Noob here—why is my web app hitting database limits real quick?

Hi,

I’m building a worker roster management web app with around 600 workers. Right now, every time I view the roster, it reads the entire database, and the reads quickly add up to the firebase free limit. This seems inefficient, but I’m not sure how to fix it.

The backend is on Railway, the database is on Firebase, and I’m considering moving to DigitalOcean for better scalability and cost control. Before making that move, I’d like advice on:

How to optimise database reads for a roster app.

Whether moving to DigitalOcean or another platform would help with costs or efficiency.

Any tips or recommendations? Thanks!