Aiven vs Firebase Pricing (2026)

How do these two stack up on price? Here's what each one costs, what you get, and where the value sits.

Aiven Firebase
Starts at $5/mo Custom
Number of plans 6 2
Free plan
Free trial
Pricing model usage-based usage-based

Free

$0/mo
  • 1 dedicated VM
  • 1 CPU per VM
  • 1 GB RAM per VM
  • 1 GB total storage
  • Cannot select a specific cloud or region
  • No integrations or connection pooling
  • All networking cost included
  • Seamless upgrade/downgrade to other plans
  • One-click version upgrade
  • Extensions (PostGIS, PL/v8, etc)
  • Performance graphs
  • Data encrypted on disk and network
  • Real-time backups to a remote location
  • Restore to any point in time (PITR)
  • Support

Developer

$5/mo
  • 1 dedicated VM
  • 1 CPU per VM
  • 1 GB RAM per VM
  • 8 GB total storage
  • Cannot select a specific cloud or region
  • No integrations or connection pooling
  • All networking cost included
  • Seamless upgrade/downgrade to other plans
  • One-click version upgrade
  • Extensions (PostGIS, PL/v8, etc)
  • Performance graphs
  • Data encrypted on disk and network
  • Real-time backups to a remote location
  • Restore to any point in time (PITR)
  • Support

Hobbyist

$12/mo
  • 1 dedicated VM
  • 1 CPU per VM
  • 1 GB RAM per VM
  • 8 GB total storage
  • All networking cost included
  • Seamless upgrade/downgrade to other plans
  • One-click version upgrade
  • Extensions (PostGIS, PL/v8, etc)
  • Performance graphs
  • Data encrypted on disk and network
  • Real-time backups to a remote location
  • Restore to any point in time (PITR)
  • VPC peering in AWS, GCP, and Microsoft Azure
  • Support

Startup

$75/mo
  • 1 dedicated VM
  • 2-32 CPU per VM
  • 4-192 GB RAM per VM
  • 80 GB-11 TB total storage
  • 99.99% uptime SLA
  • All networking cost included
  • Seamless upgrade/downgrade to other plans
  • One-click version upgrade
  • Extensions (PostGIS, PL/v8, etc)
  • Performance graphs
  • Data encrypted on disk and network
  • Real-time backups to a remote location
  • Restore to any point in time (PITR)
  • VPC peering in AWS, GCP, and Microsoft Azure
  • Multiple logical databases per instance
  • Database forks
  • Connection pooling
  • 99.99% availability
  • Dynamic disk sizing
  • Support

Business

$180/mo
  • 2 dedicated VM
  • 2-32 CPU per VM
  • 4-192 GB RAM per VM
  • 80 GB-11 TB total storage
  • All networking cost included
  • Seamless upgrade/downgrade to other plans
  • One-click version upgrade
  • Extensions (PostGIS, PL/v8, etc)
  • Performance graphs
  • Data encrypted on disk and network
  • Real-time backups to a remote location
  • Restore to any point in time (PITR)
  • VPC peering in AWS, GCP, and Microsoft Azure
  • Multiple logical databases per instance
  • Database forks
  • Connection pooling
  • 99.99% availability
  • High availability
  • Read-only access to DB replica nodes
  • Dynamic disk sizing
  • Support

Premium

$270/mo
  • 3 dedicated VM
  • 2-32 CPU per VM
  • 4-192 GB RAM per VM
  • 80 GB-11 TB total storage
  • All networking cost included
  • Seamless upgrade/downgrade to other plans
  • One-click version upgrade
  • Extensions (PostGIS, PL/v8, etc)
  • Performance graphs
  • Data encrypted on disk and network
  • Real-time backups to a remote location
  • Restore to any point in time (PITR)
  • VPC peering in AWS, GCP, and Microsoft Azure
  • Multiple logical databases per instance
  • Database forks
  • Connection pooling
  • 99.99% availability
  • High availability
  • Read-only access to DB replica nodes
  • Dynamic disk sizing
  • Support

No-cost (Spark plan)

