Firebase Alternatives in India: Where to Go and How to Move

Developers look at Firebase alternatives once their app grows past the prototype stage. Firebase is fast to start with, but its document database, pay-per-operation billing and Google-only stack start to pinch as the data becomes relational and the bill becomes real. This guide gives the common reasons to leave, with dates and sources, compares the main alternatives honestly, and shows how a move works step by step, including a halfway option where you keep part of Firebase.

Four reasons teams outgrow Firebase

1. The data became relational. Firestore has no joins. When users, orders and payments start to reference each other, you either run many queries or copy data into many documents and keep every copy in sync.
2. The bill is hard to predict. The Blaze plan charges per read, write and gigabyte, and has no hard spending cap. Budget alerts notify you; they do not stop charges.
3. Storage moved behind billing. Firebase’s own Cloud Storage FAQ says that from February 2026, keeping access to your default storage bucket requires the paid Blaze plan, even if your usage stays inside the free allowance.
4. Products get retired. According to the Dynamic Links FAQ, Firebase Dynamic Links shut down on 25 August 2025, and every link they served started returning a 404. Apps that used them for referrals and deep links had to rebuild those flows.

The main alternatives, compared

Supabase

The closest like-for-like replacement: a database, auth, storage, realtime and functions in one platform, but on PostgreSQL. It suits apps whose data is relational and that want to keep a “no backend” setup. Its trade-offs from India are covered in our Supabase vs Firebase comparison.

Appwrite

An open-source backend with auth, databases, storage and functions, which you can self-host or use as a cloud service. Its cloud defaults to its own TablesDB, and its dedicated compute tiers offer other database types, including PostgreSQL. A good fit if you want Firebase’s all-in-one feel without depending on Google.

PocketBase

A single Go program with an embedded SQLite database, auth, files and an admin screen. It is excellent for small apps and internal tools. Its own documentation warns that it is not yet recommended for production-critical apps before version 1.0, and that backward compatibility is not guaranteed until then, so plan for manual upgrades.

Neon

Serverless PostgreSQL with branching and scale-to-zero. It replaces the database only; you bring your own backend. We compare it in Neon vs Supabase.

Managed PostgreSQL and your own backend

If you are comfortable writing a Node.js, Django or FastAPI server, a plain PostgreSQL database plus your own API gives the most control and the least lock-in. This is the path the rest of this guide uses for the migration steps.

A halfway option: keep Firebase Auth and push

You do not have to leave Firebase all at once. A common, low-risk pattern is:

• keep Firebase Auth for login, and Cloud Messaging for push notifications;
• move the data to PostgreSQL behind your own API;
• in your API, check each request’s Firebase ID token with the Admin SDK, as described in Google’s guide to verifying ID tokens, and use the user ID it returns in your SQL.

Users keep logging in exactly as before, and you remove the part of Firebase that was causing the pain. Later, you can move auth too, or never.

How to move Firestore data to PostgreSQL

Moving a document database to SQL is a redesign, not a copy:

1. Export with the Admin SDK. Firestore’s managed export writes files to Cloud Storage that only Firestore and BigQuery can read back, and it needs the Blaze plan. For PostgreSQL, a short script with the Admin SDK that reads each collection and writes JSON is usually simpler.
2. Design the tables. Each collection usually becomes a table. Nested objects become their own tables with a foreign key. Arrays of references become join tables. Fields you copied into many documents go back to living in one place.
3. Transform and load. Reshape the JSON to the new tables and insert it in batches. Load parent tables first so foreign keys resolve, and keep Firestore document IDs in a column so you can trace every row back.
4. Switch reads, then writes. Point reads at PostgreSQL first and compare results with Firestore for a few days. Then move writes, and only then turn Firestore off.

A small example of step 2. A Firestore orders document that embeds the customer’s name and a list of items becomes three tables:

CREATE TABLE customers (id text PRIMARY KEY, name text NOT NULL);
CREATE TABLE orders (id text PRIMARY KEY, customer_id text REFERENCES customers(id), created_at timestamptz);
CREATE TABLE order_items (order_id text REFERENCES orders(id), product text, qty int);

Moving Firebase Auth users, if you do

Firebase can export users, including password hashes, with the firebase auth:export command. Most projects hash passwords with a modified scrypt, and the console shows the hash parameters you need to check those passwords elsewhere. Your new auth system must support that algorithm, or users will need to reset their passwords once. Social logins move more easily, because they only need the provider’s user ID.

Running the PostgreSQL side in India

Once your data is relational, you need a PostgreSQL database and a place for the API that talks to it. On Voroa both run in Mumbai: managed PostgreSQL for the data, and your Node.js or Django server deployed from GitHub, as in deploying a Node.js app or deploying Django. Billing is in rupees with a GST invoice, and the database is reached by your server, not the browser.

If you are deciding between Supabase and plain PostgreSQL, read when a Supabase alternative makes sense.

FAQ

What is the best Firebase alternative?

It depends on the data and how much backend you want to write. For relational data with built-in auth, Supabase. For an open-source all-in-one you can self-host, Appwrite. For a small self-hosted app, PocketBase. For full control, PostgreSQL with your own API. For an offline-first mobile app, Firebase is often still the right tool.

Can I keep Firebase Auth and use PostgreSQL?

Yes. Keep Firebase Auth on the client, verify the ID token in your API with the Admin SDK, and store your data in PostgreSQL. Push notifications through Cloud Messaging keep working too.

Does Firebase bill in rupees?

Yes. Firebase uses Google Cloud billing, and accounts with an Indian billing address are billed in INR by Google Cloud India, with GST on the invoice. If you move to PostgreSQL and want the same, Voroa bills in rupees with a GST invoice and runs in Mumbai; it does not replace Firebase Auth or push notifications.

How long does a Firebase to PostgreSQL migration take?

It depends mostly on how much data you copied between documents. The schema design takes longer than moving the data, so plan for it first, and run reads in parallel before switching writes.

Start the PostgreSQL side with Voroa

Create a free PostgreSQL database in Mumbai and load your exported data into it. If your data already lives in another Postgres database, the import is covered in importing an existing database.