Firebase vs Koyeb
Firebase vs Koyeb compared for European indie developers and small startups. Pricing, EU jurisdiction, GDPR posture, and why Runsite (an EU-registered PaaS in Frankfurt) is worth a look.
Firebase vs Koyeb: quick answer
Firebase and Koyeb both offer Git-push deploy workflows, but they differ where it counts. Firebase starts around pay-as-you-gometered. Koyeb (a French (EU) company) and Firebase (a US Google service) sit on different sides of the data-residency question. For European teams that need GDPR-compliant hosting in Frankfurt with predictable EUR billing and a permanent free tier, Runsite is the EU-native alternative to both.
// firebase problems → runsite solutions
Common Firebase frustrations. Sound familiar?
Every Firebase frustration, solved.
Firebase problem
"Firebase locks me into Google"
Firestore, Cloud Functions, Firebase Auth: proprietary services that don't work outside Google Cloud.
Runsite solution
Open standards everywhere
PostgreSQL, Docker, S3. Standard tools that work on any platform.
Firebase problem
"GDPR compliance is complicated"
Firebase requires a Google Cloud DPA, data residency configuration, and careful SDK setup for EU compliance.
Runsite solution
GDPR by default
EU entity. EU servers. No configuration needed. Compliant from day one.
Firebase problem
"Costs spike with traffic"
Firebase charges per document read/write. A viral moment can mean a massive surprise bill.
Runsite solution
Fixed pricing + spending caps
Predictable monthly bills with hard limits. Traffic spikes don't break the bank.
// comparison
Runsite vs Firebase
Side-by-side. No marketing fluff, just facts.
| Feature | Runsite | Firebase |
|---|---|---|
| Vendor Lock-in | ✓ Open standards, Docker | ✗ Proprietary SDKs |
| EU Data Centers | ✓ Frankfurt (eu-central) | ✓ europe-west regions |
| GDPR Compliance | ✓ EU entity, full compliance | Complex DPA required |
| Backend Hosting | ✓ Full containers | Cloud Functions only |
| Database | ✓ Standard PostgreSQL | Firestore (proprietary) |
| Pricing Transparency | ✓ Fixed plans | Pay-per-read/write |
// the other side
What about Koyeb?
Koyeb was a great indie PaaS: until Mistral AI acquired it. Runsite is an independent EU PaaS focused on developers, not AI infrastructure.
// koyeb problems → runsite solutions
Common Koyeb frustrations. Sound familiar?
Every Koyeb frustration, solved.
Koyeb problem
"Koyeb got acquired. What happens now?"
Mistral AI bought Koyeb in February 2026 to build AI infrastructure. The general-purpose PaaS roadmap is uncertain.
Runsite solution
Independent, developer-focused PaaS
Runsite is an independent EU company. Our roadmap serves web developers, not AI training pipelines.
Koyeb problem
"New signups need Pro at $29/mo"
Koyeb's free Starter tier is being restricted. New users must subscribe to Pro ($29/mo) to get started.
Runsite solution
Free tier for everyone
Sign up, deploy, no credit card. Runsite's free tier is and will remain open to all developers.
Koyeb problem
"Free PostgreSQL is only 5 hours/month"
Koyeb's free Postgres allocation runs out fast. It's not usable for any persistent application.
Runsite solution
Always-on managed PostgreSQL
Runsite's free tier includes always-on services. Paid PostgreSQL from €5/mo with auto-backups.
// comparison
Runsite vs Koyeb
Side-by-side. No marketing fluff, just facts.
| Feature | Runsite | Koyeb |
|---|---|---|
| Platform Independence | ✓ Independent company | ✗ Acquired by Mistral AI (Feb 2026) |
| Free Tier Access | ✓ Open to all, no credit card | ✗ New signups require Pro ($29/mo) |
| Free PostgreSQL | ✓ Always available | ✗ 5 hours/month only |
| EU Region | ✓ Frankfurt (EU entity) | Frankfurt (US-incorporated parent) |
| Spending Limits | ✓ Hard cap + Telegram alerts | ✗ Usage-based billing |
| Paid Entry Price | €5/mo | $29/mo (Pro) |
| Scale to Zero | Coming soon | ✓ Built-in autoscaling |
| GPU Instances | Not available | ✓ Via Mistral infrastructure |
// pricing, side by side
Firebase vs Koyeb: what each actually costs
Spark plan is free with fixed quotas. Exceeding any quota forces an upgrade to the metered, uncapped Blaze plan.
Firebase's free Spark tier is great for prototypes, but the jump to uncapped Blaze billing and per-operation Firestore pricing make it one of the riskiest platforms for unexpected bills, there is no hard spending cap, only after-the-fact alerts.
Pricing verified June 2026. Check the official pricing page of each provider for current rates.
