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AWS Amplify vs Firebase

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AWS Amplify vs Firebase: What are the differences?

Introduction:

When deciding between AWS Amplify and Firebase for building web applications, it's essential to understand the key differences to make an informed decision. Both platforms offer significant features and services that cater to a wide range of needs, but they differ in their approach and capabilities.

  1. Backend Infrastructure: AWS Amplify provides a platform that allows developers to access and manage various AWS services, such as Lambda, API Gateway, and DynamoDB, for building scalable and secure backends. On the other hand, Firebase offers a fully managed backend service, including real-time database, authentication, and cloud functions, making it easier for developers to set up and maintain backend infrastructure without dealing with individual AWS services.

  2. Scalability: AWS Amplify leverages the extensive infrastructure of AWS, allowing applications to scale seamlessly based on traffic demands. Firebase, on the other hand, provides automatic scaling capabilities; however, it may not offer the same level of scalability as AWS Amplify for highly complex and demanding applications.

  3. Authentication: Firebase offers a straightforward authentication and user management system out-of-the-box, making it easy to integrate features like email/password authentication, social logins, and anonymous sign-ins. AWS Amplify also provides authentication services but may require additional configurations and setup compared to Firebase, especially for complex authentication workflows.

  4. Real-time Database: Firebase is well-known for its real-time database, which uses WebSockets to provide synchronous data updates. This feature enables developers to create real-time applications easily. On the other hand, AWS Amplify supports GraphQL APIs for real-time data updates, offering a more structured approach for building real-time applications.

  5. Serverless Functions: AWS Amplify integrates seamlessly with AWS Lambda functions, allowing developers to run serverless code in response to events. Firebase, on the other hand, allows developers to create and deploy cloud functions that seamlessly integrate with other Firebase services, providing a serverless computing environment for running backend code.

  6. Integration with Other AWS Services: AWS Amplify offers tight integration with various AWS services, providing developers with a comprehensive toolkit for building and managing web applications. Firebase, while it offers a range of services, may not have the same level of integration with other Google Cloud Platform services as AWS Amplify does with AWS services.

In Summary, understanding the key differences between AWS Amplify and Firebase is crucial for choosing the right platform based on your project requirements.

Advice on AWS Amplify and Firebase
Noam Shemesh
| 9 upvotes · 1.1M views
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 · 486.4K 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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Ramiro Nuñez Dosio
| 4 upvotes · 372.5K views
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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Ilya Lazarev
PM · | 2 upvotes · 479.2K views
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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Decisions about AWS Amplify and Firebase
Noel Broda
Founder, CEO, CTO at NoFilter · | 6 upvotes · 12.9K views
Chose
FirebaseFirebase
over
AWS LambdaAWS Lambda
at
()

Firebase is the most powerful platform that I saw to support an MVP stage of a project that implies a website + mobile applications.

Be careful with what I say there: "to support an MVP". Firebase is awesome for early stages, but it has some huge technical problems.

Let's talk now about the PROS:

  • With a few clicks, you have a full platform, with an AWESOME free tier, ready to be used. Serverless support for static files (your website in JS, probably), backend support for realtime DB, or even Google Cloud Functions made simple (Firebase Functions).
  • Probably one of the most important things: You can integrate Analytics, and Push Notifications to your Android and iOS app with a few clicks.
  • NoSQL DB (this may also be consider as a CONS. Careful here.
  • With Firebase Functions, it's super simple to have global vars in memory, to speed up the backend responses
  • Awesome support with Expo (awesome technology for mobile MVPs)
  • Super simple local testing. Just run firebase init and then npm run serve and you'll have your backend running in your local env.
  • Huge Authorization+Authentication integrated flows: Login with Facebook, Gmail, and all the other options, with just a couple of minutes of configurations and barely few lines of code.

Now, some CONS:

  • In Firebase Firestore DB (the DB you'll probably use): Compound queries are not allowed. For example, you can NOT do this: .where("state", ">=", "CA").where("population", ">", 100000). You can't combine different attributes of the object in the where query. Read more about that limitation in https://firebase.google.com/docs/firestore/query-data/queries#compound_queries

  • In Firebase Functions: OR querys (like where user_status = 2 OR user_status = 3 in SQL) are not allowed. Yes... This is HUGE. Not be able to do an OR query is a huge blocker in performance. Luckily in the last months Firebase added an "IN" query, where you can do .where('country', 'in', ['USA', 'Japan']) but it's limited to only 10 values in the in array. Good enough, but still some limitations there. Check more about that limitation in https://firebase.google.com/docs/firestore/query-data/queries#in_not-in_and_array-contains-any

Feel free to ask any question, and I'll share some details here

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Pros of AWS Amplify
Pros of Firebase
  • 5
    GraphQL
  • 3
    Better with Relations and Security
  • 2
    Flexible Auth options
  • 2
    Cheaper
  • 1
    Backed by Amazon
  • 1
    Config free environment variables
  • 1
    Continuous deployment
  • 0
    Jije
  • 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

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Cons of AWS Amplify
Cons of Firebase
  • 2
    Free tier is limited
  • 1
    Steep Learning Curve
  • 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
  • 3
    Very unstable server
  • 3
    No Relational Data
  • 2
    Too many errors
  • 2
    No offline sync

Sign up to add or upvote consMake informed product decisions

What is AWS Amplify?

A JavaScript library for frontend and mobile developers building cloud-enabled applications. The library is a declarative interface across different categories of operations in order to make common tasks easier to add into your application. The default implementation works with Amazon Web Services (AWS) resources but is designed to be open and pluggable for usage with other cloud services that wish to provide an implementation or custom backends.

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.

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What companies use AWS Amplify?
What companies use Firebase?
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What tools integrate with AWS Amplify?
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Blog Posts

Automatically deploy a Gatsby site to Firebase Hosting
Jun 26 2019 at 4:11PM

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What are some alternatives to AWS Amplify and Firebase?
AWS Mobile Hub
AWS Mobile Hub is the fastest way to build mobile apps powered by AWS. It lets you easily add and configure features for your apps, including user authentication, data storage, backend logic, push notifications, content delivery, and analytics. After you build your app, AWS Mobile Hub gives you easy access to testing on real devices, as well as analytics dashboards to track usage of your app – all from a single, integrated console.
Beanstalk
A single process to commit code, review with the team, and deploy the final result to your customers.
Serverless
Build applications comprised of microservices that run in response to events, auto-scale for you, and only charge you when they run. This lowers the total cost of maintaining your apps, enabling you to build more logic, faster. The Framework uses new event-driven compute services, like AWS Lambda, Google CloudFunctions, and more.
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.
AWS AppSync
AWS AppSync automatically updates the data in web and mobile applications in real time, and updates data for offline users as soon as they reconnect. AppSync makes it easy to build collaborative mobile and web applications that deliver responsive, collaborative user experiences.
See all alternatives

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