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Amazon SNS vs Socket.IO: What are the differences?
Introduction
In this Markdown code, we will outline the key differences between Amazon SNS and Socket.IO.
Scalability and Flexibility: Amazon SNS is a fully managed pub/sub messaging service, whereas Socket.IO is a JavaScript library for enabling real-time, bidirectional communication between web clients and servers. Amazon SNS allows for scalable and flexible messaging between distributed systems, while Socket.IO is primarily focused on real-time communication within a single application.
Supported Platforms: Amazon SNS is a platform-agnostic service, which means it can be used across various platforms such as mobile, web, and server applications. On the other hand, Socket.IO is primarily used in web-based applications that utilize JavaScript for real-time communication.
Messaging Model: Amazon SNS follows a publish-subscribe messaging model where messages are published to topics and then delivered to subscribers. Socket.IO, on the other hand, uses a client-server model where messages are exchanged between a client and a server using events.
Message Persistence: Amazon SNS provides basic message persistence and delivery guarantees, ensuring that messages are delivered at least once to subscribers. Socket.IO does not offer built-in message persistence, as it is designed for real-time communication where immediate response is crucial. However, developers can implement their own persistence mechanisms if needed.
Scalability and Latency: Amazon SNS is designed to scale to millions of messages per second with low latency, making it suitable for high-volume messaging scenarios. Socket.IO relies on the underlying web server's scalability and may have limitations in handling extremely high loads or large numbers of concurrent clients.
Integration with Other Services: Amazon SNS seamlessly integrates with other AWS services, such as AWS Lambda, AWS IoT, and Amazon SQS, allowing for easy integration into a broader ecosystem of AWS offerings. Socket.IO can be integrated with various back-end frameworks and libraries, but it does not have native integration with specific cloud services like SNS.
In summary, Amazon SNS is a scalable pub/sub messaging service that can be used across platforms, while Socket.IO is a JavaScript library focused on real-time communication within a single application.
We are starting to work on a web-based platform aiming to connect artists (clients) and professional freelancers (service providers). In-app, timeline-based, real-time communication between users (& storing it), file transfers, and push notifications are essential core features. We are considering using Node.js, ExpressJS, React, MongoDB stack with Socket.IO & Apollo, or maybe using Real-Time Database and functionalities of Firebase.
I would recommend looking hard into Firebase
for this project, especially if you do not have dedicated full-stack or backend members on your team.
The real time database, as you mentioned, is a great option, but I would also look into Firestore
. Similar to RTDB, it adds more functions and some cool methods as well. Also, another great thing about Firebase is you have easy access to storage and dead simple auth as well.
Node.js
Express
MongoDB
Socket.IO
and Apollo
are great technologies as well, and may be the better option if you do not wish to cede as much control to third parties in your application.
Overall, I say if you wish to focus more time developing your React
application instead of other parts of your stack, Firebase
is a great way to do that.
Hello Noam 👋,
I suggest taking a look at Ably, it has all the realtime features you need and the platform is designed to guarantee critical functionality at scale.
Here is an in depth comparison between Ably and Firebase
Hey Noam,
I would recommend you to take a look into 8base. It has features you've requested, also relation database and GraphQL API which will help you to develop rapidly.
Thanks, Ilya
Pros of Amazon SNS
- Low cost12
- Supports multi subscribers6
Pros of Socket.IO
- Real-time219
- Node.js143
- Event-based communication141
- Open source102
- WebSockets102
- Binary streaming26
- No internet dependency21
- Large community10
- Push notification6
- Ease of access and setup5
- Test1
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Cons of Amazon SNS
Cons of Socket.IO
- Bad documentation12
- Githubs that complement it are mostly deprecated4
- Doesn't work on React Native3
- Small community2
- Websocket Errors2