Supabase vs Firebase: who runs each, and how to choose

Firebase fits mobile, web and game teams that want Google's app platform. Supabase fits teams that want a Postgres database under their app. The clearest difference in our data is who picks them: Supabase skews toward the smallest software teams, Firebase toward larger companies and education.

How many companies run Supabase, and how many run both?

Firebase is the more common of the two, with 2.7x as many companies as Supabase in our scans.

To be plain about what these are: companies with a public trace of each tool, not market share and not paying-customer counts. The panel below gives the raw counts for each tool and for the overlap.

The overlap is small. Only 209 companies run both tools, which tells you more about how teams choose than the totals do. The diagram shows how thin the shared middle is.

Most companies run only one of the two. 8,976 run Supabase without Firebase, and 24,694 run Firebase without Supabase. In practice the two behave like rivals that occasionally share a stack, not like partners.

Developer surveys show both in regular use among developers, though they count people instead of companies, so we don't set them against our numbers. In the Stack Overflow 2026 survey's database results, 8% of respondents listed Supabase, ahead of both Firebase databases, while PostgreSQL led the whole list.

Investors have backed Supabase heavily: Orrick's October 2025 announcement put its Series E at $100 million at a $5 billion valuation. A well-funded platform is the context for what our scans show next: Supabase skews toward small teams.

Does company size decide between Supabase and Firebase?

Company size separates the two tools at the edges, not in the middle. The 11–50 employee band is the largest for both, but Supabase leans harder toward the smallest teams while Firebase carries more mid-size and large companies. Supabase's companies are 3.9x more likely than the average company to have 1–10 employees.

The middle is crowded for both tools. 66% of Supabase's companies with a known size have 11–50 employees, and 59% of Firebase's do. The chart lays out every band so you can see where the two diverge.

The split opens at the small end first. Supabase has 7.6% of its sized companies in the 1–10 band, against 3.3% for Firebase. For a founder with a handful of people, that makes Supabase relatively more common than Firebase among the smallest teams.

Larger companies lean the other way. Firebase has 4.5% of its sized companies at 1,001+ employees, against 1.7% for Supabase, and the 201–1,000 band tilts toward Firebase in the same way.

Sizes are known for only part of the companies, and shares are among those where we know them. The direction is consistent across the small and large bands, so trust it more than any single percentage.

What does a typical Supabase company look like?

A typical Supabase company is a small team in IT Services or Software, most often in the United States, Brazil or India, with 11–50 employees. Examples whose public records show it include Accomplice, LLC, AIWriteBook, UNIVERSIDAD AMERIKE and AnveVoice.

A university sits among those examples, a reminder that the tool is not confined to startups. Its vendor notes describe it as built for developers and startups building web, mobile and AI apps without running their own backend, and the size data fits that picture.

What does a typical Firebase company look like?

A typical Firebase company is also a firm of 11–50 employees in IT Services or Software, but with a longer tail of large and education-focused organizations behind it. Examples whose public records show it include AMP, Adblock Plus, Goal.com US and Crazygames.

Those are recognizable web names rather than early-stage startups, which fits a platform its vendor describes as built for mobile, web and game developers working on Apple, Android and the web.

Which industries run Supabase and which run Firebase?

IT Services and Software lead for both tools, so industry separates them less than size does. The tell is at the edges: Firebase over-indexes on education, while Supabase over-indexes on Internet and Software companies and has a visible marketing and advertising presence.

IT Services is the top industry for both, at 16% of Supabase's companies and 13% of Firebase's, among those with a known industry. Software is second on both lists. The chart shows the leading industries for each tool.

Education is where Firebase stands apart. Its companies are 6.6x more likely than the average company to be in primary and secondary education, and 2.0x more likely to be in Education Management. Education Management is Firebase's third-largest industry, a spot that Supabase does not reach in its top four.

We can't see from public records what schools and education companies build with it, so the reason is open. The pattern is solid; the explanation is not.

Supabase's edge is in digital businesses. Its companies are 1.9x more likely than average to be in Internet and 1.5x more likely to be in Software. Marketing and Advertising is its third-largest industry, a notable presence for a developer backend.

How do Supabase and Firebase compare side by side?

Supabase is a backend platform built on a Postgres database, with authentication, instant APIs, file storage, realtime sync, serverless functions and vector embeddings. Firebase is Google's app development platform, with hosting, authentication, databases and cloud functions, plus tools to monitor and improve apps.

The table sets the two side by side. The products overlap in what they offer, but the companies that pick them differ.

What tools do Supabase and Firebase companies run alongside them?

Supabase and Firebase companies run different companion tools: no tool appears on both top-eight lists. Supabase companies often also run Tinybird, Render and web-vitals, while Firebase companies often also run Juicer, authorize.net and Termly.

The pairings are strongest on the Supabase side. 10% of Supabase's companies also run Tinybird, and 36% also run web-vitals. The rest of its list is Vercel Analytics, Resend, PostHog, Vercel and Netlify.

Firebase's pairings are spread thinner: 8.1% of its companies run Termly and 6.0% run Juicer. Google Cloud is on its list, as you'd expect for a Google product, along with HighLevel, Nuxt, Weglot and Fastly.

