Supabase

Supabase is an open-source backend platform built on Postgres. It gives a solo developer a hosted Postgres database, authentication, file storage, auto-generated APIs, and edge functions behind one dashboard, so you can stand up a real backend without running servers. For mobile, the draw is a proper relational database with row-level security you control, plus client libraries that talk to it directly.

It fits builders who want SQL and a relational data model, or who expect to query and join data in ways a document store makes awkward. If you are deep in the Google ecosystem or want the most hands-off realtime sync, Firebase is the more natural default; the choice is mostly Postgres versus a document database rather than one tool being better than the other.

Pricing

Pro and Team bill usage above the included limits, so heavy traffic or storage adds metered cost on top of the base price. The Free plan pausing projects after a week of inactivity is the detail that surprises new projects most often. Pricing last checked July 19, 2026; confirm current limits on the official pricing page.

Setup and integration

Supabase gives you client libraries for Swift and JavaScript, plus auto-generated REST and realtime APIs over your Postgres schema. On iOS you add the supabase-swift package through Swift Package Manager, connect with your project URL and anon key, and query tables or call auth directly from the app. Because it is Postgres, you design tables and relationships in SQL and enforce access with row-level security policies.

The row-level security model is the part to plan for: your data is only as safe as the policies you write, so budget time to get them right before launch. Auth covers email, magic links, and common OAuth providers; storage handles user uploads; and edge functions cover server-side logic when a direct query is not enough. The learning curve is mostly SQL and policy design rather than infrastructure.

Frequently asked questions

Is Supabase free for a small mobile app?

Yes. The Free plan includes a 500 MB Postgres database, 50,000 monthly active users, and 1 GB of file storage (checked July 19, 2026), which covers many early apps. The main caveat is that free projects pause after about a week of inactivity, so a low-traffic project may need a paid plan to stay always-on.

Supabase or Firebase for an iOS app?

Choose Supabase if you want a relational Postgres database, SQL, and row-level security you control. Choose Firebase if you want a document database, the tightest Google ecosystem integration, and the most hands-off realtime sync. The decision is mostly relational versus document data.

Can I use Supabase without writing SQL?

Partly. The dashboard, table editor, and client libraries let you do a lot without hand-writing queries, but Supabase rewards knowing SQL, especially for row-level security policies and more complex reads. Expect to learn some Postgres to get the most from it.

Does Supabase lock me in?

Less than most managed backends, because it is standard Postgres underneath. You can export your database and move it elsewhere, though auth, storage, and edge functions are Supabase-specific and would need replacing. The relational data itself is portable.