The free quotas reset daily, so a small app can run on them. Cloud Firestore is Google's serverless document database, available through Firebase and Google Cloud, with realtime listeners and security rules. The free quota covers 1 GiB of stored data, 50,000 document reads a day, 20,000 writes a day, 20,000 deletes a day and 10 GiB of outbound transfer a month, and it resets around midnight Pacific time. Only one database per project qualifies. Beyond that you pay per document read, write and delete, per index entry read, for storage including index overhead and for network bandwidth, and backups, point-in-time recovery, clones and TTL deletes have no free usage. G2 shows 4.2 from 97 reviews. Reviewers like how fast it is to start and the realtime features. The recurring complaint is that cost rises past the free quota and is hard to predict, mostly from reads and egress.
Free tier quotas
Stored data
1 GiB
Document reads
50,000 per day
Document writes
20,000 per day
Document deletes
20,000 per day
Outbound data transfer
10 GiB per month
Quota reset
Daily, around midnight Pacific time
Databases that get the free quota
One per project; extra databases need a paid billing plan
Last sniffed Oct 24, 2026. Always confirm on the official pricing page.
👍 Good boy
+The free quota is published in daily amounts and resets around midnight Pacific time, so you can check it against your expected traffic before you build.
+G2 reviewers rate it 4.2 from 97 reviews, with 52% giving 5 stars and 40% giving 4 stars.
+A G2 reviewer called it very fast, said there is no server or database to set up, and praised the realtime updates for building chat features.
+The billing rules for realtime listeners are written down. You pay a read each time a document in the result set is added or updated.
+Queries with up to one range field are not charged for index entry reads, so simple queries stay cheap.
+Spending controls exist. The page says you can set budgets and alerts in the Google Cloud console.
+Inbound network traffic is free, and the first 10 GiB of inter-region US traffic each month is free.
👎 Watch out
−Cost past the free quota is the top complaint. G2's Firestore summary has 1 mention of expensive pricing after the free tier and 1 of unclear pricing. On G2's Firebase listing, reviewers describe cost predictability problems as usage grows, especially reads, writes and network egress, and one said they must watch reads and writes because an inefficient query can make the bill jump.
−Reads multiply in ways that surprise people. Every query costs at least one read, listeners charge a read each time a document in the result set changes, offsets charge for every skipped document, and security rules that call get() or exists() add reads.
−Storage includes overhead from metadata, automatic indexes and composite indexes. A commenter on an r/googlecloud thread titled Firestore Cloud Storage is very expensive said the cost came from storing more data than the poster realized, not from reads and writes.
−Querying is restrictive. G2's Firebase summary lists restrictive querying and unexpected pricing increases as challenges as apps scale, and an r/Firebase post warns that documents can disappear from an orderBy query when the field is missing.
−The free quota covers one database per project, and backups, point-in-time recovery, clones and TTL deletes need billing enabled from the start.
−The reads and writes quota is daily, so one heavy day can use it up. The page says you must enable billing for more quota.
−G2's summary for Firestore itself is thin. Each praised or criticized point has 1 mention among 97 reviews, so most of the cost detail here comes from G2's Firebase listing and Reddit.
The catch
Firestore has a permanent free quota: 1 GiB of stored data, 50,000 document reads a day, 20,000 writes a day, 20,000 deletes a day and 10 GiB of outbound data transfer a month. Quotas are applied daily and reset around midnight Pacific time. The page says you only need to enable billing on the Google Cloud project if you need more quota, so I marked a card as not required.
Only one database per project qualifies for the free quota. If you delete it, the next one you create becomes the eligible one. TTL deletes, point-in-time recovery data, backup data, restore operations and clone operations have no free usage and need billing.
What counts toward reads matters more than the headline numbers. Each query costs at least one read, even with no results. Listeners charge a read each time a document in the result set is added or updated. An offset charges a read for every skipped document. Queries with more than one range field are charged for index entries read, in batches of up to 1,000. Security rules that use get() or exists() add reads for the documents they check. Storage includes metadata and index overhead, which is why some people find their stored size larger than their data.
Unit prices past the free quota are on Google Cloud's pricing page by location, which I did not read, so none are listed here. Set a budget alert before you launch. I found no commercial-use statement on the pricing page, so that field is unknown.
What’s included
✓Document and collection data model
✓Realtime listeners
✓Security Rules
✓Aggregation queries
✓Vector search with K-nearest neighbor indexes
✓Point-in-time recovery
✓Backups and restore
✓Clone operations
✓TTL deletes
✓Budgets and alerts through Google Cloud
✓MongoDB compatibility through Google Cloud
Free tier value
Generosity
A
Estimated value
1 GiB stored, 50K reads and 20K writes a day, 10 GiB outbound a month
Feature parity
Free quota covers one database per project, not backups, restores or clones. Rest bills per use.
You pay per document read, write and delete, per batch of index entries read, for storage, and for network bandwidth. Unit prices by location are on Google Cloud's pricing page.
Network pricing
Inbound transfer is free. Transfer between US regions is $0.01 per GiB after the first 10 GiB a month. Internet egress follows Google Cloud rates.
Features with no free usage
TTL deletes, point-in-time recovery data, backups, restore operations and clone operations are billed from the first unit and need billing enabled.
Common questions
Is Firestore free?
It has a permanent free quota: 1 GiB stored, 50,000 reads, 20,000 writes and 20,000 deletes a day, and 10 GiB of outbound transfer a month. Past that you must enable billing.
Do I need a credit card for the free quota?
The pricing page says billing is needed only if you want more quota, so the free quota appears to need none. Confirm in the console when you create the project.
Does every database get the free quota?
No. Only one database per project qualifies, the first one you create.
How are reads counted for realtime listeners?
You pay a read each time a document in the result set is added or updated.
What do users complain about?
Cost that rises quickly and is hard to predict past the free quota, mostly from reads, egress and index storage, plus restrictive querying.
How can I avoid a surprise bill?
Set budgets and alerts in the Google Cloud console, and avoid large offsets, since each skipped document costs a read.
Change history
Checked October 22, 2026
Pricing docs (updated October 21, 2026) list the free quota at 1 GiB, 50,000 reads and 20,000 writes and deletes a day. G2 shows 4.2 from 97 reviews.
