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OpenSourceAlternatives

Firebase alternatives

9 projects to consider for your Firebase workflows.

8 open source · 1 custom license

Explore Coolify, Supabase and Abby. Each takes a different approach to your Firebase workflows. Read its capabilities and limitations to find the right fit.

Catalogue facts checked August 31, 2026

Coolify

Deploy applications to your own servers with one click

Open sourceApache-2.0Self-hosted

Developers and small teams paying hosted-platform prices for modest workloads benefit most from Coolify: git-push deploys, flexible builds, one-click databases, and automatic SSL recover the PaaS workflow on servers you control. The constraint is ownership: you provision and operate the servers, with community support on the free path, so teams wanting zero infrastructure should stay managed.[1][2][3]

Good fit. Teams outgrowing PaaS bills: move steady workloads from per-instance pricing onto a VPS and keep the git-push workflow.[1][2]

Keep in mind. Teams wanting zero infrastructure: you still provision servers, manage SSH access, update Coolify, and operate what you deploy.[1][2]

Repository review signals: unknown status, very stale · Observed August 31, 2026.

Read project review Official website
Sources and editorial review

Source research. Reviewed on October 9, 2026. Written by Sanjib Sah. AI assisted; reviewed by a human editor.

We have not run or tested this product.

  1. Coolify homepage (official)

    official · Observed October 9, 2026

    Official homepage: PaaS scope, push-to-deploy workflow, build backends, databases, SSL, webhooks, MCP server, 280+ services.

  2. Coolify pricing page (official)

    official · Observed October 9, 2026

    Official pricing: self-hosted vs Cloud structure, monthly figures, BYO-server model.

  3. Coolify self-hosted page (official)

    official · Observed October 9, 2026

    Official self-hosted page: install model, no-paywall scope, cost/privacy motives.

Supabase

Postgres-powered backend platform for production apps

Open sourceApache-2.0Self-hosted

Teams building a production app on Postgres who want authentication, auto-generated APIs, storage, and realtime without assembling the backend themselves will get the most from Supabase. Plain Postgres stays the primitive, so policies, migrations, and pgvector keep working with ordinary database tooling. The price is ownership of row-level-security design and exposure to usage meters on paid plans, so teams wanting zero database work should look elsewhere. If Postgres portability with a managed start decides it, choose Supabase; if a managed document database with no SQL does, choose Firebase.[1][2][3]

Good fit. App teams standardizing on Postgres who want auth, APIs, storage, and realtime in one managed project instead of assembling the backend themselves.[1]

Keep in mind. Teams without SQL skills, because row level security policies and schema design are developer work and misconfigured policies expose data.[1]

Repository review signals: unknown status, very stale · Observed August 31, 2026.

Read project review Official website
Sources and editorial review

Source research. Reviewed on October 9, 2026. Written by Sanjib Sah. AI assisted; reviewed by a human editor.

We have not run or tested this product.

  1. Supabase: the Postgres development platform

    official · Observed October 9, 2026

    Official homepage; Postgres positioning, auth, APIs, realtime, storage, edge functions, vectors, pricing tiers, compliance

  2. Supabase pricing

    official · Observed October 9, 2026

    Official pricing page; Free, Pro from $25, Team $599 quotas for database, storage, egress, users, functions

  3. Self-Hosting with Docker

    official · Observed October 9, 2026

    Official self-hosting guide; Docker Compose, Apache 2.0, community support, update procedure, secrets, logging stack

Abby

Open-source typed feature flags and remote config for React and Next.js

Open sourceAGPL-3.0Self-hostedManaged hosting

Small teams shipping React or Next.js apps who want type-safe feature flags, remote config, and A/B tests under one AGPL-licensed roof will get the most from Abby. Its typed SDKs catch flag-name mistakes at build time, per-environment values separate development from production, and the docs put hosted data in Europe with anonymized storage. The price of that focus is a narrow platform story: official SDKs cover React, Next, Angular, and Svelte, and event, flag, and environment caps rise only with paid per-project tiers. If your frontend is React or Next.js and a developer can wire the SDK, choose Abby; if you need many platforms, generous free quotas, or zero integration work, choose a broader or managed service.[1][2][3]

Good fit. React and Next.js teams wanting type safety: fully typed flags and remote config catch integration mistakes at build time.[1][2]

Keep in mind. Teams outside the four SDK frameworks: official SDKs cover React, Next.js, Angular, and Svelte, so other stacks have no documented client.[1]

Repository review signals: visibility change, fork change, unknown status, very stale · Observed October 2, 2026.

