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  1. Stackups
  2. Application & Data
  3. Platform as a Service
  4. Realtime Backend API
  5. Firebase vs Google Cloud Storage

Firebase vs Google Cloud Storage

OverviewDecisionsComparisonAlternatives

Overview

Firebase
Firebase
Stacks42.5K
Followers36.0K
Votes2.0K
Google Cloud Storage
Google Cloud Storage
Stacks2.0K
Followers1.2K
Votes75

Firebase vs Google Cloud Storage: What are the differences?

Introduction

Firebase and Google Cloud Storage are both cloud-based services provided by Google, but they have some key differences that set them apart.

  1. Pricing and Usage: Firebase provides a flexible pricing model, where you pay for the resources you use, such as storage, bandwidth, and server costs. On the other hand, Google Cloud Storage has a separate pricing structure that is more focused on storing and retrieving large amounts of static data.

  2. Functionality: Firebase is a complete backend solution that offers a wide range of features for building web and mobile applications, including real-time database, authentication, hosting, and more. Google Cloud Storage, on the other hand, is a standalone storage service that primarily focuses on storing and retrieving data.

  3. Scalability and Performance: Firebase provides automatic scaling and high availability, ensuring that your applications can handle traffic spikes and serve content quickly. Google Cloud Storage also offers scalable storage and high throughput, but it is primarily designed for storing and serving static files.

  4. Ease of Use: Firebase is designed to be beginner-friendly and provides an intuitive user interface, along with client SDKs for various platforms that make it easy to integrate Firebase services into your applications. Google Cloud Storage, on the other hand, is more focused on developers and provides APIs and tools for managing and accessing your storage resources.

  5. Integration with Other Google Cloud Services: Firebase is tightly integrated with other Google Cloud services, such as Cloud Functions, Cloud Firestore, and Cloud Machine Learning Engine, allowing you to easily extend the functionality of your applications. Google Cloud Storage can also be integrated with other Google Cloud services, but it is not as tightly coupled as Firebase.

  6. Data Queries and Transactions: Firebase provides a real-time database that allows you to query and manipulate data in real-time, making it suitable for applications that require real-time updates. Google Cloud Storage does not offer built-in support for querying or updating data in real-time and is better suited for storing and serving static files.

In summary, Firebase is a comprehensive backend solution that offers a wide range of features for building web and mobile applications, while Google Cloud Storage is a standalone storage service primarily focused on storing and retrieving static files.

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Advice on Firebase, Google Cloud Storage

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
Gabriel
Gabriel

CEO at NaoLogic Inc

Dec 24, 2019

Decided

We offer our customer HIPAA compliant storage. After analyzing the market, we decided to go with Google Storage. The Nodejs API is ok, still not ES6 and can be very confusing to use. For each new customer, we created a different bucket so they can have individual data and not have to worry about data loss. After 1000+ customers we started seeing many problems with the creation of new buckets, with saving or retrieving a new file. Many false positive: the Promise returned ok, but in reality, it failed.

That's why we switched to S3 that just works.

330k views330k
Comments

Detailed Comparison

Firebase
Firebase
Google Cloud Storage
Google Cloud Storage

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.

Google Cloud Storage allows world-wide storing and retrieval of any amount of data and at any time. It provides a simple programming interface which enables developers to take advantage of Google's own reliable and fast networking infrastructure to perform data operations in a secure and cost effective manner. If expansion needs arise, developers can benefit from the scalability provided by Google's infrastructure.

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.
High Capacity and Scalability;Strong Data Consistency;Google Developers Console Projects;Bucket Locations;REST APIS;OAuth 2.0 Authentication;Authenticated Browser Downloads;Google Account Support for Sharing
Statistics
Stacks
42.5K
Stacks
2.0K
Followers
36.0K
Followers
1.2K
Votes
2.0K
Votes
75
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
  • 28
    Scalable
  • 19
    Cheap
  • 14
    Reliable
  • 9
    Easy
  • 3
    Chealp
Integrations
Trigger.io
Trigger.io
Famo.us
Famo.us
Backbone.js
Backbone.js
Ember.js
Ember.js
AngularJS
AngularJS
React
React
No integrations available

What are some alternatives to Firebase, Google Cloud Storage?

Amazon S3

Amazon S3

Amazon Simple Storage Service provides a fully redundant data storage infrastructure for storing and retrieving any amount of data, at any time, from anywhere on the web

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.

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.

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.

Ably

Ably

Ably offers WebSockets, stream resume, history, presence, and managed third-party integrations to make it simple to build, extend, and deliver digital realtime experiences at scale.

Syncano

Syncano

Syncano is a backend platform to build powerful real-time apps more efficiently. Integrate with any API, minimize boilerplate code and control your data - all from one place.

Amazon EBS

Amazon EBS

Amazon EBS volumes are network-attached, and persist independently from the life of an instance. Amazon EBS provides highly available, highly reliable, predictable storage volumes that can be attached to a running Amazon EC2 instance and exposed as a device within the instance. Amazon EBS is particularly suited for applications that require a database, file system, or access to raw block level storage.

NATS

NATS

Unlike traditional enterprise messaging systems, NATS has an always-on dial tone that does whatever it takes to remain available. This forms a great base for building modern, reliable, and scalable cloud and distributed systems.

Azure Storage

Azure Storage

Azure Storage provides the flexibility to store and retrieve large amounts of unstructured data, such as documents and media files with Azure Blobs; structured nosql based data with Azure Tables; reliable messages with Azure Queues, and use SMB based Azure Files for migrating on-premises applications to the cloud.

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