Question 1

Does ReadMeter reduce my Firestore bill?

Accepted Answer

Not automatically. ReadMeter shows Firestore read activity during development so you can decide what to optimize. It does not change Firebase pricing by itself. If you run readmeter add, the installer may rewrite imports or add files so reads can be counted — you still choose what to ship.

Question 2

Are the read counts accurate?

Accepted Answer

They are directional, not exact. ReadMeter counts Firestore document reads during local development sessions. Caching behavior, traffic patterns, and production environments can all affect real-world usage and billing.

Question 3

Does ReadMeter show my actual production costs?

Accepted Answer

No. ReadMeter runs only in development and never observes real users. It cannot see or predict your production Firestore bill. For actual costs, use Firebase's official billing tools.

Question 4

Does ReadMeter run in production?

Accepted Answer

No. ReadMeter is designed to run only in development. It does not collect production data, does not monitor live traffic, and has no effect on deployed applications. If it appears in production, that is a bug.

Question 5

What exactly does ReadMeter track?

Accepted Answer

ReadMeter tracks Firestore document reads triggered when a page loads during development. This includes: single document fetches, list or query fetches, and the initial load of real-time listeners. It intentionally ignores: writes and deletes, background updates after page load, historical or aggregated data, and exact billing calculations.

Question 6

Why does ReadMeter show warnings like "High risk"?

Accepted Answer

Warnings are based on opinionated thresholds. They indicate patterns that may scale poorly with traffic, such as high read counts, repeated queries, or queries in loops. They are signals, not guarantees.

Question 7

How much does ReadMeter cost?

Accepted Answer

ReadMeter costs $9 as a one-time purchase. There is: no subscription, no usage limit, and updates are included with your license. One license activates one device only and is non-transferable — do not share your key. The license is valid for development use only.

Question 8

Does ReadMeter send any data anywhere?

Accepted Answer

Your Firestore document payloads and read metrics from the widget are not sent to ReadMeter for analysis; what you see in the widget stays on your machine. License install and verification contact our servers with your license key. Separately, the CLI may send optional anonymous product-usage events (for example after readmeter add or remove) with a random id stored at install — no project paths or payloads. Disable that with READMETER_TELEMETRY=0. See the Privacy Policy for details. readmeter.dev also uses standard website analytics.

Question 9

What is ReadMeter and what isn't it?

Accepted Answer

ReadMeter is: a development-time visibility tool for Firestore read patterns; an early signal for potential scaling risks; and opinionated, simple, and focused. ReadMeter is not: a billing calculator (it doesn't calculate exact Firestore costs or provide detailed billing breakdowns); production monitoring (it runs during development, not in production); a guarantee of cost reduction; or an exact prediction of your Firestore bill. The CLI can change project files when you run readmeter add — it's a sanity check for engineers, not an accounting system.

Common questions