Firebase is a common reach for "I need a backend fast." For a contacts feature it works, but you end up modeling collections, writing security rules, and wiring the SDK, which is general-purpose plumbing for a specific, well-understood shape of data.
Consider an alternative when…
- Your data really is just contacts with some fields.
- You don't want to write and audit Firestore security rules.
- You'd prefer a REST contract you can call from anywhere.
Alternatives
- ContactAPI: contacts as a ready-made API, with publishable keys for the browser case.
- Supabase: if you want a full Postgres backend with auth and storage.
- Firestore, still: if contacts are one slice of a bigger realtime app.
Firebase earns its keep for realtime, multi-feature apps. If contacts are the whole job, a purpose-built API saves you the modeling and the rules.
Where ContactAPI fits
ContactAPI is an open-source REST API for saving and managing contacts. You POST an email plus any JSON fields, get simple CRUD back, and can reach the same data from an AI client over its MCP server. No CRM, no pipeline stages, no lock-in.