Read project review Official website
Sources and editorial review

Source research. Reviewed on October 7, 2026. Written by Sanjib Sah. AI assisted; reviewed by a human editor.

We have not run or tested this product.

  1. Abby official site

    official · Observed October 7, 2026

    Official site: typed flags, per-flag environments, SSR/SSG, fallbacks, Devtools plus CLI, self-host option, verbatim four-tier pricing.

  2. Abby README (official repository)

    official · Observed October 7, 2026

    Official repository README: typed API plus non-developer dashboard, privacy posture, self-host or hosted, SDK package scope, AGPL-3.0.

  3. Abby docs introduction

    official · Observed October 7, 2026

    Official docs intro: website flagging focus on React and Next.js, free account requirement, European hosting with anonymized data.

Appwrite

Open source backend with auth, databases, and functions

Open sourceBSD-3-ClauseSelf-hostedManaged hosting

Solo developers and small teams who want Firebase-style building blocks on infrastructure they control will get the most from Appwrite. Authentication, document databases, functions, messaging, storage, realtime, and static hosting ship in one Docker Compose install under a BSD-3-Clause license, with Appwrite Cloud as the managed alternative. The price of that independence is operational responsibility, so teams needing planet-scale managed infrastructure or Postgres-native tooling should stay with Firebase or pick Supabase. If you can run Docker Compose or accept a managed Appwrite plan, choose Appwrite; if you need zero operations at global scale, choose an incumbent.[1][2][3]

Good fit. Indie developers escaping usage-bill surprises: the reporter kept his bill at zero across many toy projects on one self-hosted instance, after a Firebase billing alarm pushed him to look elsewhere.[1][2]

Keep in mind. Teams that want planet-scale infrastructure with zero operations: self-hosting means you own upgrades, backups, monitoring, and scaling, while the managed incumbents absorb that work.[1][2]

Repository review signals: unknown status, very stale · Observed October 3, 2026.

Read project review Official website
Sources and editorial review

Source research. Reviewed on October 7, 2026. Written by Sanjib Sah. AI assisted; reviewed by a human editor.

We have not run or tested this product.

One named firsthand comparison: Hong Cheung's March 2025 Average Learner account of testing self-hosted Appwrite and Supabase side by side for a budgeting app. Two labelled excerpts totalling 28 words are quoted exactly; the full report is linked in the readable draft. Purposive sample of one inspected firsthand report, not a prevalence estimate. Cheung is a technical indie iOS developer self-hosting both backends; managed-cloud Appwrite, non-technical, and enterprise experiences are not represented. No accessible original Reddit or G2 report was found within the shared research budget, so the two short labelled excerpts come from the inspected firsthand comparison article, not from Reddit or G2. Pricing mixes a March 2025 firsthand report with the October 2026 pricing page; confirm current plan terms on the official pricing page before deciding.

  1. Appwrite repository (official)

    official · Observed October 7, 2026

    Official repository page: backend-as-a-service identity, BSD-3-Clause license, star count, feature list, one-command self-host, MCP and SDK coverage.

  2. Self-hosting documentation (official)

    official · Observed October 7, 2026

    Official self-hosting documentation: single-command install, requirements, custom domains, upgrades, backups, offline and air-gapped operation.

  3. Appwrite vs Supabase: The Average Learner (firsthand comparison)

    community · Observed October 7, 2026 · Published March 7, 2025

    Firsthand comparison by indie iOS developer Hong Cheung: self-hosted Appwrite versus Supabase for a budgeting app, covering setup speed, zero-bill experiments, database impressions, and his Supabase pick with reasons.

bknd

Embeddable TypeScript backend with data, auth, and media

Open sourceApache-2.0Self-hosted

bknd fits JavaScript developers building content-driven apps, MVPs, or AI agent backends who are comfortable owning their database and infrastructure. Its strength is embeddability: the same codebase runs on Node, Bun, Deno, Cloudflare Workers, Vercel, or AWS Lambda with SQLite locally and Postgres in shared deployments. The material constraint is maturity and operations: bknd is pre-1.0 with no backward-compatibility guarantee, and documented sync and cloud hosting are still planned, so teams needing a managed service or a no-code console should choose Firebase or Supabase instead.[1][2][3]

Good fit. If your backend must live inside a Next.js, Astro, or React Router app and deploy to the edge, bknd removes the second service entirely.[1][2]

Keep in mind. Everything is code-defined and self-run; teams wanting a clickable console with managed scaling should pick a hosted backend-as-a-service.[1]

Repository review signals: unknown status, very stale · Observed October 3, 2026.