Which countries run Supabase and which run Firebase?

The United States leads both tools, and Brazil, India and the United Kingdom appear in both top-five lists. The difference is at the edges: Supabase puts Brazil second and Canada fifth, while Firebase puts India second and Japan fifth.

Geography is not a reason to choose either one. It does show that neither tool is a regional product, since the same large markets dominate both.

Why do some companies run both Supabase and Firebase?

Common reasons are a migration in progress or different teams using each tool. Those are common reasons, not something our data proves for any one company. Only 209 companies show both, so this is the exception, not the pattern.

Migration is the first explanation to reach for. A team that started on Firebase may be moving its data layer to Supabase, or the reverse, and for a few months the public traces of both stay live. A single snapshot can't tell the direction, though runsonwhat does track when companies start and stop tools over time, and that history is where a migration shows up as a handoff.

Separate teams are the second reason. A mobile group might have built on Firebase while another group built a newer web product, or an AI feature, on Supabase.

The third is that Firebase is a bundle. Its vendor description covers hosting, authentication, databases, cloud functions and monitoring tools, and a trace of it doesn't say which piece a company uses. A team could run Firebase for hosting or app monitoring while its database sits in Supabase's Postgres.

The overlap looks bigger from Supabase's side: 2.3% of its companies also run Firebase, while only 0.8% of Firebase's companies also run Supabase. That asymmetry is natural, because Firebase's larger base dilutes the shared group. Don't read the overlap as a sign the tools are meant to be combined; it shows that few companies find a reason to.

Should you pick Supabase or Firebase?

Choose Supabase if you want a Postgres database under your app and you're a small software or AI team; choose Firebase if you're building mobile, web or game apps on Google's platform, or you're a larger or education-focused organization. Our data shows who picks each tool, not which one performs better.

Treat the guidance below as a pattern of what companies like yours run, not a ranking. We can't see price, lock-in, performance at scale or migration effort, so check each vendor's current terms before you commit. Supabase's own comparison page lists its free plan as including 50,000 monthly active users for auth, which is a vendor claim worth verifying.

What should a solo founder or a team of up to ten people choose?

A team of 1–10 people is where Supabase is most distinctive: it is the band where Supabase is most over-represented compared with the average company, so you would be in familiar company. Firebase is still a common pick if your app is mobile-first, since it is built for Apple, Android and web developers.

Beginners don't clearly gravitate to one tool. In the 2025 Stack Overflow survey, 9% of 'learning to code' respondents used Firebase Realtime Database, a touch ahead of Supabase.

What should a software company of about twenty people choose?

A software company of about twenty people sits in the middle of both audiences, so the decision rests on the app, not the company profile. The 11–50 band is the largest for both tools in our data.

Pick Supabase if your team wants authentication, storage, realtime sync and serverless functions around one Postgres database. Pick Firebase if you're shipping native mobile or game apps and want Google's hosting, authentication and cloud functions alongside them.

What should a mid-size or large company choose?

Companies in the 201–1,000 and 1,001+ bands make up a heavier share of Firebase's sized companies than of Supabase's, so Firebase has the longer track record among larger organizations in our data. That reflects who has adopted each so far, not a limit on either; we can't see performance at scale.

Google Cloud appears among Firebase's frequent companions in our data.

What should a school or education organization choose?

Education organizations run Firebase far more often than the average company, so Firebase is the safer reference point. Its companies are 6.6x more likely than average to be in primary and secondary education. We can't see what those schools build, but if peers and vendors in your sector already use Firebase, you'll find more shared experience.

What should a team building an AI app choose?

Supabase is built for developers building web, mobile and AI apps, with vector embeddings next to its Postgres database, which makes it a natural first look for a team adding AI features. Google is also pushing Firebase Studio: the Firebase team said the community had created over 1.5 million workspaces in just over a month after launch. Neither fact tells you which backend works better with a given AI coding tool, and our data doesn't measure that.

What does a Supabase or Firebase detection look like?

A detection is a public trace that links a company to a tool: something in its DNS records, certificate logs or website code that points to it. The record below shows one match as we store it, with the evidence attached.

auth.example.com CNAME mcmzxtzommpnxkynddbo.supabase.co

A record like this proves that the company's public footprint carries a trace of the tool, which is how we count it. It does not prove that the company pays for the tool, how heavily it uses it, or which Firebase service sits behind the trace. Every company page lists its matches this way, and you can check any domain yourself on our lookup page.

How did we count Supabase and Firebase companies?

We checked the public records of 1,860,552 companies (DNS records, certificate logs and website code) and recorded which tools left a trace. The numbers in this article were queried on November 9, 2026.

A count is a company with a direct public trace of the tool. It is not market share, revenue or a paying-customer count, and a company can run several tools, which is why an overlap exists. Sizes and industries are known for only part of the companies, so shares are among those where we know them.

The data can't see tools used only inside a company, how heavily a tool is used, what a company pays, or which Firebase product sits behind a trace. It also says nothing about database model, performance or migration effort. Outside figures come from the linked sources and measure different things, so we never combine them with our counts. More on our approach is on the research page.