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Firebase vs Microsoft Azure: What are the differences?
What is Firebase? 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.
What is Microsoft Azure? Integrated cloud services and infrastructure to support computing, database, analytics, mobile, and web scenarios. Azure is an open and flexible cloud platform that enables you to quickly build, deploy and manage applications across a global network of Microsoft-managed datacenters. You can build applications using any language, tool or framework. And you can integrate your public cloud applications with your existing IT environment.
Firebase and Microsoft Azure are primarily classified as "Realtime Backend / API" and "Cloud Hosting" tools respectively.
Some of the features offered by Firebase are:
- 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.
On the other hand, Microsoft Azure provides the following key features:
- Use your OS, language, database, tool
- Global datacenter footprint
- Enterprise Grade with up to a 99.95% monthly SLA
"Realtime backend made easy", "Fast and responsive" and "Easy setup" are the key factors why developers consider Firebase; whereas "Scales well and quite easy", "Can use .Net or open source tools" and "Startup friendly" are the primary reasons why Microsoft Azure is favored.
According to the StackShare community, Firebase has a broader approval, being mentioned in 838 company stacks & 957 developers stacks; compared to Microsoft Azure, which is listed in 489 company stacks and 463 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.
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 Firebase
- Realtime backend made easy369
- Fast and responsive268
- Easy setup240
- Real-time213
- JSON188
- Free133
- Backed by google126
- Angular adaptor82
- Reliable67
- Great customer support35
- Great documentation31
- Real-time synchronization25
- Mobile friendly21
- Rapid prototyping18
- Great security14
- Automatic scaling12
- Freakingly awesome11
- Angularfire is an amazing addition!8
- Super fast development8
- Chat8
- Firebase hosting6
- Built in user auth/oauth6
- Awesome next-gen backend6
- Ios adaptor6
- Very easy to use4
- Speed of light4
- Great3
- It's made development super fast3
- Brilliant for startups3
- .net2
- JS Offline and Sync suport2
- Low battery consumption2
- Push notification2
- Free hosting2
- Cloud functions2
- The concurrent updates create a great experience2
- I can quickly create static web apps with no backend2
- Great all-round functionality2
- Free authentication solution2
- CDN & cache out of the box1
- Google's support1
- Simple and easy1
- Faster workflow1
- Free SSL1
- Easy Reactjs integration1
- Easy to use1
- Large1
- Serverless1
- Good Free Limits1
Pros of Microsoft Azure
- Scales well and quite easy114
- Can use .Net or open source tools96
- Startup friendly81
- Startup plans via BizSpark73
- High performance62
- Wide choice of services38
- Low cost32
- Lots of integrations32
- Reliability31
- Twillio & Github are directly accessible19
- RESTful API13
- PaaS10
- Enterprise Grade10
- Startup support10
- DocumentDB8
- In person support7
- Free for students6
- Service Bus6
- Virtual Machines6
- Redis Cache5
- It rocks5
- Storage, Backup, and Recovery4
- Infrastructure Services4
- SQL Databases4
- CDN4
- Integration3
- Scheduler3
- Preview Portal3
- HDInsight3
- Built on Node.js3
- Big Data3
- BizSpark 60k Azure Benefit3
- IaaS3
- Backup2
- Open cloud2
- Web2
- SaaS2
- Big Compute2
- Mobile2
- Media2
- Dev-Test2
- Storage2
- StorSimple2
- Machine Learning2
- Stream Analytics2
- Data Factory2
- Event Hubs2
- Virtual Network2
- ExpressRoute2
- Traffic Manager2
- Media Services2
- BizTalk Services2
- Site Recovery2
- Active Directory2
- Multi-Factor Authentication2
- Visual Studio Online2
- Application Insights2
- Automation2
- Operational Insights2
- Key Vault2
- Infrastructure near your customers2
- Easy Deployment2
- Enterprise customer preferences1
- Documentation1
- Security1
- Best cloud platfrom1
- Easy and fast to start with1
- Remote Debugging1
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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
Cons of Microsoft Azure
- Confusing UI6
- Expensive plesk on Azure2
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