Read project review Official website
Sources and editorial review

Source research. Reviewed on October 9, 2026. Reviewed by Sanjib Sah. Written by Sanjib Sah. AI assisted; reviewed by a human editor.

We have not run or tested this product.

  1. bknd documentation home

    official · Observed October 9, 2026

    Product positioning, feature scope (data, auth, media, flows, admin UI, OpenAPI), current version 0.20.0, and planned sync/cloud hosting, as documented on the official docs home.

  2. bknd-io/bknd repository

    official · Observed October 9, 2026

    Repository identity (bknd-io/bknd, Apache-2.0, created November 2024, last push September 2026), star/fork counts, and version 0.20.0 tag context.

  3. bknd README

    official · Observed October 9, 2026

    Runtime, database, storage, framework, and deployment matrices, use cases (CMS, AI agent backends with MCP server, SaaS with RLS, MVPs), Node 22.13+ requirement, ~300 kB worker footprint, and pre-1.0 compatibility warning.

Convex

Reactive backend with database, functions, and realtime sync

Custom licenseFSL-1.1-Apache-2.0Self-hostedManaged hosting

Convex fits TypeScript and React teams building live-updating apps where realtime sync is the core interaction. Its decisive strength is the subscribed-query model: database, functions, storage, and scheduling arrive as one reactive system with no SQL layer. The material constraint is per-developer pricing plus a TypeScript-only, source-available platform, so large or SQL-invested teams should look elsewhere. If your team writes TypeScript and lives in React, choose Convex; if you need Postgres portability or per-project pricing, choose Supabase.[1][2][3]

Good fit. TypeScript and React teams building live-updating collaborative apps get the most: subscribed queries remove the manual realtime layer they would otherwise build.[1][2]

Keep in mind. Teams requiring OSI-approved open source should avoid it: the Functional Source License is source-available with commercial-use restrictions, and GitHub reports it simply as Other.[1][2]

Repository review signals: unknown status, very stale · Observed October 3, 2026.

Read project review Official website
Sources and editorial review

Source research. Reviewed on October 9, 2026. Written by Sanjib Sah. AI assisted; reviewed by a human editor.

We have not run or tested this product.

Inspected sample: official Convex understanding docs, the convex-backend repository page, one October 2026 DEV community self-hosting guide, one September 2026 priced Firebase-alternatives comparison, and one March 2026 Convex/Supabase/Firebase SaaS comparison. No Reddit or G2 originals were quotable; testimonials are intentionally empty. No Reddit or G2 originals were quotable: G2 review reads were blocked during research and Reddit search returned no inspectable firsthand report. The DEV guide and the two comparisons are editorial analyses, not user-prevalence signals; treat their agreement on pricing and self-hosting as feature and cost-model findings, not satisfaction scores.

  1. Convex Overview - Understanding Convex

    official · Observed October 9, 2026

    Official Convex understanding overview: reactive TypeScript database, queries, mutations, actions, ACID serializable isolation with optimistic concurrency, document-relational model, file storage, scheduling, and framework integrations. Read October 9, 2026.

  2. get-convex/convex-backend repository

    official · Observed October 9, 2026

    convex-backend repository page: reactive database positioning, star count, and source-available licensing identity used for the self-host and license claims. Read October 9, 2026.

  3. Firebase Alternatives in 2026, Priced

    published measurement · Observed October 9, 2026 · Published September 20, 2026

    Independent September 2026 priced comparison of Firebase alternatives: Convex FSL-1.1 source-available status, Professional per-developer pricing with included database and egress, and the modelled 20-developer cost used for the monthly-cost answer.

  4. Convex vs Supabase vs Firebase for SaaS Starters 2026

    published measurement · Observed October 9, 2026 · Published March 17, 2026

    Independent March 2026 Convex/Supabase/Firebase SaaS comparison: TypeScript-native reactive architecture, no-SQL workflow, and the three-way fit tradeoffs used for the verdict and compatibility claims.

  5. Self-hosted Convex alternatives in 2026

    community · Observed October 9, 2026 · Published October 8, 2026

    DEV community guide by Sara: Convex TypeScript DX, self-hosted backend running the same code as cloud, FSL with Apache-2.0 after two years, regions US East/Ireland/Sydney/Canada, and a cited 2025 Reddit reply from a Convex co-founder describing the open-source build as single-node.

