StackShareStackShare
Follow on
StackShare

Discover and share technology stacks from companies around the world.

Follow on

© 2025 StackShare. All rights reserved.

Product

  • Stacks
  • Tools
  • Feed

Company

  • About
  • Contact

Legal

  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms of Service
  1. Stackups
  2. Application & Data
  3. Platform as a Service
  4. Realtime Backend API
  5. FeathersJS vs Firebase

FeathersJS vs Firebase

OverviewDecisionsComparisonAlternatives

Overview

Firebase
Firebase
Stacks42.5K
Followers36.0K
Votes2.0K
FeathersJS
FeathersJS
Stacks162
Followers341
Votes70
GitHub Stars15.2K
Forks793

FeathersJS vs Firebase: What are the differences?

Introduction

FeathersJS and Firebase are both popular backend frameworks for web and mobile applications. While they have some similarities, there are key differences that set them apart. Below are six specific differences between FeathersJS and Firebase.

  1. Database Support: FeathersJS provides support for multiple databases, including SQL, NoSQL, and in-memory databases. This allows developers to choose the database that best fits their project requirements. On the other hand, Firebase is tightly integrated with Google Cloud Firestore, a NoSQL database, and does not offer the flexibility to switch to other databases easily.

  2. Real-time Capabilities: FeathersJS is built upon real-time technologies like WebSockets and offers built-in support for real-time data synchronization. Developers can easily implement real-time features such as real-time chat, live-updating dashboards, and collaborative editing. Firebase, on the other hand, offers a more extensive real-time feature set, providing real-time data synchronization out-of-the-box with minimal effort.

  3. Authentication and Authorization: FeathersJS provides a flexible authentication and authorization system where developers can choose from various strategies such as OAuth, JWT, or local authentication. It also allows developers to define fine-grained access control rules. Firebase offers a similar authentication system but includes additional features like social logins, SMS authentication, and user management that are built into the platform.

  4. Server Environment: FeathersJS is built to run on any web server environment, including popular options like Express, Hapi, or Koa. This allows developers to have more control over their server setup and configuration. In contrast, Firebase is hosted and managed entirely by Google, and developers do not have control over the server environment.

  5. Querying and Filtering: FeathersJS provides a powerful querying and filtering syntax that allows developers to perform complex database queries and filtering on the server-side. This can be useful for optimizing queries and reducing bandwidth usage. Firebase offers a simpler querying syntax compared to FeathersJS, which may not be as flexible for complex database operations.

  6. Deployment Options: FeathersJS allows developers to deploy their applications to any hosting provider or cloud platform. It provides flexibility in choosing the deployment strategy and infrastructure. Firebase, on the other hand, offers a seamless deployment experience through Firebase Hosting and integrates well with other Google Cloud services.

In summary, FeathersJS provides flexibility in terms of database support, server environment, and deployment options, while Firebase offers a more integrated and feature-rich real-time platform with additional authentication options and a simpler deployment process. The choice between FeathersJS and Firebase depends on the specific requirements of the project and the trade-offs developers are willing to make.

Share your Stack

Help developers discover the tools you use. Get visibility for your team's tech choices and contribute to the community's knowledge.

View Docs
CLI (Node.js)
or
Manual

Advice on Firebase, FeathersJS

Jared
Jared

Contractor at Insight Global

Aug 9, 2019

ReviewonFirebaseFirebase

I started using Firebase over 5 years ago because of the 'real-time' nature. I originally used to use Real Time Database, but now I use Cloud Firestore. I recommend using the Google Firebase PaaS to quickly develop or prototype small to enterprise level web/mobile applications. Since Google purchased Firebase, it has exploded and it growing rapidly. I also find some level of comfort that it is Backed by Google.

272k views272k
Comments
Noam
Noam

Jul 16, 2020

Needs adviceonNode.jsNode.jsExpressJSExpressJSReactReact

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.

1.15M views1.15M
Comments

Detailed Comparison

Firebase
Firebase
FeathersJS
FeathersJS

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.

Feathers is a real-time, micro-service web framework for NodeJS that gives you control over your data via RESTful resources, sockets and flexible plug-ins.

