Appcelerator vs Parse: What are the differences?

What is Appcelerator? Build network-connected mobile applications across native platforms and the web. Appcelerator is the first mobile platform to combine the flexibility of open source development technologies with the power of cloud services.

What is Parse? The complete mobile app platform. 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.

Appcelerator and Parse can be categorized as "Mobile Backend" tools.

Some of the features offered by Appcelerator are:

• Library of over 20 pre-built common services that are both proven and robust, to reduce integration time and risk, services such as push notification, status updates, photo storage, and social integration, or create your own custom cloud services.
• Client-side APIs for any development platform (e.g. Titanium, iOS SDK, Android SDK)
• Extensibility enabling you to build your own custom cloud application development services in Node.js on the Appcelerator cloud for all your mobile apps.

On the other hand, Parse provides the following key features:

• Store basic data types, locations, photos
• Update over the air
• Data browser lets you manage, search, and update content without writing a single line of code

"Easy to learn" is the top reason why over 3 developers like Appcelerator, while over 111 developers mention "Easy setup" as the leading cause for choosing Parse.

500px, Accenture, and Movielala are some of the popular companies that use Parse, whereas Appcelerator is used by BrightMachine, Starter Inc., and LilyPad. Parse has a broader approval, being mentioned in 92 company stacks & 44 developers stacks; compared to Appcelerator, which is listed in 12 company stacks and 3 developer stacks.