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DigitalOcean vs Firebase: What are the differences?
Developers describe DigitalOcean as "Deploy an SSD cloud server in less than 55 seconds with a dedicated IP and root access". We take the complexities out of cloud hosting by offering blazing fast, on-demand SSD cloud servers, straightforward pricing, a simple API, and an easy-to-use control panel. 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.
DigitalOcean can be classified as a tool in the "Cloud Hosting" category, while Firebase is grouped under "Realtime Backend / API".
Some of the features offered by DigitalOcean are:
- We provide all of our users with high-performance SSD Hard Drives, flexible API, and the ability to select to nearest data center location.
- SSD Cloud Servers in 55 Seconds
- We provide a 99.99% uptime SLA around network, power and virtual server availability. If we fail to deliver, we’ll credit you based on the amount of time that service was unavailable.
On the other hand, Firebase provides the following key features:
- Add the Firebase library to your app and get access to a shared data structure. Any changes made to that data are automatically synchronized with the Firebase cloud and with other clients within milliseconds.
- Firebase apps can be written entirely with client-side code, update in real-time out-of-the-box, interoperate well with existing services, scale automatically, and provide strong data security.
- Data Accessibility- Data is stored as JSON in Firebase. Every piece of data has its own URL which can be used in Firebase's client libraries and as a REST endpoint. These URLs can also be entered into a browser to view the data and watch it update in real-time.
"Great value for money", "Simple dashboard" and "Good pricing" are the key factors why developers consider DigitalOcean; whereas "Realtime backend made easy", "Fast and responsive" and "Easy setup" are the primary reasons why Firebase is favored.
According to the StackShare community, Firebase has a broader approval, being mentioned in 838 company stacks & 957 developers stacks; compared to DigitalOcean, which is listed in 935 company stacks and 674 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
While Media Temple is more expensive than DigitalOcean, sometimes it is like comparing apples and oranges. DigitalOcean provides what is called Virtual Private Servers ( VPS ). While you seem to be on your own dedicated server, you are, in fact, sharing the same hardware with others.
If you need to be on your own dedicated server, or have other hardware requirements, you do not really have as many options with DigitalOcean. But with Media Temple, the skies the limit ( but so is potentially the cost ).
DigitalOcean was where I began; its USD5/month is extremely competitive and the overall experience as highly user-friendly.
However, their offerings were lacking and integrating with other resources I had on AWS was getting more costly (due to transfer costs on AWS). Eventually I moved the entire project off DO's Droplets and onto AWS's EC2.
One may initially find the cost (w/o free tier) and interface of AWS daunting however with good planning you can achieve highly cost-efficient systems with savings plans, spot instances, etcetera.
Do not dive into AWS head-first! Seriously, don't. Stand back and read pricing documentation thoroughly. You can, not to the fault of AWS, easily go way overbudget. Your first action upon getting your AWS account should be to set up billing alarms for estimated and current bill totals.
Pros of DigitalOcean
- Great value for money559
- Simple dashboard363
- Good pricing360
- Ssds300
- Nice ui248
- Easy configuration192
- Great documentation155
- Ssh access137
- Great community134
- Ubuntu24
- Docker13
- IPv6 support12
- Private networking10
- 99.99% uptime SLA7
- Great tutorials7
- Simple API7
- 55 Second Provisioning6
- One Click Applications5
- CoreOS4
- Dokku4
- Node.js4
- Debian4
- LAMP4
- Ghost3
- 1Gb/sec Servers3
- Simple Control Panel3
- LEMP3
- Word Press3
- Runs CoreOS2
- Mean2
- Speed2
- GitLab2
- Django2
- Quick and no nonsense service2
- Good Tutorials2
- Ruby on Rails2
- Hex Core machines with dedicated ECC Ram and RAID SSD s2
- Spaces1
- My go to server provider1
- Ease and simplicity1
- Nice1
- Find it superfitting with my requirements (SSD, ssh.1
- Easy Setup1
- Transfer Globally1
- Drupal1
- FreeBSD Amp1
- Amazing Hardware1
- Magento1
- KVM Virtualization1
- ownCloud1
- RedMine1
- CentOS1
- Fedora1
- FreeBSD1
- Cheap1
- Static IP1
- It's the easiest to get started for small projects1
- Automatic Backup1
- Great support1
- Quick and easy to set up1
- Servers on demand - literally1
- Reliability1
- Variety of services0
- Managed Kubernetes0
Pros of Firebase
- Realtime backend made easy361
- Fast and responsive264
- Easy setup234
- Real-time207
- JSON186
- Free128
- Backed by google121
- Angular adaptor81
- Reliable63
- Great customer support36
- Great documentation26
- Real-time synchronization23
- Mobile friendly20
- Rapid prototyping17
- Great security12
- Automatic scaling11
- Freakingly awesome10
- Chat8
- Angularfire is an amazing addition!8
- Super fast development8
- Awesome next-gen backend6
- Ios adaptor6
- Built in user auth/oauth5
- Firebase hosting5
- Speed of light4
- Very easy to use4
- It's made development super fast3
- Great3
- Brilliant for startups3
- Great all-round functionality2
- Low battery consumption2
- I can quickly create static web apps with no backend2
- The concurrent updates create a great experience2
- JS Offline and Sync suport2
- Faster workflow1
- Large1
- Serverless1
- .net1
- Free SSL1
- Good Free Limits1
- Push notification1
- Easy to use1
- Easy Reactjs integration1
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Cons of DigitalOcean
- Pricing3
- No live support chat3
Cons of Firebase
- Can become expensive29
- No open source, you depend on external company15
- Scalability is not infinite15
- Not Flexible Enough9
- Cant filter queries5
- Very unstable server3
- No Relational Data2
- Too many errors2
- No offline sync1
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