Instant

Open-source realtime database with sync, auth, and presence

Open sourceApache-2.0Self-hostedManaged hostingAcquired

Indie teams and startups building collaborative React or React Native apps benefit most from Instant: InstaQL queries, realtime sync, auth, presence, and storage arrive as one backend with little server code. The decisive capability is the sync engine, where Postgres-backed triples and optimistic client updates keep every device current without hand-built websocket plumbing. The material constraint is operational: Instant Cloud stopped new signups and shuts down on August 31, 2027, so new adopters must self-host the Docker stack and own backups, email, and uptime. If your team can run a small VPS and wants Firebase-style velocity with Postgres underneath, choose self-hosted Instant; if you need a vendor to operate the backend, choose Firebase or Supabase instead.[1][2][3][4]

Good fit. Indie hackers shipping a collaborative MVP: queries, sync, auth, and presence arrive as one client-driven backend with little server code.[1][2]

Keep in mind. Teams that need a vendor to operate the backend: Cloud signups are closed and the service ends in August 2027, so new adopters own hosting, backups, and uptime.[1][2]

Repository review signals: unknown status, stale · Observed October 11, 2026.

Read project review Official website
Sources and editorial review

Source research. Reviewed on October 11, 2026. Written by Sanjib Sah. AI assisted; reviewed by a human editor.

We have not run or tested this product.

  1. Instant homepage (official)

    official · Observed October 11, 2026

    Official homepage: Firebase positioning, realtime database scope, quickstart for JS and React Native.

  2. Instant pricing and OpenAI announcement (official)

    official · Observed October 11, 2026

    Official announcement: OpenAI move, closed signups, service until August 31 2027, open-source self-host path.

  3. Instant documentation (official)

    official · Observed October 11, 2026

    Official docs: InstaQL, schema, transactions, auth, presence, storage, Admin SDK, dashboard roles.

  4. Instant self-hosting guide (official)

    official · Observed October 11, 2026

    Official guide: Docker Compose layouts, server sizing, backups, Cloud migration, email.

NHost

Open-source backend with Postgres, GraphQL, auth, and storage

Open sourceMITSelf-hostedManaged hosting

Nhost is an MIT-licensed open-source backend that generates a GraphQL API from PostgreSQL and bundles auth, storage, and serverless functions, on managed cloud or Docker self-hosting.[1][2]

Good fit. Teams building Firebase-style applications that would rather own a real Postgres database are the natural audience: they get generated APIs without surrendering the schema, migrations, and SQL escape hatches that plain Postgres preserves. The dated third-party comparison places Nhost against Supabase for exactly this evaluation.[1][2]

Keep in mind. Nhost's API story centers on GraphQL via Hasura, whereas peers lead with REST plus realtime subscriptions. Teams standardized on REST, or needing built-in realtime channels and edge functions as first-class primitives, should verify those paths in the docs before committing, since the inspected pages emphasize GraphQL, actions, and triggers instead.[1][2]

Repository review signals: unknown status, stale · Observed October 11, 2026.

Read project review Official website
Sources and editorial review

Source research. Reviewed on October 11, 2026. Written by Sanjib Sah. AI assisted; reviewed by a human editor.

We have not run or tested this product.

  1. Nhost: The Open Source Firebase Alternative with GraphQL

    official · Observed October 11, 2026

    Official product homepage inspected 2026-10-11: positioning, Postgres/GraphQL/auth/storage/functions rundown, self-hosting vs cloud comparison, starter/launch/pro pricing, docs/CLI/API links, Quickstart JWT flow.

  2. nhost/nhost on GitHub

    official · Observed October 11, 2026

    Canonical repository page inspected 2026-10-11: MIT license, TypeScript-majority codebase, 5.1k stars, 458 forks, v2.17.0 tagged 2026-09-02, latest commit about 7 days prior.

  3. Firebase Alternatives in 2026, Priced

    published measurement · Observed October 11, 2026 · Published September 20, 2026

    Dated 2026-09-20 third-party comparison of Firebase alternatives: Nhost row (MIT, Postgres/GraphQL/Hasura, from $0, Launch $25/mo) beside Supabase and alternatives; startup/SMB positioning and narrower integrations noted. Used for competitive context, not vendor facts.

