month. Point: 4/5

Developer Experience: Pocketbase offers a clean and intuitive admin dashboard out of the box, making it super easy to manage collections, users, and files.

Its REST API and SDK are by far the easiest to use out of all three BaaS platforms — simple, consistent, and quick to work with. Here is an example how to add an entry:

import PocketBase from 'pocketbase';

const pb = new PocketBase('https://test.pockethost.io');

...

// example create data
const data = {
    "title": "test",
    "description": "test",
};

// add data to table posts
const record = await pb.collection('posts').create(data);

A standout feature is how effortlessly object storage can be set up — far simpler and more seamless compared to Firebase or Supabase.

The documentation is decent but can feel a bit thin in places, and the community is still relatively small. That means fewer tutorials, examples and learning resources — especially for beginners.

From my experience, setting up authentication with email and password can require more effort, as the documentation lacks depth in this area. That said, OAuth is supported out of the box.

Overall , if you're comfortable exploring on your own, Pocketbase offers a smooth and lightweight dev experience. Point: 4.5/5

Features: Pocketbase comes with a solid set of built-in features: user authentication, real-time updates via WebSockets, file storage, and a simple but effective admin dashboard. It uses SQLite under the hood, giving you a structured relational database with a collection-based interface that feels approachable, even if you're not deep into SQL.

While it covers the basics well, it’s still more minimal compared to Firebase or Supabase. You can’t add multiple rows in a single operation, and it doesn't support role-level security on database level. While you can set rules for data access, fine-grained permissions are missing. Additionally, Pocketbase only scales vertically, so as your app grows, you'll need to upgrade your server rather than distribute the load across multiple servers. Point: 2.5/5

Self-Hosting & Migration: Self-hosting Pocketbase is a breeze, thanks to its single binary setup. Migrating away is also straightforward — exporting your data is simple with just a few clicks, and moving to another platform doesn’t require complex steps. Point: 5/5

Additional Notes: Pocketbase is still in beta and is maintained by a solo developer. The project does not currently accept donations, pull requests, or sponsorships. Despite being in beta for over two years, there is still a significant amount of work on the roadmap before reaching version 1.0.

Conclusion

Supabase and Firebase are both excellent options if you want a fully managed backend and are building a production-ready SaaS app. Supabase leans toward a SQL-based workflow and gives you more flexibility when it comes to data portability and self-hosting. Firebase, on the other hand, offers a richer ecosystem of built-in features like analytics, crash reporting, and tight integration with Google Cloud services. In this comparison, Supabase scored 15/20, just ahead of Firebase’s 14/20, mainly because it offers much easier data migration if you ever need to move away from the platform.

Pocketbase is perfect for lightweight apps, prototypes, or internal tools where simplicity and speed are key. Personally, I’ve used it at hackathons and loved how quickly you can get up and running. Despite its smaller feature set, the developer experience is incredibly smooth, and for certain use cases, that’s all you really need. It scored the highest with 16/20, thanks to its ease of use and minimal setup.

In the end, all three platforms are valid and capable — your choice depends on what you're building. If you want something powerful and managed, go with Supabase or Firebase. If you need something fast and lightweight, Pocketbase is a joy to work with.