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PlayFab

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Socket.IO

11.7K
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779
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PlayFab vs Socket.IO: What are the differences?

PlayFab: Launch smoothly, grow fearlessly. PlayFab unlocks a new world of creativity for game developers by providing a cross-platform "backend-as-a-service" built exclusively for games. We give game developers the tools, technologies, and know-how they need to have a trouble-free launch day, and profitable day-to-day operations after that; Socket.IO: Realtime application framework (Node.JS server). Socket.IO enables real-time bidirectional event-based communication. It works on every platform, browser or device, focusing equally on reliability and speed.

PlayFab and Socket.IO are primarily classified as "Game Development" and "Realtime Backend / API" tools respectively.

Some of the features offered by PlayFab are:

  • Game Services
  • LiveOps
  • Analytics

On the other hand, Socket.IO provides the following key features:

  • Real-time analytics - Push data to clients that gets represented as real-time counters, charts or logs.
  • Binary streaming - Starting in 1.0, it's possible to send any blob back and forth: image, audio, video.
  • Instant messaging and chat - Socket.IO's "Hello world" is a chat app in just a few lines of code.

Socket.IO is an open source tool with 47.1K GitHub stars and 8.59K GitHub forks. Here's a link to Socket.IO's open source repository on GitHub.

Advice on PlayFab and Socket.IO
Needs advice
on
ApolloApolloFirebaseFirebase
and
Socket.IOSocket.IO

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.

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Replies (3)
Timothy Malstead
Junior Full Stack Developer at Freelance · | 7 upvotes · 402.5K views
Recommends
on
FirebaseFirebase

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.

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Recommends
on
AblyAbly

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

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Recommends
on
8base8base

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

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Pros of PlayFab
Pros of Socket.IO
    Be the first to leave a pro
    • 217
      Real-time
    • 141
      Event-based communication
    • 141
      Node.js
    • 102
      WebSockets
    • 101
      Open source
    • 26
      Binary streaming
    • 21
      No internet dependency
    • 10
      Large community
    • 9
      Fallback to polling if WebSockets not supported
    • 6
      Push notification
    • 5
      Ease of access and setup

    Sign up to add or upvote prosMake informed product decisions

    Cons of PlayFab
    Cons of Socket.IO
      Be the first to leave a con
      • 11
        Bad documentation
      • 4
        Githubs that complement it are mostly deprecated
      • 3
        Doesn't work on React Native
      • 2
        Small community
      • 2
        Websocket Errors

      Sign up to add or upvote consMake informed product decisions

      What is PlayFab?

      It unlocks a new world of creativity for game developers by providing a cross-platform "backend-as-a-service" built exclusively for games. We give game developers the tools, technologies, and know-how they need to have a trouble-free launch day, and profitable day-to-day operations after that.

      What is Socket.IO?

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

      Need advice about which tool to choose?Ask the StackShare community!

      What companies use PlayFab?
      What companies use Socket.IO?
      See which teams inside your own company are using PlayFab or Socket.IO.
      Sign up for StackShare EnterpriseLearn More

      Sign up to get full access to all the companiesMake informed product decisions

      What tools integrate with PlayFab?
      What tools integrate with Socket.IO?

      Sign up to get full access to all the tool integrationsMake informed product decisions

      Blog Posts

      What are some alternatives to PlayFab and Socket.IO?
      Photon
      The fastest way to build beautiful Electron apps using simple HTML and CSS. Underneath it all is Electron. Originally built for GitHub's Atom text editor, Electron is the easiest way to build cross-platform desktop applications.
      Firebase
      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.
      GameSparks
      The unity of the server-side. GameSparks is a cloud-based development platform for games developers enabling them to build all of their game's server-side
      Parse
      With Parse, you can add a scalable and powerful backend in minutes and launch a full-featured app in record time without ever worrying about server management. We offer push notifications, social integration, data storage, and the ability to add rich custom logic to your app’s backend with Cloud Code.
      Pusher
      Pusher is the category leader in delightful APIs for app developers building communication and collaboration features.
      See all alternatives