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

Airship vs Firebase

OverviewDecisionsComparisonAlternatives

Overview

Firebase
Firebase
Stacks42.5K
Followers36.0K
Votes2.0K
Airship
Airship
Stacks15
Followers39
Votes6

Airship vs Firebase: What are the differences?

Introduction: In this article, we will discuss the key differences between Airship and Firebase, two popular platforms used by developers for mobile app development and engagement. Both Airship and Firebase offer various features and services, but they differ in certain aspects which we will explore in the following paragraphs.

  1. Push Notification Capabilities: Airship specializes in providing robust push notification capabilities. It offers advanced targeting, segmentation, and automation options, allowing developers to send personalized and timely messages to their app users. On the other hand, Firebase also provides push notifications, but its capabilities are more basic compared to Airship, with limited targeting and automation features.

  2. In-App Messaging: Firebase offers a powerful in-app messaging feature that allows developers to display targeted messages, surveys, and other UI components within their mobile apps. It provides a user-friendly interface to create and manage these messages. In contrast, Airship does not offer an in-app messaging feature out of the box. Developers would need to integrate third-party libraries or build custom solutions to achieve similar functionality.

  3. Real-time Database: Firebase includes a real-time database feature, which is a cloud-hosted NoSQL database. This database allows developers to store and sync data in real-time across multiple clients. It provides various features like offline support, data synchronization, and automatic scaling. Airship, on the other hand, does not offer a real-time database feature.

  4. Analytics and Reporting: Firebase provides a comprehensive analytics solution with detailed insights into user behavior, engagement metrics, and app performance. It offers a user-friendly dashboard to view and analyze these metrics. Airship also offers analytics and reporting capabilities, but its focus is more on engagement metrics rather than detailed user behavior analysis.

  5. Authentication and User Management: Firebase includes a robust authentication and user management system. It provides various authentication methods like email/password, social media logins, and phone number authentication. It also offers features like user registration, password reset, and account linking. Airship does not offer built-in authentication and user management features. Developers would need to integrate third-party solutions or build custom authentication systems.

  6. Cloud Messaging: Firebase Cloud Messaging (FCM) is a powerful messaging solution offered by Firebase. It allows developers to send messages to specific devices or topics using various delivery options. FCM supports both Android and iOS platforms. Airship also provides cloud messaging capabilities, but its focus is more on personalized and targeted messaging rather than bulk messaging to specific devices or topics.

In summary, Airship excels in providing advanced push notification capabilities and personalized messaging, while Firebase offers a comprehensive suite of features including in-app messaging, real-time database, analytics, authentication, and cloud messaging. The choice between Airship and Firebase would depend on the specific requirements of the mobile app and the desired features needed for user engagement.

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Advice on Firebase, Airship

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

Detailed Comparison

Firebase
Firebase
Airship
Airship

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.

Airship is a modern product flagging framework that gives the right people total control over what your customers see & experience - without deploying code.

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.
Launch control; Easy experimentation; Customer configurations; Testing & QA; Accelerate CI/CD; Trial campaigns
Statistics
Stacks
42.5K
Stacks
15
Followers
36.0K
Followers
39
Votes
2.0K
Votes
6
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
  • 2
    Accelerate CI/CD
  • 2
    Launch control
  • 2
    Easy experimentation
Integrations
Trigger.io
Trigger.io
Famo.us
Famo.us
Backbone.js
Backbone.js
Ember.js
Ember.js
AngularJS
AngularJS
React
React
Java
Java
JavaScript
JavaScript
Python
Python
Node.js
Node.js
Golang
Golang
.NET
.NET
Ruby
Ruby

What are some alternatives to Firebase, Airship?

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.

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.

SocketCluster

SocketCluster

SocketCluster is a fast, highly scalable HTTP + realtime server engine which lets you build multi-process realtime servers that make use of all CPU cores on a machine/instance. It removes the limitations of having to run your Node.js server as a single thread and makes your backend resilient by automatically recovering from worker crashes and aggregating errors into a central log.

deepstream.io

deepstream.io

Scalable Server for Realtime Web Apps with JSON structures that can be read, manipulated and listened to, messages that can be sent to one or more subscribers, and request response workflows, between two clients or servers.

8base

8base

A cloud service designed to power enterprise-grade web and mobile applications that require support for large numbers of users, complex data and transactional requirements, comprehensive role-based security and a modern look-and-feel.

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