Support for Postgres 18 & Alloydb in Firebase Connect

[cngeru]

Can Firebase Data Connect add support for other SQL databases

[sgindeed]

Right now, Firebase Data Connect only supports PostgreSQL. Google has not announced support for MySQL, SQL Server, SQLite, or other SQL databases. The product is built specifically around Postgres features (Row Level Security, JSONB, triggers, pg functions) and relies on PostgreSQL’s ecosystem for schema management, permissions, and type mapping.

Because of that tight Postgres integration, adding other SQL engines is non-trivial. The team has mentioned that more databases may be considered in the future, but there is no timeline or official confirmation.

So at the moment:
• Supported: PostgreSQL
• Not supported: MySQL, MariaDB, SQL Server, SQLite, etc.
• No public roadmap for additional SQL databases yet.

[cngeru]

Alloydb has been described as a 100% PostgreSQL-compatible database that runs anywhere with better price-perfomance. I think they should support it

Can I upgrade the db to Postgres 18?

[sgindeed]

AlloyDB is fully PostgreSQL-compatible, but Firebase Data Connect does not automatically support every Postgres-compatible engine. Right now it is tightly coupled to Google Cloud SQL for PostgreSQL, because the service manages your schema, RLS policies, migrations, and connection lifecycle. Support for AlloyDB would require separate integration work from the Firebase team, even though AlloyDB itself speaks the Postgres protocol.

So even if AlloyDB is 100% PostgreSQL-compatible, Data Connect will not recognize it unless Google explicitly adds official support. As of today, there has been no announcement.

Regarding PostgreSQL 18:
Firebase Data Connect does not let you upgrade to arbitrary Postgres versions. You can only use the versions available in Cloud SQL for PostgreSQL, and at the moment Cloud SQL does not support Postgres 18. Cloud SQL typically adds new major versions months after the upstream release.

So:

• AlloyDB: Not supported by Data Connect
• PostgreSQL 18: Cannot upgrade yet (Cloud SQL does not provide it)
• Supported versions: Only the Postgres versions listed in Cloud SQL’s release matrix

[cngeru]

Thanks for the clarification @sgindeed

[cngeru]

Just saw that CloudSQL supports PostgreSQL 18 now link ... Is it safe to upgrade the instances?

[sgindeed]

Cloud SQL does support PostgreSQL 18 now, and Google generally won’t make a version available unless it’s stable for production workloads. You should still review the PostgreSQL 18 release notes and test your application in a staging environment before upgrading, but in most cases the upgrade should be safe. If this covers your concerns, feel free to mark the discussion as answered.