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Apollo vs Firebase: What are the differences?
Developers describe Apollo as "GraphQL server for Express, Connect, Hapi, Koa and more". Build a universal GraphQL API on top of your existing REST APIs, so you can ship new application features fast without waiting on backend changes. On the other hand, Firebase is detailed as "The Realtime App Platform". Firebase is a cloud service designed to power real-time, collaborative applications. Simply add the Firebase library to your application to gain access to a shared data structure; any changes you make to that data are automatically synchronized with the Firebase cloud and with other clients within milliseconds.
Apollo can be classified as a tool in the "Platform as a Service" category, while Firebase is grouped under "Realtime Backend / API".
"From the creators of Meteor" is the top reason why over 8 developers like Apollo, while over 317 developers mention "Realtime backend made easy" as the leading cause for choosing Firebase.
Apollo is an open source tool with 7.4K GitHub stars and 911 GitHub forks. Here's a link to Apollo's open source repository on GitHub.
According to the StackShare community, Firebase has a broader approval, being mentioned in 838 company stacks & 957 developers stacks; compared to Apollo, which is listed in 123 company stacks and 121 developer stacks.
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.
FirebaseI 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.
AblyHello 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
We wanted to save as much time as possible when writing our back-end, therefore Apollo was out of the question, we went for an auto-generated API instead. Hasura looked good in the beginning, but we wanted to retain the ability to add a few manual resolvers and modifications to auto-generated ones, which ruled out Hasura. Postgraphile with its Plug-In architecture was the right choice for us, we never regretted it!
Pros of Apollo
- From the creators of Meteor12
- Great documentation5
- Open source3
- Real time if use subscription2
Pros of Firebase
- Realtime backend made easy369
- Fast and responsive268
- Easy setup240
- Real-time213
- JSON188
- Free133
- Backed by google126
- Angular adaptor82
- Reliable67
- Great customer support35
- Great documentation31
- Real-time synchronization25
- Mobile friendly21
- Rapid prototyping18
- Great security14
- Automatic scaling12
- Freakingly awesome11
- Angularfire is an amazing addition!8
- Super fast development8
- Chat8
- Firebase hosting6
- Built in user auth/oauth6
- Awesome next-gen backend6
- Ios adaptor6
- Very easy to use4
- Speed of light4
- Brilliant for startups3
- Great3
- It's made development super fast3
- Free authentication solution2
- JS Offline and Sync suport2
- Low battery consumption2
- Push notification2
- I can quickly create static web apps with no backend2
- Free hosting2
- The concurrent updates create a great experience2
- Cloud functions2
- Great all-round functionality2
- CDN & cache out of the box1
- Google's support1
- .net1
- Faster workflow1
- Free SSL1
- Easy Reactjs integration1
- Easy to use1
- Large1
- Serverless1
- Good Free Limits1
- Simple and easy1
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Cons of Apollo
- File upload is not supported1
- Increase in complexity of implementing (subscription)1
Cons of Firebase
- Can become expensive31
- No open source, you depend on external company16
- Scalability is not infinite15
- Not Flexible Enough9
- Cant filter queries7
- Very unstable server3
- No Relational Data3
- Too many errors2
- No offline sync2
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