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AWS Elastic Beanstalk vs Firebase: What are the differences?

Introduction

In this article, we will discuss the key differences between AWS Elastic Beanstalk and Firebase. Both of these services are popular choices for deploying and managing web applications, but they have some important distinctions. Let's explore these differences in detail.

  1. Deployment Model: AWS Elastic Beanstalk is designed for more traditional server-based applications and provides a platform that automates the deployment and management of the underlying infrastructure. It allows developers to focus on writing code without worrying about the underlying infrastructure. On the other hand, Firebase is a serverless platform that abstracts away the infrastructure entirely. It provides a backend-as-a-service (BaaS) that allows developers to build and deploy applications without managing servers. Firebase focuses on real-time database updates and mobile app development.

  2. Scalability and Scaling Options: Elastic Beanstalk offers several scaling options, such as manual scaling, automatic scaling based on CPU usage, and automatic scaling based on application metrics. It allows you to scale your application vertically or horizontally based on demand. Firebase, on the other hand, provides automatic scaling out-of-the-box. It automatically scales your application based on the load and ensures that your application can handle the incoming traffic without any configuration.

  3. Database and Storage: AWS Elastic Beanstalk does not provide any specific database or storage solution. You are free to choose and configure your own database and storage services (e.g., Amazon RDS for databases and Amazon S3 for storage) based on your requirements. In contrast, Firebase provides a NoSQL database called Cloud Firestore, which is a scalable and flexible document database. It also offers Firebase Cloud Storage for storing and serving user-generated content.

  4. Authentication and User Management: Firebase provides a built-in authentication service that allows developers to easily implement user registration, login, and authentication features in their applications. It supports various authentication providers like email/password, Google, Facebook, etc. Elastic Beanstalk, on the other hand, does not provide any built-in authentication service. You will need to implement authentication and user management by integrating with other services or implementing your own.

  5. Integration with Other AWS Services: As part of the AWS ecosystem, Elastic Beanstalk seamlessly integrates with a wide range of AWS services. This allows you to leverage other AWS services like Amazon RDS for databases, Amazon S3 for storage, Amazon CloudWatch for monitoring, etc., to enhance the functionality of your application. Firebase, being a Google product, integrates well with other Google services like Google Analytics, Google Cloud Storage, etc., but does not have direct integrations with AWS services.

  6. Pricing Model: AWS Elastic Beanstalk pricing is based on the underlying AWS resources used by your application, such as EC2 instances, load balancers, storage, etc. You are billed for the resources consumed at their respective rates. Firebase, on the other hand, offers a pay-as-you-go pricing model based on usage. It provides a free tier with limited usage and offers different pricing plans based on your application's needs.

In summary, AWS Elastic Beanstalk is a more traditional platform that provides infrastructure automation and flexible integration with various AWS services. Firebase, on the other hand, focuses on serverless development, real-time updates, and provides a complete backend-as-a-service for building web and mobile applications. The choice between Elastic Beanstalk and Firebase depends on the specific requirements and preferences of your project.

Advice on AWS Elastic Beanstalk and Firebase
Needs advice
on
ApolloApolloFirebaseFirebase
and
Socket.IOSocket.IO

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.

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Replies (3)
Timothy Malstead
Junior Full Stack Developer at Freelance · | 7 upvotes · 462.2K views
Recommends
on
FirebaseFirebase

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.