PocketBase

Open source backend in one file with realtime database and auth

Open sourceMITSelf-hosted

Small teams shipping a side project or an early-stage SaaS on one server benefit most from PocketBase. The single executable delivers a realtime database, password and OAuth2 logins, file handling, and an admin UI with almost no operational setup. The pre-1.0 codebase carries no backward-compatibility guarantee, so teams running production-critical workloads should choose a versioned platform such as Supabase instead. If one-server simplicity decides the choice, start with PocketBase; if managed hosting or horizontal scale decides it, start with Supabase.[1][2][3]

Good fit. One executable plus a single serve command is the whole deployment, which fits side projects and prototypes on a small virtual server.[1][2]

Keep in mind. The pre-1.0 codebase carries no backward-compatibility guarantee, and upgrades can require manual migration steps, which makes it a poor fit where breaking changes are unacceptable.[1]

Repository review signals: unknown status, stale · Observed October 12, 2026.

Read project review Official website
Sources and editorial review

Source research. Reviewed on October 12, 2026. Written by Sanjib Sah. AI assisted; reviewed by a human editor.

We have not run or tested this product.

  1. PocketBase - Open Source backend in 1 file

    official · Observed October 12, 2026

    Official homepage; single-file backend, realtime database, auth, file storage, admin dashboard, v0.40.5

  2. Introduction - Docs - PocketBase

    official · Observed October 12, 2026

    Official docs introduction; embedded SQLite, realtime subscriptions, auth management, dashboard UI, REST-ish API, Go/JS framework duality, pre-1.0 warning, platform downloads, serve command

  3. FAQ - PocketBase

    official · Observed October 12, 2026

    Official FAQ; self-hosted only, no company or paid team, vertical scaling with VPS reference, no cloud functions, 15-plus OAuth2 providers, SDK-only frontend

Compare Firebase alternatives

Known catalogue facts at a glance. Columns with no reviewed values are omitted. “Not reviewed” means unknown, not that a capability is absent.

Known facts for Firebase alternatives
ProjectLicense policyHostingDeploymentEnterprise supportBest fit
CoolifyApache-2.0 · OSI-approvedSelf-hostedNot reviewedNot reviewedNot reviewed
SupabaseApache-2.0 · OSI-approvedSelf-hostedNot reviewedNot reviewedNot reviewed
AbbyAGPL-3.0 · OSI-approvedSelf-hosted + ManagedmoderateNot reviewedReleasing React or Next.js features behind per-environment flags; Running typed A/B tests with remote config without a proprietary service
AppwriteBSD-3-Clause · OSI-approvedSelf-hosted + ManagedmoderateYesTeams shipping web and mobile apps on a managed backend; Operators moving Firebase or Supabase workloads to a self-hostable stack
bkndApache-2.0 · OSI-approvedSelf-hostedeasyNot reviewedAdding data, auth, and media to a JS app minus a separate backend; Serverless and edge apps needing embedded storage
ConvexFSL-1.1-Apache-2.0 · customSelf-hosted + ManagedeasyNot reviewedRealtime apps; TypeScript full-stack teams
InstantApache-2.0 · OSI-approvedSelf-hosted + ManagedmoderateNot reviewedIndie teams building collaborative apps without backend operations; React and React Native teams adding live multi-user features
NHostMIT · OSI-approvedSelf-hosted + ManagedmoderateNot reviewedFirebase-style apps that want a Postgres database with a GraphQL-first API; Teams that need auth, file storage, and serverless functions with a Docker self-host option
PocketBaseMIT · OSI-approvedSelf-hostedeasyNoSmall SaaS backends; Mobile API backends

Before you switch

  • Check that the project covers the workflows and data you need to move.
  • Confirm that the license terms fit how you plan to run, modify, and distribute it.
  • Choose between self-hosting responsibility and a reviewed managed option.
  • Open the project page for repository freshness, review dates, and any unresolved requirements.

Browse by requirements

Explore projects grouped around common requirements.

Best overall by organic score

Coolify, Supabase

About Firebase

Firebase gets a product to users faster than almost anything else. Authentication, a realtime document database, storage, hosting, and functions arrive already wired together, with client SDKs that handle offline state.

The cost arrives later. Firestore's query model constrains how data can be shaped, pricing is per operation rather than per resource, and there is no meaningful exit that is not a rewrite.

Google · Free Spark tier, then pay as you go · Checked August 31, 2026

Official website
How this list is ordered

Recommended · Organic catalogue order.

A deterministic editorial score using relationship confidence, category fit, logarithmic popularity, as-of maintenance and freshness, with bounded anomaly quarantine and known-data penalties. Payment is fixed at zero.

Payment does not affect organic ranking. Order is a starting point, not a universal recommendation.

OpenAlternative organic alternatives v4 · version 4