Staxly

Neon vs Firebase

Serverless Postgres with branching and bottomless storage
vs. Google's mobile & web app development platform

Neon websiteFirebase website

Pricing tiers

Neon

Free
100 projects, 0.5 GB storage + 100 CU-hours each. Great for prototypes and preview envs.
Free
Launch
Usage-based, no minimum. Small production workloads. $0.35/GB-month storage, $0.106/CU-hour.
$0 base (usage-based)
Scale
Usage-based, higher compute tier + faster instances ($0.222/CU-hour). Up to 30-day PITR, 1,000 projects.
$0 base (usage-based)
Business
Usage-based with 99.95% SLA, HIPAA available. Private networking $0.01/GB.
$0 base (usage-based)
Neon website

Firebase

Spark (No-cost)
Free tier with generous quotas. No credit card required. Cannot exceed free quotas.
Free
Blaze (Pay as you go)
Usage-based billing. Includes Spark quotas free, then pay Google Cloud rates. Required for Cloud Functions outbound networking, scheduled jobs, some extensions.
Custom
Firebase website

Free-tier quotas head-to-head

Comparing free on Neon vs spark on Firebase.

MetricNeonFirebase
auth mau50000 users/month
branches per project10 branches
cu hours per project100 CU-hours/month
egress gb month5 GB/month
firestore deletes per day20000 docs/day
firestore egress gib month10 GiB/month
firestore reads per day50000 docs/day
firestore storage gib1 GiB
firestore writes per day20000 docs/day
functions cpu seconds200000 CPU-sec/month
functions gb seconds400000 GB-sec/month
functions invocations2000000 invocations/mo
functions outbound gb5 GB/month
hosting storage gb10 GB
hosting transfer gb month10.8 GB/month
phone sms verifications day10 sms/day
pitr retention hours6 hours
projects100 projects
rtdb connections100 connections
rtdb downloaded gb month10 GB/month
rtdb stored gb1 GB
storage downloaded gb day1 GB/day
storage gb5 GB
storage gb per project0.5 GB
storage operations day50000 ops/day
team members3 users

Features

Neon · 14 features

  • AutoscalingCompute scales CPU + memory between min and max CU in seconds based on load.
  • BranchingGit-like DB branches: copy-on-write snapshots of data + schema. Instant, cheap.
  • Data API (REST)PostgREST-compatible REST endpoint auto-generated from your schema. Uses Postgre
  • IP AllowlistRestrict DB access to specific CIDRs. Launch+.
  • LaunchpadOne-click create-a-database link that can be embedded in OSS repos (DATABASE_URL
  • Logical ReplicationPublish changes to Snowflake, BigQuery, Kafka, or other Postgres. Subscribe from
  • MonitoringBuilt-in dashboards for CPU/RAM/connections/slow queries. Prometheus export on B
  • Neon AuthStack Auth integrated: users table auto-synced into your Postgres (public.users_
  • Point-in-Time RestoreRestore DB to any moment in the retention window (6h free → 30d Scale) via branc
  • Private NetworkingAWS PrivateLink / VPC peering. Business plan.
  • Read ReplicasCreate a read-only compute endpoint on the same branch. Zero replication lag (re
  • Scale to ZeroCompute suspends when idle — no charge for compute while paused. Cold-start ~300
  • Schema DiffCompare schema between branches — build PR checks and preview migrations safely.
  • SQL over HTTPServerless driver lets you query Postgres over HTTPS — works in edge runtimes (V

Firebase · 20 features

  • A/B TestingExperiments on Remote Config params, FCM notifications, and Analytics events. Ba
  • App CheckAttestation service: only requests from authentic, untampered app instances reac
  • App HostingManaged hosting for modern web apps (Next.js, Angular, SvelteKit). Git-based dep
  • Cloud FirestoreServerless NoSQL document database. Real-time sync, ACID transactions, offline p
  • Cloud FunctionsServerless functions (Node.js/Python). Trigger on HTTP, Firestore, RTDB, Auth, S
  • Cloud StorageObject storage for user files. Built on GCS. Security rules + signed URLs. Resum
  • CrashlyticsReal-time crash reporting for iOS/Android/Unity/Flutter. Stack traces, breadcrum
  • Data ConnectGraphQL API backed by Cloud SQL for PostgreSQL. Type-safe SDK generation. Previe
  • Dynamic LinksDeep links that survive app install. NOTE: deprecated, shutdown Aug 2025 — migra
  • FCM TopicsPublish/subscribe messaging: devices subscribe to topic names; backend sends one
  • Firebase AI LogicClient-side SDK to call Gemini models directly from mobile/web. Formerly "Vertex
  • Firebase AuthenticationDrop-in auth: email/password, phone, anonymous, 10+ federated providers, custom
  • Firebase Cloud MessagingPush notifications for iOS, Android, Web (APNs/FCM transports). Topics, device g
  • Firebase ExtensionsPre-packaged Cloud Functions + config: Stripe, Algolia search, image resize, tra
  • Firebase HostingStatic + dynamic hosting with global CDN. Preview channels, atomic deploys, rewr
  • GenkitOpen-source AI app framework. Unified API for Gemini, OpenAI, Ollama; tools, RAG
  • Google Analytics for FirebaseFree unlimited event tracking with audience building. BigQuery export on Blaze.
  • Performance MonitoringApp startup, HTTP network, and custom traces. Integrates with Google Analytics e
  • Realtime DatabaseLow-latency JSON tree database with WebSocket sync. Best for high-frequency pres
  • Remote ConfigFeature flags / parameterized config with conditional targeting (user property,

Developer interfaces

KindNeonFirebase
CLINeon CLIFirebase CLI
SDK@neondatabase/serverlessAdmin SDK (Go), Admin SDK (Java), Admin SDK (Node.js), Admin SDK (Python), Android SDK, Apple Platforms SDK, Flutter SDK (FlutterFire), JavaScript SDK, Unity SDK
RESTManagement / Control Plane API, Neon Data API (REST), SQL over HTTPAuth REST API, Cloud Storage REST, Firebase Management API, Firestore REST API, Realtime Database REST
MCPNeon MCP ServerFirebase MCP Server
OTHERPostgres Wire ProtocolFirestore gRPC, Realtime Database WebSocket
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