How to choose a mobile app backend.
The 2026 framework.
Most guides on how to choose a mobile app backend spend 80% of the page comparing Supabase and Firebase. The honest 2026 version: if you are shipping with an AI app builder, your backend decision usually starts with what the builder bundles. This guide walks through that decision — and where Newly's bundled backend, Liquid Backend, fits among the alternatives.
Liquid Backend ships wired up in every Newly project — zero config
To swap Liquid Backend for Supabase inside project settings
Of new mobile apps fit comfortably on Liquid Backend or Supabase
What it is
The question behind how to choose a mobile app backend.
A mobile app backend is everything your iOS or Android app talks to over the network to do real work: the database that stores accounts and records, the auth layer that signs people in, the file storage that holds avatars and uploads, the real-time channel that pushes live updates, and any custom logic that should not run on the phone. Almost every mobile app needs one. The interesting question is which kind, and in 2026 that question has a different shape than it did three years ago.
The 2026 reality: the backend is usually whatever your AI app builder ships with, plus the option to swap it for an external service. Newly ships Liquid Backend by default — a Postgres-based backend with auth, storage, real-time, and edge functions wired in from the first run. Supabase is one click away inside project settings if you want a third-party managed Postgres provider instead. A fully custom backend is still on the table when compliance or scale demand it, but for the first version of a mobile app you almost never need it.
The short version: for the first version of a mobile app, the bundled option is the right call about 90% of the time. The other 10% is split between teams with specific compliance constraints and teams who already have an existing backend they want to extend. Everything in this guide is calibrated for that 90/10 split.
The three options
Three honest paths for the app backend choice.
Almost every guide on how to choose a mobile app backend collapses to one of three paths. The differences come down to how much glue code you want to write, how much ops you want to own, and how soon you want to ship to the App Store.
Bundled with your AI app builder (Newly + Liquid Backend)
Right for ~90% of mobile apps in 2026.
The 2026 default. Database, auth, file storage, real-time over WebSockets, and edge functions are wired into the project before you write a single line. Newly ships Liquid Backend this way: every project gets a Postgres-backed backend on day one, with no signup elsewhere, no API keys to copy, and no separate dashboard to learn. The AI assistant already speaks the SDK, so prompts like "add a likes table with row-level security" turn into real, working code. Time-to-first-API is zero because the API is there before you start. For 90% of new mobile apps, this is the right answer.
Strengths
- Zero setup — Liquid Backend is live the moment the project is
- Auth, storage, real-time, edge functions out of the box
- Included in the Newly subscription, no per-row metering
- AI assistant generates Liquid Backend code natively
Trade-offs
- Migration target is your own stack if you ever outgrow Newly
- Less knob-twiddling than a self-managed Postgres
Managed BaaS you wire in yourself (Supabase, Firebase, Appwrite)
Higher control, more setup, real exit door (or not).
The classic managed BaaS path: sign up for the provider, create a project, plug the SDK into your mobile app. Supabase runs on Postgres with row-level security, Firebase runs on Firestore (NoSQL) plus Cloud Functions, Appwrite is the open-source self-hostable alternative. Inside Newly, Supabase is the one-click option in project settings if you want a third-party managed Postgres with an exit door. Firebase is also available but with deeper lock-in and worse data portability — we surface it for completeness, not as a recommendation for new projects. Pick this tier when you specifically want a third-party provider, not bundling.
Strengths
- Supabase keeps your data in plain Postgres (pg_dump out anytime)
- Free tier covers a real MVP on every provider
- Generated SDKs for React Native, Swift, and Kotlin
- No servers to patch, deploy, or monitor
Trade-offs
- Pricing curves up past ~$200/mo of usage
- Firebase lock-in is severe (Firestore does not port to SQL)
- More dashboards and credentials to manage
Custom / self-hosted (Node + Postgres on Render, Fly, AWS)
Only when compliance, residency, or scale demand it.
The senior-engineer default of a decade ago: a Node, Python, or Go service on Render, Fly, or your own cloud account, talking to a managed or self-hosted Postgres. You own auth, you own real-time, you own deployment, you own the on-call rotation. The upside is total control, predictable pricing at high steady scale, and zero lock-in. The downside is that you are now running a small infrastructure team alongside your product team. Justified by data residency, compliance, or known high-scale workloads — almost never justified for a first version. Because Newly outputs a real React Native + Expo codebase, you can swap in your own backend later through normal refactoring, not a rewrite.
Strengths
- Zero vendor lock-in by definition
- Predictable cost at high, steady scale
- Custom business logic, custom protocols, anything goes
- Data residency and compliance fully in your hands
Trade-offs
- Weeks of work before the first API call
- You own auth, real-time, and storage from scratch
- Ops and on-call eat developer time forever
The honest recommendation
For 90% of mobile apps starting in 2026, the bundled option is the right first answer. If you are using Newly, that means Liquid Backend: Postgres, auth, real-time, storage, and edge functions wired up from day one with nothing to configure. Supabase is the right call when you specifically want a third-party managed Postgres provider with an open exit door, and it is one click away in project settings. Firebase is only the right pick when you are already deeply tied to Google Cloud — for greenfield apps the lock-in cost is usually too high to justify. A serverless or fully custom backend is worth the work when you have a compliance requirement, a predictable high-scale workload, or business logic that does not fit the BaaS model.