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.;Real-time Synchronization- Firebase takes a new approach to the way data is moved around an app. Rather than using a traditional request & response model, it works by synchronizing data between devices. Whenever your data changes, all clients are immediately notified within milliseconds. The synchronized data is also persisted, allowing new clients to be immediately updated.;First-class Data Security- Traditional applications intermix security code with application code, whereas Firebase treats security as a first-class feature. You define your security policies in one place using a flexible rules language, and Firebase ensures that they are consistently enforced across all parts of your application. Having all your security logic in one place allows for easy auditing and helps you avoid security mistakes. The safety and security of your data is our top priority.;Automatic Scaling- The Firebase API is built from the ground up for performance and scale. Whenever your data changes, Firebase calculates the minimum set of updates required to keep all your clients in sync. In addition, all Firebase API functions are designed to scale linearly with the size of the data being synchronized. More importantly, Firebase handles all of the scaling and operations for you. Your app will scale from its first user to its first million without any code changes.;Servers are Optional- Firebase can provide all of the data storage, control, and transmission needs of most apps. In many cases, Firebase can completely replace your server and server-side code. This means you no longer need to build complicated backend software and can instead focus on your application logic and your customers.
-
Statistics
GitHub Stars
-
GitHub Stars
15.2K
GitHub Forks
-
GitHub Forks
793
Stacks
42.5K
Stacks
162
Followers
36.0K
Followers
341
Votes
2.0K
Votes
70
Pros & Cons
Pros
  • 371
    Realtime backend made easy
  • 270
    Fast and responsive
  • 242
    Easy setup
  • 215
    Real-time
  • 191
    JSON
Cons
  • 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
Pros
  • 12
    Real-time
  • 7
    Choose any ORM
  • 7
    Datastore Agnostic
  • 6
    Flexible Plugins
  • 5
    Choose Socketio or Primus
Integrations
Trigger.io
Trigger.io
Famo.us
Famo.us
Backbone.js
Backbone.js
Ember.js
Ember.js
AngularJS
AngularJS
React
React
Node.js
Node.js

What are some alternatives to Firebase, FeathersJS?

ExpressJS

ExpressJS

Express is a minimal and flexible node.js web application framework, providing a robust set of features for building single and multi-page, and hybrid web applications.

Socket.IO

Socket.IO

It enables real-time bidirectional event-based communication. It works on every platform, browser or device, focusing equally on reliability and speed.

Django REST framework

Django REST framework

It is a powerful and flexible toolkit that makes it easy to build Web APIs.

Sails.js

Sails.js

Sails is designed to mimic the MVC pattern of frameworks like Ruby on Rails, but with support for the requirements of modern apps: data-driven APIs with scalable, service-oriented architecture.

PubNub

PubNub

PubNub makes it easy for you to add real-time capabilities to your apps, without worrying about the infrastructure. Build apps that allow your users to engage in real-time across mobile, browser, desktop and server.

Pusher

Pusher

Pusher is the category leader in delightful APIs for app developers building communication and collaboration features.

Sinatra

Sinatra

Sinatra is a DSL for quickly creating web applications in Ruby with minimal effort.

Lumen

Lumen

Laravel Lumen is a stunningly fast PHP micro-framework for building web applications with expressive, elegant syntax. We believe development must be an enjoyable, creative experience to be truly fulfilling. Lumen attempts to take the pain out of development by easing common tasks used in the majority of web projects, such as routing, database abstraction, queueing, and caching.

Slim

Slim

Slim is easy to use for both beginners and professionals. Slim favors cleanliness over terseness and common cases over edge cases. Its interface is simple, intuitive, and extensively documented — both online and in the code itself.

SignalR

SignalR

SignalR allows bi-directional communication between server and client. Servers can now push content to connected clients instantly as it becomes available. SignalR supports Web Sockets, and falls back to other compatible techniques for older browsers. SignalR includes APIs for connection management (for instance, connect and disconnect events), grouping connections, and authorization.

Related Comparisons

Bootstrap
Materialize

Bootstrap vs Materialize

Laravel
Django

Django vs Laravel vs Node.js

Bootstrap
Foundation

Bootstrap vs Foundation vs Material UI

Node.js
Spring Boot

Node.js vs Spring-Boot

Liquibase
Flyway

Flyway vs Liquibase