Flutterexperts

Empowering Vision with FlutterExperts' Expertise
Serverless AI with Flutter: Using Firebase, Supabase & Cloud Functions for LLM Workflows

Building serverless AI with Flutter involves utilizing Firebase AI Logic SDK for direct client-side interaction with LLMs, or orchestrating calls to services like OpenAI via serverless functions (Firebase Cloud Functions or Supabase Edge Functions) for more complex, secure, and customizable workflows. This approach leverages serverless architecture for scalability and reduced backend management.

The past few years have dramatically changed how we build AI-powered apps. Large Language Models (LLMs) are no longer tools you call from expensive backend servers — the rise of serverless architectures, edge compute, and managed AI APIs has made it possible to build scalable AI experiences without maintaining infrastructure.

Flutter is uniquely positioned in this new wave: cross-platform UI, fast iteration, and seamless integration with cloud backends. In 2025, more teams are choosing serverless AI + Flutter because it gives them the perfect balance of speed, flexibility, cost-efficiency, and production-grade reliability.

If you’re looking for the best Flutter app development company for your mobile application then feel free to contact us at — support@flutterdevs.com.


Table Of Contents:

Introduction

Why Serverless for AI?

Architecture Overview 

Key Components

The AI Landscape & Serverless Synergy

When to Choose Firebase for LLM Apps

Using Firebase Cloud Functions for LLM Workflows 

When to Choose Supabase for LLM Workflows

Choosing Between Firebase, Supabase & Cloud Functions

Deployment & Scaling Best Practices (2025)

Conclusion



Introduction:

Serverless AI has become the fastest and most cost-efficient way to run LLM-powered features in mobile apps. Flutter, combined with Firebase, Supabase, and Cloud Functions, provides a complete stack to build AI workflows without managing servers, provisioning GPUs, or dealing with traditional backend maintenance. 

  • Hook: Start with a compelling problem: building modern, intelligent apps is complex, but the rise of LLMs and serverless tech changes the game.
  • Context: Briefly explain the shift from traditional dedicated servers to highly scalable, managed services like Firebase and Supabase.
  • Thesis Statement: This article will guide you through architecting, building, and deploying serverless AI applications using Flutter as the frontend and both Firebase (Cloud Functions) and Supabase (Edge Functions/pgvector) for secure LLM

Why Serverless for AI?

Serverless fits perfectly for AI workloads due to its scalability, event-driven nature, and cost-efficiency. When paired with LLMs, serverless infrastructure lets apps execute on-demand AI tasks such as summarization, chat streaming, classification, and document processing. 

  1. No infrastructure management:- No servers. No patching. No deployments. Your AI endpoints scale automatically.
  2. Massively cost-efficient:- LLMs can be expensive, but serverless ensures you pay only for usage.
  3. Fast development:- Cloud Functions, Supabase Edge Functions, and Firebase Extensions accelerate prototyping.
  4. Security built in:- Secrets, user authentication, and row-level permissions prevent abuse of your LLM API keys.
  5. Global distribution:- Edge functions run closer to users for low-latency inference orchestration.
  6. Perfect pairing with Flutter:-
    • Flutter handles UI + client logic
    • Serverless handles AI workflows
    • No backend developer required

Architecture Overview :

A typical Flutter + Serverless AI workflow looks like this: 
1. Flutter sends input (text, file, or metadata) to the backend. 
2. Firebase Cloud Functions or Supabase Edge Functions process the request. 
3. The function calls an LLM API (OpenAI/Supabase Vector/Local microservices). 
4. The function streams result back to Flutter. 
5. Flutter UI updates using Cubit/Stream for real-time output. 

Key Components:

  • Flutter: The frontend framework for building cross-platform user interfaces.
  • Firebase AI Logic SDK: A method to integrate Google’s GenAI models (like Gemini) into a Flutter app, handling authentication and security.
  • Cloud Functions for Firebase: A serverless backend framework that runs JavaScript, TypeScript, or Python code in response to events or HTTPS requests. This is useful for running server-side AI logic, managing third-party API calls (e.g., OpenAI), and handling data processing.
  • Supabase: An open-source alternative to Firebase. It offers a Postgres database with vector capabilities (for semantic search), authentication, and low-latency serverless Edge Functions written in TypeScript or Dart

The AI Landscape & Serverless Synergy:

  • The Flutter Advantage for AI UIs:
    • Discuss Flutter’s ability to create beautiful, cross-platform UIs that work seamlessly with AI responses (e.g., streaming text, dynamic formatting).
  • Why “Serverless” is the Future of AI Development:
    • Scalability: Mention how serverless platforms automatically handle traffic spikes when your app goes viral.
    • Cost-Efficiency: Pay-per-execution model makes experimentation cheaper.
    • Reduced Ops: Focus on the code, not infrastructure management.

When to Choose Firebase for LLM Apps:

Use CaseWhy Firebase?
Real-time chat appsFirestore streaming + Functions
AI in social appsEasy Auth, scalable data
Mobile-first AI toolsPerfect Flutter integration
AI triggers based on eventsFirestore Triggers

Firebase is the “fastest to build” option, especially for teams without a backend engineer.

Using Firebase Cloud Functions for LLM Workflows :

Cloud Functions act as the secure gateway to run LLM operations such as summarization, chat actions, embeddings, etc. Firebase remains the most beginner-friendly and production-ready option for Flutter developers. When integrating AI, Firebase’s combination of Auth, Firestore, Cloud Functions, and Extensions becomes incredibly powerful.

