George Batschinski
5 min readJun 13, 2020

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Free Firebase Alternatives

Free Firebase Alternatives

Gone are the days when you are compelled to sit down for donkey hours, writing codes to create your Android and iOS app. These days, you can develop top-notch mobile and web applications without extensive coding. All you need is to select the right application development platform.

In this respect, a platform like Firebase known for its realtime database would readily come to mind. It is a Backend as a Service Platform that Google bought over in 2014. Firebase presents massive tools for expediting app development assignments. However, the shortfall of Firebase is that it’s a proprietary platform, i.e., not open-source. This means that developers are locked in the platform. Moreover, Firebase does not support GraphQL APIs.

This article creates an objective list of options that developers can use as alternatives to Firebase. The comparison would also help you select the best backend option for your app development needs. Businesses that are hoping to hire developers for their next app development project can use this information to get acquainted with backend options.

Best free Firebase alternatives

For developers that are looking for alternatives to Firebase, this article reviews lots of other options that provide innovative ways to create modern apps. You can use any of the options discussed in this article to build outstanding apps without any hassles. So, take the time to go through all the available options.

Back4App

Back4pp is a fantastic solution that helps application developers build modern mobile and web applications. This platform is an excellent solution for developers, whether you are hosting a single app or have a dozen or apps in your portfolio.

This backend solution is built using an open-source stack and gives developers a suite of tools to help them build web and mobile applications quickly. Users of Back4apps can leverage APIs and ready-made codes to develop their apps quickly. Since back4apps is taking care of the app backend, developers can have more time to focus on creating top-notch frontend features.

With Back4apps, developers can create mobile, IoT, and web-based applications faster and without hassles. Back4App provides the database and APIs. So, all the developer needs to do is to create the app frontend and connect to the already functional backend. Back4app is open source; the platform offers several tools and codes that help developers build apps with top-notch functions without writing much code. In all, Back4app helps developers create apps with modern features quickly and easily.

The Features of Back4app:

  • Spreadsheet like database + GraphQL APIs
  • Collaborative Database
  • Private cloud options
  • Two-factor authentication
  • Email verification
  • Realtime database
  • Logs viewer
  • Management dashboard
  • Transfer apps quickly
  • Clone an app
  • Multitenant dashboard
  • Automated backups
  • REST API option is also available.

The advantages of choosing Back4app

  • This platform is one of the best open source backend service providers with massive features for developers.
  • Back4app provides hosting options with distributed servers in China and the Middle East.
  • Supports Realtime database with LiveQuery.
  • Back4apps offers extensive options that enhance flexibility and also handles app scaling efficiently.
  • Access to optimized storage options.
  • Developers in China can use Back4app! Click here to know more.

Pricing Structure

Back4app offers a free tier while the premium plans start from $5. You can upgrade your plan easily as your app scales.

Parse

Parse has a reputation as the most popular opensource framework for developing application backends. It makes it easy for developers to create apps quickly and with less stress. Parse has the support of a dedicated community of developers and enthusiasts since it became an opensource platform in 2016. It’s an excellent tool for developing backend under budget because it is opensource and free.

Many developers and small businesses have used this platform to create a wide range of apps without overshooting budgets. Parse is quite easy to implement compared to other options listed below. It has several tools, services, and features required to build a functional backend for app development.

The Features of Parse:

  • Realtime database
  • Social media integration
  • Built-in security features
  • User session management
  • File storage providence
  • Easy to use hosting
  • SSL hosting,
  • User management system
  • Email and password authentication

The benefits of Parse:

  • Single Sign-in Options (SSO)using Facebook, LinkedIn, Google, Instagram, and many others.
  • It has many features for creating a functional application backend.
  • Free to download and easy to use.
  • Access to support from an active community of Parse users, developers, and enthusiasts.

Price

You can download and use Parse for free.

Firehose

Firehose is an excellent choice for building and managing realtime applications without stress. The best part is that Firebase does not use complicated protocols. This platform uses RESTful design principle, which is easy for developers to implement Firehorse also provides lots of useful server codes in the form of JavaScripts. So, you don’t have to start writing your application from scratch.

The Features of Firehose:

  • Realtime web applications
  • Backup and Restore
  • Governance Service
  • Web Frontend Dashboard
  • Database as a Service
  • Data Protection

The Benefits of Firehose:

  • It is flexible and scalable
  • Provides lots of affordable options
  • It is quite easy to use

Pricing plans

It is available as a free download on GitHub

Hasura

Hasura takes the form of a robust GraphQL server with a Postgres database. The platform also provides APIs for connecting to the database, remote webhook for triggering database events, and remote schema for business logic.

With Hasura, you can use a Postgres backend and GraphQL to build or migrate an app.

The Features of Hasura

· It has features for building productive queries. These features include Built-in pagination, pattern search, filtering, bulk insert, update, delete mutations.

  • Use subscriptions to convert GreaphQL queries to LiveQueries.
  • Developers can access custom GraphQL schemas for business logic through a single GraphQL Engine endpoint.
  • It can trigger webhooks or serverless functions for events such as insert, update, or delete.
  • It is compatible with any existing live database. Simply point Hasura to a Postgres database and use your GraphQL with it.
  • Gives access to dynamic control that integrates with authentication systems such as auth0, firebase-auth.
  • Provides and Administrator User Interface and schema migration inspired by Rails.

Benefits of Hasura

  • Powerful integration with GraphQL
  • Can be deployed on the Cloud
  • Provides enterprise option.

Pricing Plans

  • The opensource version is available for free.
  • Enterprise version would be quoted on-demand.

GameSparks

GameSpark is an excellent platform for game developers. It has features that help developers build and manage the server-side components of their game app. It also provides functions of the development of gaming applications without hassles.

Features

  • Social & Multiplayer functions
  • Core PaaS
  • Supports Infrastructure & operations
  • Live game operations
  • Matchmaking features
  • IT Asset Management
  • Meta-game & economies
  • Integrations

The benefits of Game Sparks:

  • It is flexible and scalable
  • Quite easy to customize
  • It has extensive social and messaging features

Pricing Structure

The premium plan of Game Spark starts at $299 per month.

Conclusion

This article provided the best 5 alternatives to Firebase that have free tiers available. The list includes Back4app, Parse, Firehose, Hasura, and Game Sparks.

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