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What is 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.
Firebase is a tool in the Realtime Backend / API category of a tech stack.

Who uses Firebase?

Companies
3219 companies reportedly use Firebase in their tech stacks, including LaunchDarkly, Instacart, and Twitch.

Developers
37255 developers on StackShare have stated that they use Firebase.

Firebase Integrations

React, AngularJS, Flutter, Backbone.js, and Angular are some of the popular tools that integrate with Firebase. Here's a list of all 58 tools that integrate with Firebase.
Pros of Firebase
371
Realtime backend made easy
270
Fast and responsive
242
Easy setup
215
Real-time
191
JSON
134
Free
128
Backed by google
83
Angular adaptor
68
Reliable
36
Great customer support
32
Great documentation
25
Real-time synchronization
21
Mobile friendly
19
Rapid prototyping
14
Great security
12
Automatic scaling
11
Freakingly awesome
8
Super fast development
8
Angularfire is an amazing addition!
8
Chat
6
Firebase hosting
6
Built in user auth/oauth
6
Awesome next-gen backend
6
Ios adaptor
4
Speed of light
4
Very easy to use
3
Great
3
It's made development super fast
3
Brilliant for startups
2
Free hosting
2
Cloud functions
2
JS Offline and Sync suport
2
Low battery consumption
2
.net
2
The concurrent updates create a great experience
2
Push notification
2
I can quickly create static web apps with no backend
2
Great all-round functionality
2
Free authentication solution
1
Easy Reactjs integration
1
Google's support
1
Free SSL
1
CDN & cache out of the box
1
Easy to use
1
Large
1
Faster workflow
1
Serverless
1
Good Free Limits
1
Simple and easy
Decisions about Firebase

Here are some stack decisions, common use cases and reviews by companies and developers who chose Firebase in their tech stack.

Needs advice
on
GunGunMySQLMySQL
and
RethinkDBRethinkDB

Dear Team, Please advise the stack to be used for building Chat Applications that cater to billions of users and work on Mobile as well as desktop. I don't want to use Firebase since it is not fitting into my use case of not using third Party Service Provider. I am comfortable with Java/PHP as a backend. Can we consider RethinkDB, MySQL, and GunDB for the application?

Also looking for Push methodology and not polling one for sending Realtime updates.

Regards Sukesh

See more
Needs advice
on
AppwriteAppwriteBack4AppBack4App
and
SupabaseSupabase

I am trying to build a delivery application on Flutter, however, I am having difficulty deciding on which backend I need to choose, as Firebase is going to be very expensive.

See more
Charlie Calvert
Developer at Elvenware · | 7 upvotes · 13.8K views
Needs advice
on
FirebaseFirebase
and
PouchdbPouchdb

Should I use Pouchdb or Firebase?

I want to store text documents and notes. Most of them are very short, just a means of tracking information while I'm doing research.

I want to be able to access them from multiple locations, preferably through a web browser but that is not a necessity.

I've also considered putting my information in a text document or word document but I would like to be a little more formal about the process.

See more
Needs advice
on
FirebaseFirebaseFlutterFlutter
and
SupabaseSupabase

Hello,

I'm in the midst of reviewing an old CRUD SAAS I have running on Angular 7 with a MariaDB backend and Laravel PHP. Presently is hosted on a couple of Linode servers- and really feeling the weight, especially with the looming need to upgrade to A15 and meet the pace and scalability occurring (for context, the SAAS turns in over 24k USD monthly in subscriptions- so I have concerns around the impact of a new stack on existing clients). Additionally, I manage a Kotlin and Swift codebase for appdev.

I'm looking at moving towards Flutter for a singular codebase, and something serverless but still relational- like Supabase. In the past, I ran my own Auth services- but it was a ton of work to setup and maintain, so looking at using Firebase for Auth services (I know Supabase has Auth as well, but I wonder if it's as reliable and frequently maintained as Firebase?) Supabase has a FlutterSDK as well which makes things much simpler. Planning on maintaining microservices like Stripe etc for functional aspects.

I would love some insight from those who have done a tech stack transition, what should I be aware of- those who have produced in Flutter or a similar stack, what am I walking into without knowing?

See more
Needs advice
on
FirebaseFirebaseFlutterFlutter
and
PythonPython

I recently make an IoT app with Flutter, Firebase that can control and get data from Esp8266 sensor. The next semester I want to make an app IoT app with more features and I have a question can Firebase good enough or do I need to learn how to host a server, DB?

I need some advice about idea for IoT project and the question above.

See more
gsambrotta
Needs advice
on
FirebaseFirebase
and
MongoDB AtlasMongoDB Atlas

We are planning to build a local-based app to provide custom-prepared food based on subscriptions.

This app will have three main parts: a mobile app made with React Native, a web app made with React, and GraphQL API.

The main functionality is providing menus to clients based on their food preferences. This is not real-time but weekly-based.

We will need also a storage place for documents and images. We would love to have fewer services as possible.

The team is made by fullstack JavaScript developers which means mostly experienced with MongoDB. What we are still considering is:

  1. Use Firebase (easier, has storage, is good for mobile) or MongoDB Atlas (already experience with it, easy to use, flexible. Not sure about storage tho) but with Mongo I am concern about storage system. I know MongoDB can store large file but I wonder if is good practice. Where Firebase as storage as service.
  2. if we choose MongoDB would make sense to use Realm? What are the pro and cons?

We are going to use GraphQL and we want to host them where our db is gonna be.

See more

Blog Posts

GitNode.jsFirebase+5
7
2477

Firebase's Features

  • 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.

Firebase Alternatives & Comparisons

What are some alternatives to Firebase?
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.
MongoDB
MongoDB stores data in JSON-like documents that can vary in structure, offering a dynamic, flexible schema. MongoDB was also designed for high availability and scalability, with built-in replication and auto-sharding.
Heroku
Heroku is a cloud application platform – a new way of building and deploying web apps. Heroku lets app developers spend 100% of their time on their application code, not managing servers, deployment, ongoing operations, or scaling.
Auth0
A set of unified APIs and tools that instantly enables Single Sign On and user management to all your applications.
Realm
The Realm Mobile Platform is a next-generation data layer for applications. Realm is reactive, concurrent, and lightweight, allowing you to work with live, native objects.
See all alternatives

Firebase's Followers
35756 developers follow Firebase to keep up with related blogs and decisions.