# Pick the Stack Your App Grows Into: Flutter + Firebase or React + Supabase

DreamLabs is an AI-powered app development agency in California — a fractional product team for mobile and web apps, from strategy to launch.

For founders leaving Bubble, FlutterFlow, Softr, Adalo or an AI builder who want a foundation that grows with the product. Here's how we choose between Flutter + Firebase and React or Next.js + Supabase, with official pricing and capability facts and a decision table. DreamLabs makes the call with you in a $4,000 two-week strategy sprint, then builds; most builds take about 6 weeks after it.

By John Krueger and Tomás Quiñonez-Riegos. Updated October 8, 2026.

## Flutter + Firebase vs React + Supabase

|  | Flutter + Firebase | React / Next.js + Supabase |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Best for | Mobile-first apps on iOS and Android from one codebase, especially ones that must work offline | Web-first products, pages that need search traffic, and relational data you report on |
| One codebase covers | Android, iOS, web, Windows, macOS and Linux. Flutter's docs say its web output suits app-like experiences, not text-rich pages that need search | The web, with server-rendered pages in Next.js; iOS and Android through React Native, whose docs recommend the Expo framework |
| Database | Cloud Firestore: NoSQL documents, no tables or rows. Postgres is also available through Firebase SQL Connect | Postgres: tables, joins, views and SQL |
| Offline | Built in: Firestore's Android and Apple SDKs cache data offline by default (off by default on the web) | Add a sync layer such as PowerSync, listed in Supabase's partner directory |
| Push notifications | Firebase Cloud Messaging, at no cost | No push service of its own: an Edge Function calls Firebase Cloud Messaging or Expo's push service |
| Sign-in | Free up to 50,000 monthly active users. Phone sign-in needs the Blaze plan and bills per SMS | 50,000 monthly active users free, 100,000 on Pro, then $0.00325 each. Phone sign-in needs your own SMS provider |
| Who can read what | Security Rules check every request from the app; server libraries bypass them | Row Level Security on every table the API exposes; with RLS on and no policies, the publishable key gets nothing |
| Free tier | 1 GiB of data, 50,000 reads and 20,000 writes a day. File storage and Cloud Functions need the pay-as-you-go Blaze plan | 500 MB database, 1 GB of files, two active projects; free projects pause after a week of inactivity |
| How the bill grows | Per operation: $0.03 per 100,000 reads and $0.09 per 100,000 writes past the free tier (us-central1) | Per plan and server: Pro from $25 a month including $10 of compute (a Micro server); 8 GB of disk, then $0.125 per GB; spend cap on by default |
| Leaving later | Managed export of your documents to Cloud Storage (Blaze plan), loadable into BigQuery | Standard Postgres; self-hostable with Docker, without some managed features such as branching and managed backups |
| Hiring pool (Stack Overflow 2026 survey, share of respondents) | Dart, Flutter's language: 4.9%. Cloud Firestore: 4.8% | React: 41.5%. TypeScript: 43.8%. PostgreSQL: 57.9%. Supabase: 7.7% |
| What we've shipped on it | Most of our case studies, including Grove, GlowCode, Nurture, Haikuists, KPI Dash and OOM | React for Grove's desktop experience and Nurture's admin app; we build React and Next.js on Supabase as well |

From official docs, pricing pages and the Stack Overflow 2026 Developer Survey, checked October 8, 2026. The halves mix: React runs on Firebase, and Flutter runs on Supabase.

## Frequently asked questions

### Is Firebase or Supabase better?

Neither in general; they suit different apps. Firebase's Firestore is a NoSQL document database that works offline on Android and iOS by default and comes with free push notifications through Firebase Cloud Messaging, which suits mobile-first apps. Supabase is Postgres, with joins, SQL and Row Level Security, which suits web-first products and data you report on, and you can self-host it. Firebase bills per read and write; Supabase bills per plan and server size, from $25 a month on Pro.

### What's the best stack after Bubble?

Bubble can't export your app as code, so the logic is rebuilt from the running app while your data and design come across. Depending on the app, we move the web app to React and Next.js on Firebase or Supabase, or to a TypeScript API over PostgreSQL. If the product also needs iOS and Android apps, Flutter on Firebase covers both stores and the web from one codebase. The choice depends on where your users are, the shape of your data and who will maintain it.

### Should an MVP use Flutter or React Native?

Both ship real iOS and Android apps from one codebase. Flutter also builds for the web and desktop, and it's what we build most apps in; React Native, which its docs recommend starting through Expo, lets a React team reuse its skills, and React has the larger hiring pool (41.5% of respondents to Stack Overflow's 2026 survey had worked extensively in React, against 4.9% in Dart). If your team already knows one, use it.