Side by side
Comparing the backend frameworks.
One table, the same five axes for every option. Liquid Backend sits at the top because it is what Newly ships by default; Firebase sits lower because we do not recommend it for greenfield mobile apps without an existing Google Cloud commitment.
| Backend | Type | Data store | Real-time | Auth | Storage | Price |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Liquid Backend | Bundled (Newly default) | Real Postgres | Yes | Yes | Yes | Included with Newly |
| Supabase | Managed BaaS (1-click in Newly) | Real Postgres | Yes | Yes | Yes | Free → ~$25+/mo |
| Appwrite | Managed BaaS / self-host | MariaDB-backed | Yes | Yes | Yes | Free → ~$15+/mo |
| Firebase | Managed BaaS (Google Cloud) | Firestore (NoSQL) | Yes | Yes | Yes | Per-read metered |
| Custom (Node + Postgres) | Self-hosted | Real Postgres | DIY (Pusher/Ably) | DIY (Clerk/own JWT) | DIY (S3/R2) | Infra + ops time |
What to compare
Seven criteria that actually matter.
When you read about mobile app backend services, the marketing copy tends to flatten every product into a checklist. In practice, only a handful of factors decide which one fits your app. Each axis below is framed the same way: what Liquid Backend gives you, what you would reach for Supabase for, and what a custom build requires.
Time-to-first-API
With Liquid Backend it is zero — the API is live before you write code, because every Newly project provisions it. Supabase as a one-click swap inside Newly is also near-instant; signing up for Supabase directly is about ten minutes. A fully custom backend is days to weeks once you count auth, deployment, and the first working endpoint.
Real-time features
Liquid Backend has real-time over WebSockets built in, so subscribing to row changes is a few lines of code the AI assistant writes for you. Supabase Realtime broadcasts Postgres row changes over WebSockets the same way. On a custom stack you reach for Pusher, Ably, PartyKit, or a hand-rolled WebSocket server. Firebase has live listeners but ties them to the Firestore data model.
Auth (out-of-the-box vs roll-your-own)
Liquid Backend handles email and social auth, sessions, and row-level access out of the box. Supabase Auth offers email, OAuth, magic links, MFA, and row-level security policies. Clerk is the polished standalone option when you want auth decoupled from the database. Rolling your own auth means JWT signing, refresh tokens, password resets, and getting MFA right — about a month of work most teams should avoid.
File storage and uploads
Liquid Backend includes file storage with signed URLs and per-user policies, accessible the same way as the rest of the API. Supabase Storage offers signed URLs and image transforms on top of S3. On a custom stack you wire up S3 or Cloudflare R2 yourself. For any app with avatars, photos, or document uploads, picking a backend with built-in storage saves roughly a week of integration work.
Vector search for AI features
If your app does semantic search, recommendations, or AI chat with memory, you want vector embeddings. Liquid Backend supports pgvector through its Postgres layer. Supabase ships pgvector out of the box. On a custom stack you pair Postgres + pgvector or reach for Pinecone or Weaviate. Firebase needs a separate vector service, which is one more system to operate.
Pricing at scale
Liquid Backend is included in the Newly subscription, so the cost curve is flat until you outgrow what Newly provisions. Supabase tracks Postgres compute and bandwidth, which is predictable. Firebase is the worst-case curve because per-read, per-write, and per-document pricing can balloon on chatty real-time features. Self-hosted Postgres on Render or Neon is cheap in dollars but costs ops time.
Vendor lock-in
Liquid Backend's lock-in is bounded by Newly: if you ever leave, the project is real React Native + Expo code you can refactor against your own stack. Supabase has the mildest lock-in among third-party BaaS because the database is plain Postgres — a pg_dump is your exit door. Firebase is the worst because Firestore queries do not translate to SQL. Custom backends have no lock-in by definition.
How Newly handles the backend choice
Newly is an AI app builder for React Native + Expo apps. Every project we generate ships with Liquid Backend, our built-in backend, wired up out of the box: a database, auth (email and social), file storage, and real-time over WebSockets. No signup elsewhere, no extra dashboard, no API keys to copy around — it just works the moment your app does.
If you want to use Supabase instead, it is one click in project settings, and the AI assistant knows the Supabase idioms (row-level security, edge functions, storage policies) just as well as it knows Liquid Backend. From $25/month you get unlimited iOS and Android cloud builds and a one-click path to the App Store and Play Store. If you want to skip the backend research and start building, that is the fastest path we know.
FAQ
Frequently asked questions.
For most 2026 mobile apps the easiest backend is whatever your AI app builder bundles. Newly bundles Liquid Backend, a Postgres-based backend with auth, file storage, real-time over WebSockets, and edge functions, wired up from the first run with zero configuration. If you would rather use a different managed Postgres provider, Supabase is one click away inside Newly project settings and the AI assistant knows its idioms (row-level security, edge functions, storage policies) just as well as it knows Liquid Backend. Both paths get you from prompt to a working backend in roughly ten minutes, but only Liquid Backend requires no signup elsewhere, no extra dashboard, and no API keys to copy around. For a brand new mobile app, that is the path of least resistance.
Stop researching how to choose a mobile app backend. Ship one.
Newly turns a description in your own language into a real React Native + Expo app with Liquid Backend wired up from the first run. Auth, database, real-time, and file storage are already there. You write the product, not the plumbing.