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Azure Notification Hubs vs Firebase: What are the differences?
- Scalability: Azure Notification Hubs provides the capability to scale up to millions of devices, ensuring that messages can be reliably delivered to a large number of users. Firebase, on the other hand, is optimized for smaller scale applications.
- Platform Support: Azure Notification Hubs supports a wide range of platforms including iOS, Android, Windows, and web, allowing developers to reach users across different devices. Firebase, on the other hand, primarily focuses on mobile platforms such as iOS and Android.
- Integration: Azure Notification Hubs seamlessly integrates with other Azure services, allowing developers to easily combine it with various cloud services for additional functionality. Firebase, on the other hand, provides a suite of services that are tightly integrated, making it easy to use multiple Firebase services together.
- Customization: Azure Notification Hubs offers extensive customization options, allowing developers to tailor notifications based on user preferences and behavior. Firebase, on the other hand, provides a more streamlined approach with predefined templates and notification types.
- Backward Compatibility: Azure Notification Hubs provides support for legacy push protocols, ensuring that applications using older versions of push notification services can still function. Firebase, on the other hand, focuses on the latest push notification technologies and may not have support for older protocols.
- Data Sync: Firebase offers a real-time database that syncs data across clients in real-time, making it easy to build real-time applications. Azure Notification Hubs, on the other hand, primarily focuses on delivering notifications and does not provide real-time data sync capabilities.
In Summary, Azure Notification Hubs offers scalability, platform support, integration with other Azure services, customization options, backward compatibility, and does not provide real-time data sync capabilities, whereas Firebase focuses on smaller scale applications, primarily supports mobile platforms, is tightly integrated with other Firebase services, offers predefined templates and notification types, focuses on the latest push notification technologies, provides real-time data sync capabilities, and may not have support for older protocols.
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 Azure Notification Hubs
Pros of Firebase
- Realtime backend made easy371
- Fast and responsive270
- Easy setup242
- Real-time215
- JSON191
- Free134
- Backed by google128
- Angular adaptor83
- Reliable68
- Great customer support36
- Great documentation32
- Real-time synchronization25
- Mobile friendly21
- Rapid prototyping19
- Great security14
- Automatic scaling12
- Freakingly awesome11
- Super fast development8
- Angularfire is an amazing addition!8
- Chat8
- Firebase hosting6
- Built in user auth/oauth6
- Awesome next-gen backend6
- Ios adaptor6
- Speed of light4
- Very easy to use4
- Great3
- It's made development super fast3
- Brilliant for startups3
- Free hosting2
- Cloud functions2
- JS Offline and Sync suport2
- Low battery consumption2
- .net2
- The concurrent updates create a great experience2
- Push notification2
- I can quickly create static web apps with no backend2
- Great all-round functionality2
- Free authentication solution2
- Easy Reactjs integration1
- Google's support1
- Free SSL1
- CDN & cache out of the box1
- Easy to use1
- Large1
- Faster workflow1
- Serverless1
- Good Free Limits1
- Simple and easy1
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Cons of Azure Notification Hubs
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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