// in-depth comparison
How Firebase and Koyeb each compare to Runsite
Firebase vs Runsite
Ship a prototype over a weekend, and Firebase feels like magic. Google's all-in-one backend was built for exactly that speed.
Firestore, Firebase Auth, Cloud Messaging, and Hosting form a tightly integrated ecosystem, and the free Spark plan covers small projects comfortably. The real-time capabilities are genuinely useful for mobile and web apps. The catch shows up later. Everything that made the fast start possible becomes vendor lock-in: Firestore's proprietary query model, Firebase-specific auth SDKs, and Cloud Functions tied to Google Cloud mean your code cannot run elsewhere without substantial rewrites. GDPR compliance adds its own tax, requiring a Google Cloud DPA, careful region configuration, and ongoing vigilance about which services process data where.
Runsite uses standard PostgreSQL, Docker containers, and S3-compatible storage, all portable to any other provider. Teams that have outgrown Firebase's proprietary model, or that need straightforward EU compliance without navigating Google's data processing agreements, get a cleaner foundation. You bring your own auth and realtime layer, but you own every piece of your stack.
Koyeb vs Runsite
In February 2026, Mistral AI acquired Koyeb to build AI infrastructure. That single move changed what the platform is for.
Koyeb had been a promising serverless PaaS with a developer-friendly approach to global deployment. Autoscaling, scale-to-zero, and Docker-based deployments gave you serverless convenience without the cold-start penalties of pure function platforms, and the accessible free tier plus a Frankfurt region served EU users well. The trouble is the new owner's priorities. The roadmap now answers to AI training and inference needs, the free tier is being restricted so new signups require Pro at $29/mo, and Koyeb's independence as a developer-first PaaS is gone.
Runsite is an independent EU company focused exclusively on web developers, with a permanent free tier open to everyone, hard spending limits, and a roadmap driven by indie-dev needs rather than AI-infrastructure pivots. If you chose Koyeb for its indie PaaS character and worry about the post-acquisition direction, that uncertainty is exactly what Runsite is built to remove.
// why consider runsite
Beyond Firebase and Koyeb
EU PaaS for indie developers and small European startups. One region: Frankfurt.
EU-First Infrastructure
While Firebase and Koyeb default to US markets, Runsite is built exclusively for European developers. Frankfurt (eu-central) region, EU entity, EU jurisdiction, with no transatlantic transfers.
Real GDPR Compliance
EU-registered entity. Your data is governed by European law. No US jurisdiction, no CLOUD Act.
Predictable Pricing
No per-invocation charges, no surprise bills. Fixed plans with hard spending caps and Telegram alerts.
Common Questions
FAQ
Which is better for EU hosting, Firebase or Koyeb?
Koyeb (a French (EU) company) has the stronger EU-residency story here, while Firebase is a US Google service and stays subject to the US CLOUD Act even in its European regions. If jurisdiction is your deciding factor, that gap matters. Runsite is EU-native as well, running exclusively in Frankfurt (eu-central) under an EU entity, and adds fully managed deploys, predictable EUR billing, and a permanent free tier — so you get European residency without giving up developer experience.
Which has the better free tier, Firebase or Koyeb?
Free tiers on both Firebase and Koyeb change frequently and tend to share the same catch: compute that sleeps after inactivity, bandwidth or build-minute caps, or trial credits that expire after a fixed window. They are fine for quick experiments but rarely sustainable for an always-on hobby project. If a permanent free tier matters, read the current terms carefully. Limits are often buried in the pricing footnotes. Runsite takes the opposite approach: a free tier with no credit card and no expiry, designed to keep small projects online indefinitely rather than nudging you onto a paid plan.
Is Firebase or Koyeb GDPR-compliant?
Koyeb (a French (EU) company) can keep data under European jurisdiction, whereas Firebase, as a US-incorporated provider, remains subject to the US CLOUD Act regardless of the region you pick — a common sticking point in DPO review. For workloads where EU jurisdiction is a hard requirement, an EU-registered provider removes the ambiguity. Runsite keeps data in Frankfurt under an EU entity, so GDPR posture is the default rather than a per-region configuration exercise.
What is the cheapest way to deploy a side project, Firebase or Koyeb?
For a single small service, both Firebase and Koyeb can look inexpensive on paper. The headline price rarely matches the real bill. Per-service billing, metered bandwidth, build minutes, and add-ons for databases or key-value stores stack up quickly, and neither platform offers a hard spending cap to stop a surprise invoice. The cheapest predictable option is one with fixed monthly pricing and an enforced ceiling. Runsite bills in EUR from €5/month with hard spending caps and Telegram alerts, plus a permanent free tier, so a side project stays cheap by design, not by careful monitoring.
// explore alternatives
Try the European Alternative
Skip the Firebase vs Koyeb debate. Deploy on Runsite.
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