Why We Chose Supabase Over Firebase for Enterprise Apps
A practical comparison of Supabase and Firebase for production enterprise applications — and why we made the switch.
The Short Answer
For enterprise applications that need complex queries, data relationships, and compliance-grade audit trails — PostgreSQL (via Supabase) wins. For quick prototypes and simple real-time apps — Firebase is still great.
Where Firebase Falls Short for Enterprise
We used Firebase for the ABTA transport networking app — and it worked well for that use case: user profiles, document storage, real-time updates. But when we started building ERPs with 50+ tables, complex JOINs, and compliance requirements, Firebase's document model became a limitation.
The Join Problem
In a logistics ERP, a single trip record needs to reference the driver, vehicle, client, route, billing details, and audit trail. In PostgreSQL, that's a straightforward JOIN query. In Firestore, you're making multiple reads and assembling data client-side — which gets expensive and slow.
Row Level Security
Supabase's PostgreSQL RLS policies let us define data access rules at the database level. When Southern Cargo's two companies share the same database, RLS ensures Company A never sees Company B's data — enforced by the database itself, not application code.
Complex Queries
Try running a query like "show me all trips in the last 30 days where the billing amount exceeds the estimated cost by more than 15%, grouped by driver" in Firestore. In PostgreSQL, it's one SQL query.
When to Use What
Choose Supabase/PostgreSQL when: relational data, complex queries, compliance requirements, multi-tenant isolation, enterprise ERPs
Choose Firebase when: rapid prototyping, simple data models, real-time chat/notifications, mobile-first apps with offline sync
Both are excellent tools. The key is matching the tool to the problem.