Firebase alternative
A Firebase alternative built on Postgres
Keep the things Firebase does well (sign-in, file storage, live updates, mobile SDKs) and gain SQL, joins, row level security and a database you can branch and export. The importer keeps every password working.
Last checked October 8, 2026.
How Firebase concepts map to Scribase
| Firebase | Scribase |
|---|---|
| Firestore collections | Postgres tables; imported documents land as rows with a jsonb data column you can query with SQL |
| Security rules | Row level security policies written in SQL (imported tables start locked: RLS on, no policies) |
| Firebase Auth | Auth with email and password, magic links, OAuth providers, anonymous users, TOTP and passkeys |
| Cloud Storage | Storage buckets with RLS, signed URLs and image transforms |
| onSnapshot listeners | Realtime postgres_changes, broadcast and presence |
| Cloud Functions | Edge functions (Deno), plus pg_cron for schedules and pgmq for queues |
| Firebase SDKs | supabase-js, Swift, Kotlin, Flutter and Python clients |
What the importer brings over
- Every collection group as a table, subcollections as parent__child tables, with document ids and paths kept so references resolve.
- Timestamps, references, geo points, bytes, maps and arrays converted to JSON.
- Firebase Auth users with email, phone, verification state, custom claims and linked identities.
- Firebase modified-scrypt password hashes with your project hash parameters, verified natively at sign-in, so nobody resets a password.
- Cloud Storage objects with a SHA-256 check on each file, then a verification report per table.
What you rewrite by hand
- Security rules become SQL policies. Nothing is exposed until you write them.
- Cloud Functions become edge functions.
- Firebase does not export multi-factor enrollments; those users enroll again.
FAQ
Questions people ask
Do I lose offline support?
Firestore has built-in offline caching; Postgres clients do not. Mobile apps usually add a local store (SQLite or a query cache) for the screens that must work offline.
Will my documents still be documents?
Each document becomes a row whose fields sit in a jsonb column, so data->>'email' works right away. Move the fields you filter on into real columns with ordinary migrations when you are ready.
How much does it cost?
$25 per project a month, flat. Reads and writes are not metered per operation.