$0/mo
  • Generous no-cost usage limits
  • No payment method needed
  • A/B Testing
  • Analytics
  • App Check
  • App Distribution
  • Other Authentication services
  • Monthly active users
  • Monthly active users - SAML/OIDC
  • Cloud Firestore - Stored data
  • Cloud Firestore - Network egress
  • Cloud Firestore - Document writes
  • Cloud Firestore - Document reads
  • Cloud Firestore - Document deletes
  • Cloud Messaging (FCM)
  • Crashlytics
  • SQL Connect - Network egress
  • SQL Connect - Operation count
  • SQL Connect - Cloud SQL for PostgreSQL
  • Hosting - Storage
  • Hosting - Data transfer
  • Custom domain & SSL
  • Multiple sites per project
  • In-App Messaging
  • Performance Monitoring
  • Simultaneous connections
  • Realtime Database - GB stored
  • Realtime Database - GB downloaded
  • Remote Config
  • Virtual Device Tests
  • Physical Device Tests
  • Android Device Streaming
  • Firebase AI Logic
  • BigQuery
  • Gemini in Firebase
  • Firebase Studio

Pay as you go (Blaze plan)

Custom
  • Access more services and higher usage levels
  • If eligible, get $300 in free credit
  • No-cost usage from Spark plan included*
  • A/B Testing
  • Analytics
  • App Check
  • App Distribution
  • App Hosting - Outgoing bandwidth
  • App Hosting - Storage
  • App Hosting - Cloud Run
  • App Hosting - Cloud Build
  • App Hosting - Artifact Registry
  • App Hosting - Cloud Logging
  • App Hosting - Cloud Secrets Manager
  • Phone Auth - All regions
  • Other Authentication services
  • Monthly active users
  • Monthly active users - SAML/OIDC
  • Cloud Firestore - Stored data
  • Cloud Firestore - Network egress
  • Cloud Firestore - Document writes
  • Cloud Firestore - Document reads
  • Cloud Firestore - Document deletes
  • Cloud Functions - Invocations
  • Cloud Functions - GB-seconds
  • Cloud Functions - CPU-seconds
  • Cloud Functions - Outbound networking
  • Cloud Functions - Cloud Build minutes
  • Cloud Functions - Container storage in Artifact Registry
  • Cloud Messaging (FCM)
  • Cloud Storage - GB stored (*.appspot.com)
  • Cloud Storage - GB downloaded (*.appspot.com)
  • Cloud Storage - Upload operations (*.appspot.com)
  • Cloud Storage - Download operations (*.appspot.com)
  • Cloud Storage - GB stored (*.firebasestorage.app)
  • Cloud Storage - GB downloaded (*.firebasestorage.app)
  • Cloud Storage - Upload operations (*.firebasestorage.app)
  • Cloud Storage - Download operations (*.firebasestorage.app)
  • Multiple buckets per project
  • Crashlytics
  • SQL Connect - Network egress
  • SQL Connect - Operation count
  • SQL Connect - Cloud SQL for PostgreSQL
  • Hosting - Storage
  • Hosting - Data transfer
  • Custom domain & SSL
  • Multiple sites per project
  • In-App Messaging
  • Performance Monitoring
  • Phone number verification
  • Simultaneous connections
  • Realtime Database - GB stored
  • Realtime Database - GB downloaded
  • Multiple databases per project
  • Remote Config
  • Virtual Device Tests
  • Physical Device Tests
  • Android Device Streaming
  • Firebase AI Logic
  • BigQuery
  • Other IaaS
  • Gemini in Firebase
  • Firebase Studio

Aiven vs Firebase FAQ

Which one is cheaper?
One or both use custom pricing, so it depends on your specific needs.
Can I use either one for free?
Both offer free plans, so you can try each without paying. Start with whichever fits your workflow better and upgrade when you hit the limits.
How do they charge?
Both use a usage-based model, so the comparison is straightforward — it comes down to features and limits at each price point.
Which one is a better deal?
Depends on what you need. Aiven: Aiven sits in the mid-to-premium range for managed open-source data services — they're not trying to undercut bare-metal DIY, they're competing with managed offerings from AWS, GCP, and Render by offering multi-cloud flexibility and a broader service catalog (Kafka, OpenSearch, etc.). The BYOC option signals they're actively courting enterprise buyers who can't send data to a third-party cloud. Firebase: Firebase positions as the low-friction, Google-backed alternative to rolling your own backend infra — competing with Supabase, AWS Amplify, and PlanetScale. They're not the cheapest at scale (GCP pricing adds up), but the free tier is generous enough to win early-stage developers before costs become a real conversation.

Keep tabs on both.

We'll monitor pricing changes for Aiven and Firebase and let you know when something moves.

Start tracking free »