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Recommends
on
AblyAbly

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

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Recommends
on
8base8base

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

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Pros of AWS Elastic Beanstalk
Pros of Firebase
  • 77
    Integrates with other aws services
  • 65
    Simple deployment
  • 44
    Fast
  • 28
    Painless
  • 16
    Free
  • 4
    Well-documented
  • 3
    Independend app container
  • 2
    Postgres hosting
  • 2
    Ability to be customized
  • 371
    Realtime backend made easy
  • 270
    Fast and responsive
  • 242
    Easy setup
  • 215
    Real-time
  • 191
    JSON
  • 134
    Free
  • 128
    Backed by google
  • 83
    Angular adaptor
  • 68
    Reliable
  • 36
    Great customer support
  • 32
    Great documentation
  • 25
    Real-time synchronization
  • 21
    Mobile friendly
  • 18
    Rapid prototyping
  • 14
    Great security
  • 12
    Automatic scaling
  • 11
    Freakingly awesome
  • 8
    Super fast development
  • 8
    Angularfire is an amazing addition!
  • 8
    Chat
  • 6
    Built in user auth/oauth
  • 6
    Ios adaptor
  • 6
    Awesome next-gen backend
  • 6
    Firebase hosting
  • 4
    Speed of light
  • 4
    Very easy to use
  • 3
    Great
  • 3
    It's made development super fast
  • 3
    Brilliant for startups
  • 2
    The concurrent updates create a great experience
  • 2
    Push notification
  • 2
    .net
  • 2
    Cloud functions
  • 2
    Free hosting
  • 2
    Free authentication solution
  • 2
    JS Offline and Sync suport
  • 2
    Low battery consumption
  • 2
    I can quickly create static web apps with no backend
  • 2
    Great all-round functionality
  • 1
    Large
  • 1
    Easy to use
  • 1
    Free SSL
  • 1
    Faster workflow
  • 1
    Google's support
  • 1
    CDN & cache out of the box
  • 1
    Easy Reactjs integration
  • 1
    Simple and easy
  • 1
    Good Free Limits
  • 1
    Serverless

Sign up to add or upvote prosMake informed product decisions

Cons of AWS Elastic Beanstalk
Cons of Firebase
  • 2
    Charges appear automatically after exceeding free quota
  • 1
    Lots of moving parts and config
  • 0
    Slow deployments
  • 31
    Can become expensive
  • 16
    No open source, you depend on external company
  • 15
    Scalability is not infinite
  • 9
    Not Flexible Enough
  • 7
    Cant filter queries
  • 3
    Very unstable server
  • 3
    No Relational Data
  • 2
    Too many errors
  • 2
    No offline sync

Sign up to add or upvote consMake informed product decisions

What is AWS Elastic Beanstalk?

Once you upload your application, Elastic Beanstalk automatically handles the deployment details of capacity provisioning, load balancing, auto-scaling, and application health monitoring.

What is Firebase?

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.

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What companies use AWS Elastic Beanstalk?
What companies use Firebase?
See which teams inside your own company are using AWS Elastic Beanstalk or Firebase.
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What are some alternatives to AWS Elastic Beanstalk and Firebase?
Google App Engine
Google has a reputation for highly reliable, high performance infrastructure. With App Engine you can take advantage of the 10 years of knowledge Google has in running massively scalable, performance driven systems. App Engine applications are easy to build, easy to maintain, and easy to scale as your traffic and data storage needs grow.
AWS CodeDeploy
AWS CodeDeploy is a service that automates code deployments to Amazon EC2 instances. AWS CodeDeploy makes it easier for you to rapidly release new features, helps you avoid downtime during deployment, and handles the complexity of updating your applications.
Docker
The Docker Platform is the industry-leading container platform for continuous, high-velocity innovation, enabling organizations to seamlessly build and share any application — from legacy to what comes next — and securely run them anywhere
AWS CloudFormation
You can use AWS CloudFormation’s sample templates or create your own templates to describe the AWS resources, and any associated dependencies or runtime parameters, required to run your application. You don’t need to figure out the order in which AWS services need to be provisioned or the subtleties of how to make those dependencies work.
Azure App Service
Quickly build, deploy, and scale web apps created with popular frameworks .NET, .NET Core, Node.js, Java, PHP, Ruby, or Python, in containers or running on any operating system. Meet rigorous, enterprise-grade performance, security, and compliance requirements by using the fully managed platform for your operational and monitoring tasks.
See all alternatives