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Firebase vs Firehose.io: What are the differences?
Introduction
Firebase and Firehose.io are both platforms that assist in the development of web and mobile applications by providing backend services and real-time data streaming. However, they have several key differences that developers should consider when choosing which platform to use.
Data Synchronization: One key difference between Firebase and Firehose.io is how they handle data synchronization. Firebase provides real-time synchronization of data across all devices in a scalable manner, enabling developers to build responsive and collaborative applications effortlessly. On the other hand, Firehose.io focuses more on real-time data streaming, allowing developers to connect various data sources and route them to different destinations such as databases or analytics platforms.
Pricing Model: Firebase and Firehose.io also differ in their pricing models. Firebase offers a free tier with usage-based pricing for additional features and resources, making it a cost-effective solution for small to medium-sized projects. In contrast, Firehose.io follows a pay-as-you-go pricing model, where users are charged based on the volume of data processed, making it more suitable for projects with fluctuating data needs.
Development Flexibility: Another key difference is the level of development flexibility provided by Firebase and Firehose.io. Firebase offers a set of pre-built features and integrations, making it easier for developers to get started quickly without having to build everything from scratch. On the other hand, Firehose.io provides more customization options and allows developers to tailor data streaming pipelines according to their specific requirements, giving them more control over the architecture of their applications.
Scalability: When it comes to scalability, Firebase and Firehose.io have different approaches. Firebase is designed to automatically scale resources based on demand, ensuring that applications remain performant regardless of the number of users or data being processed. Firehose.io, on the other hand, requires developers to configure and manage the scaling of data pipelines manually, which may be more suitable for projects with complex data processing requirements.
Data Processing Capabilities: Firebase and Firehose.io also vary in their data processing capabilities. Firebase provides a wide range of built-in features for handling user authentication, file storage, and cloud functions, simplifying the development process for developers. In contrast, Firehose.io focuses primarily on real-time data streaming and may require additional integrations or services for more advanced data processing tasks, making it better suited for projects with specific streaming requirements.
Community Support: The level of community support is another key difference between Firebase and Firehose.io. Firebase has a large and active community of developers, offering extensive documentation, tutorials, and forums to help users troubleshoot issues and learn best practices. Firehose.io, while still supported by a dedicated team, may have a smaller community, which could impact the availability of resources and support for developers using the platform.
In Summary, Firebase and Firehose.io differ in data synchronization mechanisms, pricing models, development flexibility, scalability approaches, data processing capabilities, and community support, making it essential for developers to carefully evaluate their project requirements before choosing a platform.
We (my team) are building an App where we want to have Bi-directional texting, Single Directional Picture, and audio transfer.
We are building all this using Flutter.
There will essentially be 3 apps, 2 Mobile-based (Android and iOS) and 1 Microsoft Based. We've built up most of the code already, and made a few major mistakes but fixed it(namely had no proper state management).
How things will work:
Person A has a Mobile app 1, Person A presses a button that sends a "communication request" into a Pool of requests. Person B on Desktop App chooses a "communication request" from the pool, and engages in Bi-directional texting with Person A. Person B also opens communication with Person C who is on Mobile app 2, and they engage in Bi-directional texting. Person C will be notified of communication requests through Push Notifications.
So far we've been using Socket.IO, however, I'm starting to think that's not the best.
A problem we've encountered so far is that Person A(Mobile App 1 User), is the person who sends a "communication request" into the "Communication Pool". The Mobile App 1 User, can "cancel" the communication at any point in time. When they do that, I would like for a notification to be sent to Person B, the Desktop User, For them to pick up another communication request.
I am not sure how this should be done however, should it be done in the Back-end, then how does the Front-end get notified of the change?
Any advice on which to choose?
It's so simple when you use Firebase to manage the requests just make new field to the request for example callstate with values like "requesting" "incall" "cancelled" and both A and B can update this field.
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
The start-up guides, tutorials and documentation in general for Firebase are pretty outstanding.
There is 1GB database storage for the free tier as compared to Supabase's 500MB. Not that I think there is anything wrong with Supabase, I intend to try it out someday.
Also if you are doing any sort of personal front-end project, even using a free cluster from MongoDB can be a lot of work and setup, with Firebase (specifically Fire store and Google Authenticator) the implementation of BaaS is quite easy to get up and running.
It's pretty easy to understand the Fires store security rules as well, and if you ever have a hard time trying to figure something out, there is good community support and YouTube tutorials for most topics.