### Is Firebase cheaper than Supabase?

It depends on how your app reads data. Firestore charges per operation: past 50,000 free reads a day, $0.03 per 100,000 reads and $0.09 per 100,000 writes in us-central1, so a million reads costs 30 cents. Supabase charges per plan and server: Pro starts at $25 a month with $10 of compute credit for a Micro server, and larger servers cost more. Apps that read only what each screen shows stay cheap on Firestore; apps that re-read large collections may be cheaper on a fixed server.

### Does Supabase work offline?

Not out of the box the way Firestore does on mobile. Supabase's partner directory lists PowerSync as a drop-in sync layer for making apps built on Supabase work offline-first. Firestore's Android and Apple SDKs cache data and keep working offline by default.

### Can we keep our FlutterFlow backend?

Usually, yes. FlutterFlow apps run on a Firebase or Supabase project you connect, and FlutterFlow includes code download from its Basic plan. A move to a production Flutter codebase can keep that backend, so users keep their accounts and simply get an app update. We used to build in FlutterFlow ourselves and have exported most of the apps we started there.

### Can Flutter build our website too?

For app-like experiences, yes: Flutter's docs name single-page apps, progressive web apps and existing Flutter mobile apps as good fits. For marketing pages, a blog or help content that needs search traffic, no: Flutter's docs say it isn't suitable for text-rich static sites and recommend HTML, or the Dart-based Jaspr package, for that content.

### How long does a migration take, and what does it cost?

Every DreamLabs project starts with a two-week strategy sprint for a flat $4,000, refunded in full if we don't move forward together. The sprint maps your current app into a features table and the scope of the first release, and settles the stack. Your build price is set and approved at the end of the sprint, and most builds take about 6 weeks after it.

## Choose by what your app has to do next

Your no-code app proved the product. The stack you move to decides how fast you ship the next hundred features, who you can hire to build them and what the bill looks like at ten times the users. Our two home stacks are Flutter on Firebase and React or Next.js on Supabase, and the halves mix. Every price and capability below comes from the vendors' own docs and pricing pages, checked on October 8, 2026.

### Start from where you are

- **FlutterFlow.** You already have Flutter. [FlutterFlow's paid plans](https://www.flutterflow.io/pricing) include code download from Basic ($39 a month), and Growth adds GitHub integration, so the move is to a Flutter codebase on the Firebase or Supabase project your app already connects to. We know this one first-hand: we used to build apps in FlutterFlow, switched to AI-accelerated development in Flutter, and have exported most of the apps we started there. See the [FlutterFlow guide](https://www.dreamlabs.pro/services/migrate-from-flutterflow).
- **Bubble.** There's no code to take: [Bubble's manual](https://manual.bubble.io/account-and-marketplace/application-and-data-ownership) says its apps can only run on Bubble, with no way to export the application as code. Your data and design come with you, and the logic is rebuilt from the running app. Depending on the app, the web app lands on React and Next.js on Firebase or Supabase, or on a TypeScript API over PostgreSQL; if the product also needs iOS and Android apps, Flutter on Firebase. See the [Bubble guide](https://www.dreamlabs.pro/services/migrate-from-bubble).
- **Softr and Airtable.** Your data already lives in tables and linked records, which map onto Postgres tables and foreign keys. React over Postgres is the usual landing spot; the [no-code migration guide](https://www.dreamlabs.pro/services/no-code-migration) covers the move.
- **Adalo and Glide.** If the goal is the App Store and Google Play, Flutter or React Native. When an Adalo app like [Urban Outdoors](https://www.dreamlabs.pro/project/urban-outdoors), which we built in six days, has proven its idea, we now rebuild it in Flutter or React Native code the owner controls. See the [App Store guide](https://www.dreamlabs.pro/services/migrate-from-rork-vibecode).
- **AI builders such as Lovable, Bolt, v0 or Replit.** If the app is already React on Supabase, staying in that ecosystem is usually the shortest path to production. See [AI prototype to production](https://www.dreamlabs.pro/services/ai-prototype-to-production).
- **Webflow.** A content site belongs in a fast static site generated from your CMS data, not in an app framework. We left Webflow ourselves for faster development, more design control and better integration with the rest of our environment. See the [Webflow guide](https://www.dreamlabs.pro/services/migrate-from-webflow).

