Firebase Authentication vs Passport

Overview

Passport

Stacks471

Followers368

Votes0

GitHub Stars23.5K

Forks1.2K

Firebase Authentication

Stacks533

Followers610

Votes55

Firebase Authentication vs Passport: What are the differences?

Authentication Services: Firebase Authentication vs Passport

Firebase Authentication and Passport are both popular authentication services used in web development but they have key differences in their approach and functionality. Here are 6 key differences between Firebase Authentication and Passport:

Integration with Backend Technologies: Firebase Authentication is a complete authentication service that provides an out-of-the-box solution for user authentication, including integrations with common backend technologies such as Firebase Realtime Database and Cloud Firestore. On the other hand, Passport is a middleware authentication library for Node.js that can be integrated with any backend framework or database, giving developers more flexibility in choosing their backend technologies.
Authentication Providers: Firebase Authentication supports a wide range of authentication providers including email/password, Google, Facebook, Twitter, and others. It provides pre-built UI components for easy integration with these providers. In contrast, Passport is authentication middleware that provides a modular approach for implementing multiple authentication providers. Developers can choose and configure specific authentication strategies to support different providers based on their requirements.
Server-side vs Client-side Authentication: Firebase Authentication primarily handles authentication on the client-side by providing SDKs for various platforms (web, iOS, Android, etc.). It manages user sessions and authentication tokens seamlessly. Passport, on the other hand, is primarily designed for server-side authentication. It provides middleware functions to authenticate requests and store session data.
Scalability and Performance: Firebase Authentication is a cloud-based service provided by Google, making it highly scalable and performant. It can handle large volumes of authentication requests and provides reliable session management. Passport, being a middleware library, relies on the scalability and performance of the underlying server or framework it is integrated with.
Customization and Flexibility: Firebase Authentication provides a straightforward workflow for user authentication with minimal configuration. It comes with pre-built UI components and customizable UI templates to match the app's look and feel. Passport, on the other hand, gives developers more control and flexibility in implementing custom authentication flows and user interfaces. It allows developers to choose their own UI libraries or design patterns.
Community and Ecosystem: Firebase Authentication is part of the Firebase suite of products offered by Google. It has a large and active community of developers, extensive documentation, and official support from Google. Passport, being an open-source library, has a wider ecosystem and community support from the Node.js and JavaScript community. It also has a variety of strategies and plugins developed by the community that can be used for different authentication scenarios.

In Summary, Firebase Authentication provides a comprehensive and seamless authentication solution with pre-built integrations and UI components, suitable for rapid application development and access to Google's infrastructure. Passport, on the other hand, offers a more flexible and customizable approach, enabling developers to integrate authentication with any backend framework or database and providing greater control over the authentication process.

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Advice on Passport, Firebase Authentication

Vaibhav

Jul 17, 2020

Needs advice

Currently, Passport.js repo has 324 open issues, and Jared (the original author) seems to be the one doing most of the work. Also, given that the documentation is not proper. Is it worth using Passport.js?

As of now, StackShare shows it has 29 companies using it. How do you implement auth in your project or your company? Are there any good alternatives to Passport.js? Should I implement auth from scratch?

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Comments

Detailed Comparison

Passport	Firebase Authentication
It is authentication middleware for Node.js. Extremely flexible and modular, It can be unobtrusively dropped in to any Express-based web application. A comprehensive set of strategies support authentication using a username and password, Facebook, Twitter, and more.	It provides backend services, easy-to-use SDKs, and ready-made UI libraries to authenticate users to your app. It supports authentication using passwords, phone numbers, popular federated identity providers like Google,
Single sign-on with OpenID and OAuth; Easily handle success and failure	-
Statistics
GitHub Stars 23.5K	GitHub Stars -
GitHub Forks 1.2K	GitHub Forks -
Stacks 471	Stacks 533
Followers 368	Followers 610
Votes 0	Votes 55
Pros & Cons
No community feedback yet	Pros 12 Completely Free 8 Email/Password 8 Native App + Web integrations 7 Passwordless 6 Works seemlessly with other Firebase Services Cons 6 Heavy webpack
Integrations
ExpressJS Vue.js JSON Web Token	No integrations available

What are some alternatives to Passport, Firebase Authentication?

