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Firebase vs SignalR: What are the differences?
Developers describe Firebase as "The Realtime App Platform". 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. On the other hand, SignalR is detailed as "A new library for ASP.NET developers that makes developing real-time web functionality easy". 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.
Firebase and SignalR belong to "Realtime Backend / API" category of the tech stack.
"Realtime backend made easy" is the top reason why over 317 developers like Firebase, while over 7 developers mention "Supports .NET server" as the leading cause for choosing SignalR.
SignalR is an open source tool with 7.73K GitHub stars and 2.19K GitHub forks. Here's a link to SignalR's open source repository on GitHub.
Instacart, Twitch, and PedidosYa are some of the popular companies that use Firebase, whereas SignalR is used by simplement-e, Jet.com, and NRGSoft. Firebase has a broader approval, being mentioned in 838 company stacks & 957 developers stacks; compared to SignalR, which is listed in 20 company stacks and 16 developer stacks.
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.
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.
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
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
Pros of Firebase
- Realtime backend made easy369
- Fast and responsive268
- Easy setup240
- Real-time213
- JSON190
- Free133
- Backed by google126
- Angular adaptor82
- Reliable67
- Great customer support35
- Great documentation31
- Real-time synchronization25
- Mobile friendly21
- Rapid prototyping18
- Great security14
- Automatic scaling12
- Freakingly awesome11
- Chat8
- Super fast development8
- Angularfire is an amazing addition!8
- Built in user auth/oauth6
- Firebase hosting6
- Awesome next-gen backend6
- Ios adaptor6
- Speed of light4
- Very easy to use4
- It's made development super fast3
- Brilliant for startups3
- Great3
- Free hosting2
- Cloud functions2
- JS Offline and Sync suport2
- Low battery consumption2
- .net2
- The concurrent updates create a great experience2
- I can quickly create static web apps with no backend2
- Great all-round functionality2
- Push notification2
- Free authentication solution2
- Simple and easy1
- Free SSL1
- Faster workflow1
- Easy Reactjs integration1
- Easy to use1
- Large1
- Google's support1
- Serverless1
- Good Free Limits1
- CDN & cache out of the box1
Pros of SignalR
- Supports .NET server29
- Real-time22
- Free16
- Fallback to SSE, forever frame, long polling15
- WebSockets14
- Simple10
- Open source8
- JSON8
- Ease of use7
- Cool5
- Azure0
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Cons of Firebase
- Can become expensive31
- No open source, you depend on external company16
- Scalability is not infinite15
- Not Flexible Enough9
- Cant filter queries7
- Very unstable server3
- No Relational Data3
- Too many errors2
- No offline sync2
Cons of SignalR
- Expertise hard to get2
- Requires jQuery2
- Weak iOS and Android support1
- Big differences between ASP.NET and Core versions1
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