### Firebase vs Supabase: what actually differs

**The shape of your data.** [Cloud Firestore](https://firebase.google.com/docs/firestore/data-model) is a NoSQL document database with no tables or rows, which suits data you read the way you show it: a profile, a feed, a chat. Supabase is Postgres, so joins, reporting queries and constraints come with it. The line has blurred: Firebase now offers Postgres as well, through [Firebase SQL Connect](https://firebase.google.com/docs/sql-connect), formerly Data Connect, on Cloud SQL.

**The shape of the bill.** Firestore bills per document operation. Past 50,000 free reads a day, the Standard edition charges [$0.03 per 100,000 reads and $0.09 per 100,000 writes](https://cloud.google.com/firestore/pricing) in us-central1 (prices vary by location), so a million reads costs 30 cents. That's cheap for screens that read what they show and expensive for screens that re-read whole collections. Supabase bills per plan and server size: [Pro starts at $25 a month](https://supabase.com/pricing) with $10 of compute credit, enough for a Micro server with 1 GB of RAM, and Small and Medium servers run $15 and $60 a month. The bill tracks the database server, not each request, and Pro's spend cap is on by default.

**Offline.** Firestore's SDKs for [Android and Apple platforms keep working offline by default](https://firebase.google.com/docs/firestore/manage-data/enable-offline), caching data and syncing when the connection returns; on the web, offline persistence is off by default. On Supabase, you add a sync layer: Supabase's partner directory lists PowerSync as ["a drop-in sync layer for making apps built on Supabase work offline-first."](https://supabase.com/partners/integrations/powersync) If your users work where signal drops, that difference alone can decide it.

**Push notifications.** Firebase Cloud Messaging is part of Firebase at [no cost](https://firebase.google.com/pricing). Supabase has no push service of its own; [its guide](https://supabase.com/docs/guides/functions/examples/push-notifications) uses a database webhook and an Edge Function that call Firebase Cloud Messaging or Expo's push service. Same result, one more moving part.

**Sign-in.** Firebase Authentication is free up to 50,000 monthly active users; phone sign-in needs the pay-as-you-go Blaze plan and bills per SMS. Supabase includes 50,000 monthly active users on Free and 100,000 on Pro, then $0.00325 each, and its phone sign-in needs [your own SMS provider](https://supabase.com/docs/guides/auth/phone-login), such as Twilio, MessageBird or Vonage.

**Security.** Both put your database within reach of the app, so both depend on rules you write and test. Firestore [checks every request from its mobile and web libraries against Security Rules](https://firebase.google.com/docs/firestore/security/get-started), while server libraries bypass them. Supabase asks you to [enable Row Level Security on every table in an exposed schema](https://supabase.com/docs/guides/database/postgres/row-level-security): a table without it is readable and writable by any role with a grant on it, and with RLS on and no policies, a publishable key gets nothing. We wrote a free checklist for each.

**Leaving later.** Supabase is Postgres, and you can [self-host it with Docker](https://supabase.com/docs/guides/self-hosting), without some managed features such as branching, managed backups and point-in-time recovery. Firestore offers a [managed export](https://firebase.google.com/docs/firestore/manage-data/export-import) of your documents to Cloud Storage on the Blaze plan, and its exports load into BigQuery.

### Flutter vs React Native (and Next.js) for an MVP

Flutter builds for [Android, iOS, web, Windows, macOS and Linux](https://docs.flutter.dev/reference/supported-platforms) from one codebase, and it's what we build most apps in. Its own docs are candid about the web: Flutter suits app-like experiences such as single-page apps and progressive web apps, but it ["is not suitable for static websites with text-rich flow-based content"](https://docs.flutter.dev/platform-integration/web/faq), and its output "doesn't align with what search engines need to properly index." When search traffic matters, landing pages, the blog and help content go in HTML, and the app stays in Flutter.

React has the larger hiring pool. In [Stack Overflow's 2026 Developer Survey](https://survey.stackoverflow.co/2026/technology/data/web-framework), 41.5% of respondents had done extensive development work in React over the past year and 43.8% in TypeScript, against 4.9% in Dart, Flutter's language. Next.js renders real HTML for search engines, and React Native, which its docs recommend starting through the [Expo framework](https://reactnative.dev/docs/environment-setup), takes the same team to iOS and Android; Expo can also [statically render websites](https://docs.expo.dev/workflow/web/) for SEO.

You don't have to pick one. [Grove](https://www.dreamlabs.pro/project/grove)'s mobile app is Flutter on Firebase and its desktop experience is React. [Nurture](https://www.dreamlabs.pro/project/nurture)'s learner app is Flutter and Firebase and its admin web app is React. [Haikuists](https://www.dreamlabs.pro/project/haikuists) goes the other way, with a Flutter mobile app for its poets and a Flutter desktop web app for its admins on one shared Firebase back end. And when native iOS is the right call, we also work in Swift.