Auth0

A set of unified APIs and tools that instantly enables Single Sign On and user management to all your applications.

Stormpath

Stormpath is an authentication and user management service that helps development teams quickly and securely build web and mobile applications and services.

Keycloak

It is an Open Source Identity and Access Management For Modern Applications and Services. It adds authentication to applications and secure services with minimum fuss. No need to deal with storing users or authenticating users. It's all available out of the box.

Devise

Devise is a flexible authentication solution for Rails based on Warden

Amazon Cognito

You can create unique identities for your users through a number of public login providers (Amazon, Facebook, and Google) and also support unauthenticated guests. You can save app data locally on users’ devices allowing your applications to work even when the devices are offline.

WorkOS

Start selling to enterprise customers with just a few lines of code.

OAuth.io

OAuth is a protocol that aimed to provide a single secure recipe to manage authorizations. It is now used by almost every web application. However, 30+ different implementations coexist. OAuth.io fixes this massive problem by acting as a universal adapter, thanks to a robust API. With OAuth.io integrating OAuth takes minutes instead of hours or days.

OmniAuth

OmniAuth is a Ruby authentication framework aimed to abstract away the difficulties of working with various types of authentication providers. It is meant to be hooked up to just about any system, from social networks to enterprise systems to simple username and password authentication.

ORY Hydra

It is a self-managed server that secures access to your applications and APIs with OAuth 2.0 and OpenID Connect. It is OpenID Connect Certified and optimized for latency, high throughput, and low resource consumption.

Kinde

Simple, powerful authentication that you can integrate in minutes. Free your users from passwords with secure and frictionless one click sign up and sign in. Built from the ground up using the best in class security protocols available today.

Related Comparisons

Firebase Authentication vs Passport: What are the differences?

Authentication Services: Firebase Authentication vs Passport

Integration with Backend Technologies: Firebase Authentication is a complete authentication service that provides an out-of-the-box solution for user authentication, including integrations with common backend technologies such as Firebase Realtime Database and Cloud Firestore. On the other hand, Passport is a middleware authentication library for Node.js that can be integrated with any backend framework or database, giving developers more flexibility in choosing their backend technologies.
Authentication Providers: Firebase Authentication supports a wide range of authentication providers including email/password, Google, Facebook, Twitter, and others. It provides pre-built UI components for easy integration with these providers. In contrast, Passport is authentication middleware that provides a modular approach for implementing multiple authentication providers. Developers can choose and configure specific authentication strategies to support different providers based on their requirements.
Server-side vs Client-side Authentication: Firebase Authentication primarily handles authentication on the client-side by providing SDKs for various platforms (web, iOS, Android, etc.). It manages user sessions and authentication tokens seamlessly. Passport, on the other hand, is primarily designed for server-side authentication. It provides middleware functions to authenticate requests and store session data.
Scalability and Performance: Firebase Authentication is a cloud-based service provided by Google, making it highly scalable and performant. It can handle large volumes of authentication requests and provides reliable session management. Passport, being a middleware library, relies on the scalability and performance of the underlying server or framework it is integrated with.
Customization and Flexibility: Firebase Authentication provides a straightforward workflow for user authentication with minimal configuration. It comes with pre-built UI components and customizable UI templates to match the app's look and feel. Passport, on the other hand, gives developers more control and flexibility in implementing custom authentication flows and user interfaces. It allows developers to choose their own UI libraries or design patterns.
Community and Ecosystem: Firebase Authentication is part of the Firebase suite of products offered by Google. It has a large and active community of developers, extensive documentation, and official support from Google. Passport, being an open-source library, has a wider ecosystem and community support from the Node.js and JavaScript community. It also has a variety of strategies and plugins developed by the community that can be used for different authentication scenarios.

Firebase Authentication vs Passport

Overview

Firebase Authentication vs Passport: What are the differences?