  1. Firebase Cloud Function for AI Summarization 

Below is a snippet of a Node.js Firebase Cloud Function that summarizes text using an LLM API: 

Code Snippet:-

import * as functions from "firebase-functions"; 
import fetch from "node-fetch"; 
 
export const summarizeText = functions.https.onCall(async (data) => { 
  const text = data.text; 
 
  const response = await fetch("https://api.openai.com/v1/chat/completions", { 
    method: "POST", 
    headers: { 
      "Authorization": `Bearer ${process.env.OPENAI_API_KEY}`, 
      "Content-Type": "application/json" 
    }, 
    body: JSON.stringify({ 
      model: "gpt-4o-mini", 
      messages: [ 
        { role: "system", content: "Summarize text concisely." }, 
        { role: "user", content: text } 
      ] 
    }) 
  }); 
 
  const result = await response.json(); 
  return { summary: result.choices[0].message.content }; 
}); 

2. Integrating Cloud Function in Flutter 

Flutter uses Firebase Functions SDK to call the above function and retrieve the summary. 

Code Snippet:-

final functions = FirebaseFunctions.instance; 
 
Future<String> summarize(String text) async { 
  final callable = functions.httpsCallable('summarizeText'); 
  final result = await callable.call({'text': text}); 
  return result.data['summary']; 
} 

3. Supabase Edge Functions for AI Workflows 

Supabase Edge Functions (Deno-based) allow extremely fast serverless execution with built-in vector search. 

Code Snippet:-

import { serve } from "https://deno.land/std/http/server.ts"; 
 
serve(async (req) => { 
  const { text } = await req.json(); 
 
  const embedding = await createEmbedding(text); // hypothetical call 
  const summary = await generateLLMResponse(text); 
 
  return new Response(JSON.stringify({ embedding, summary }), { 
    headers: { "Content-Type": "application/json" }, 
  }); 
}); 
 

4. Flutter Integration with Supabase 

Using the `supabase_flutter` SDK, Flutter apps can call Edge Functions easily. 

Code Snippet:-

final response = await supabase.functions.invoke( 
  'summarize', 
  body: {'text': 'Flutter makes AI apps easy.'}, 
); 

5. Real-time AI Streaming in Flutter 

When paired with Cubit/Bloc, Flutter can show live streaming responses from LLMs in chat-like UIs. 

Code Snippet:-

class ChatCubit extends Cubit<String> { 
  ChatCubit() : super(''); 
 
  Future<void> streamChat(String prompt) async { 
    emit("Loading..."); 
 
    final stream = supabase.functions.invokeStream( 
      'chatStream', 
      body: {'prompt': prompt}, 
    ); 
 
    await for (final chunk in stream) { 
      emit(state + chunk); 
    } 
  } 
} 

When to Choose Supabase for LLM Workflows:

Use CaseWhy Supabase?
RAG (Retrieval-Augmented Generation) appspgvector + SQL functions
Document search + semantic searchPerfect with embeddings
Real-time token streamingSmooth & fast
Complex analytics + AIPostgres power
Cost-sensitive appsCheaper than Firebase at scale

If your AI workflow is heavily database-driven, Supabase is the best choice

Choosing Between Firebase, Supabase & Cloud Functions:

Here’s a quick decision framework:-

  1. Choose Firebase:-
    • You need real-time chat or feed
    • You want the easiest Flutter integration
    • You prefer Google ecosystem features
    • Your app depends on Firestore events

2. Choose Supabase:-

  • You need embeddings or vector search
  • You want SQL control
  • You want real-time token streaming
  • You want a more open-source, self-hostable stack
  • Your AI workflows require fast edge functions

3. Choose Cloud Functions (general):-

  • You want maximum customization
  • You want provider-agnostic architecture
  • You need to orchestrate complex LLM pipelines
  • You prefer building your own API layer

Deployment & Scaling Best Practices (2025):

1. Keep your LLM keys secure:

-> Never store keys in Flutter code.
-> Always store them in:

  • Firebase Functions environment variables
  • Supabase Edge function secrets
  • Cloud Run secret manager

2. Implement usage limits per user: Prevent abuse by enforcing:

  • daily token quotas
  • rate limits
  • per-minute request caps
  • per-user billing

3. Use streaming responses:

  • Streaming keeps apps fast and interactive.
  • Most LLM providers now support streaming tokens.

4. Cache embeddings:

Embeddings rarely change → store them once.

5. Use hybrid retrieval (keywords + vectors):

For better accuracy in RAG applications.

Conclusion: 

Flutter + Serverless AI empowers developers to build scalable, fast, low-cost AI apps without maintaining servers. With Firebase, Supabase, and Cloud Functions, you get authentication, databases, vector search, and LLM orchestration—all serverless. 

❤ ❤ Thanks for reading this article ❤❤

If I need to correct something? Let me know in the comments. I would love to improve.

Clap 👏 If this article helps you.


From Our Parent Company Aeologic

Aeologic Technologies is a leading AI-driven digital transformation company in India, helping businesses unlock growth with AI automationIoT solutions, and custom web & mobile app development. We also specialize in AIDC solutions and technical manpower augmentation, offering end-to-end support from strategy and design to deployment and optimization.

Trusted across industries like manufacturing, healthcare, logistics, BFSI, and smart cities, Aeologic combines innovation with deep industry expertise to deliver future-ready solutions.

Feel free to connect with us:
And read more articles from FlutterDevs.com.

FlutterDevs team of Flutter developers to build high-quality and functionally-rich apps. Hire Flutter developer for your cross-platform Flutter mobile app project on an hourly or full-time basis as per your requirement! For any flutter-related queries, you can connect with us on FacebookGitHubTwitter, and LinkedIn.

We welcome feedback and hope that you share what you’re working on using #FlutterDevs. We truly enjoy seeing how you use Flutter to build beautiful, interactive web experiences.


Leave comment

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked with *.