### Our rules of thumb

- **Mobile-first, or used where signal drops:** Flutter on Firebase.
- **Web-first with search traffic, or relational data you report on:** React and Next.js on Supabase.
- **Both:** Flutter for the apps and React for the web, on one backend chosen for the data.
- **Native iOS features at the core:** Swift.

## When not to switch stacks

A migration earns its cost when the platform blocks a goal. Here's when to hold off, or to choose differently than the table suggests.

- **Your platform still does what the roadmap needs.** No blocked feature, a bill you're comfortable with and nobody asking for a repository: stay, and revisit when one of those changes.
- **Your team already knows a stack.** A team fluent in React should usually stay in React, even for mobile, and a Flutter team in Flutter. Familiarity beats a marginally better fit.
- **Your users work where signal drops.** Don't put an offline-first app on Supabase without budgeting for a sync layer, or choose Firestore, which caches on mobile by default.
- **Your growth depends on search.** Don't put the marketing site, blog or help center in Flutter web. Flutter's own docs recommend HTML, or the Dart-based Jaspr, for that content.
- **Your reporting lives in SQL.** If finance or operations query across your data every day, a document database will fight you. Choose Postgres, on Supabase or through Firebase SQL Connect.
- **You're weeks from a fundraise or a launch.** Don't migrate in the middle of one. Plan it in a sprint, and start the build after.

## We've made this move ourselves

We used to build apps in FlutterFlow, then switched to AI-accelerated development in Flutter, and we've exported most of the apps we started there. We left Webflow too, and rebuilt this site as a static site in August 2026. So we choose stacks the way we'd choose for our own products, because one of them is ours: Grove.

- [Grove](https://www.dreamlabs.pro/project/grove): a Flutter app on Firebase with a React desktop experience, moving real money through Plaid and Stripe; idea to both app stores in six weeks.
- [Nurture](https://www.dreamlabs.pro/project/nurture): a bilingual Flutter and Firebase learner app, live on the App Store since March 2023 and on Google Play, with a React admin web app; the first version shipped 36 features in four weeks of development.
- [Haikuists](https://www.dreamlabs.pro/project/haikuists): a Flutter mobile app for contract poets and a Flutter desktop web app for admins, sharing one Firebase back end.
- [KPI Dash](https://www.dreamlabs.pro/project/kpi-dash): an AI-powered Flutter web app on Firebase that shipped 15 features in four weeks of development.

The stack is settled in the first two weeks. Every project starts with a two-week strategy sprint for a flat $4,000, refunded in full if we don't move forward together: we map your current app into a features table, wireframes and the scope of your first release, and choose the data architecture with you. Your build price is set and approved at the end of the sprint, and most builds take about 6 weeks after it. You own the code, the cloud accounts and the store listings.

## Choosing your stack in four questions

### Where must it run?

The app stores, the web or both? If search traffic matters, that part of the product needs server-rendered HTML. If the stores matter most, Flutter or React Native, from one codebase.

### What shape is your data?

Documents you show as they are, such as profiles, feeds and chats, fit Firestore. Linked records you filter, join and report on fit Postgres. Your no-code app's data model already tells you which you have.

### What happens offline?

If people must keep working without signal, Firestore's built-in mobile cache saves you a sync layer. If they don't, either backend works.

### Who maintains it next?

Choose the stack your next hire is likely to know. React and TypeScript are the larger pool; Flutter gets one team to both app stores and the web. We settle all four in the strategy sprint.

## Case studies

- [Grove](https://www.dreamlabs.pro/project/grove.md): Climate fintech round-up app
- [Nurture](https://www.dreamlabs.pro/project/nurture.md): Native Mobile App
- [Haikuists](https://www.dreamlabs.pro/project/haikuists.md): Private, native app for internal contractor management

## Free checklists

- [Firestore and Cloud Storage Security Rules Checklist](https://www.dreamlabs.pro/services/firestore-security-rules-checklist.md): 24 checks, each with a test and its source.
- [Supabase Row Level Security (RLS) Checklist](https://www.dreamlabs.pro/services/supabase-rls-checklist.md): 23 checks, each with a test and its source.

## Links

- Full page: https://www.dreamlabs.pro/services/best-stack-for-no-code-migration
- Offerings & pricing: https://www.dreamlabs.pro/offerings
- Contact: https://www.dreamlabs.pro/contact