Google Cloud Messaging vs MQTT

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Google Cloud Messaging

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MQTT

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Google Cloud Messaging vs MQTT: What are the differences?

<h1>Key Differences Between Google Cloud Messaging and MQTT</h1>

<p>Google Cloud Messaging (GCM) and Message Queuing Telemetry Transport (MQTT) are both popular protocols used for communication in IoT and mobile applications. Here are the key differences between GCM and MQTT:</p>

<h2>1. Payload Limitation:</h2>
<p>GCM has a payload limit of 4KB, while MQTT allows for larger payloads, making it more suitable for applications requiring the transfer of larger chunks of data.</p>

<h2>2. Push vs Publish/Subscribe:</h2>
<p>GCM is principally a push notification service, where the server pushes messages to clients. On the other hand, MQTT follows a publish/subscribe model, enabling bi-directional communication between clients and servers.</p>

<h2>3. Reliability:</h2>
<p>GCM guarantees message delivery with its persistent connection to Google servers, ensuring reliable message delivery. MQTT, however, does not guarantee delivery as it relies on Quality of Service (QoS) levels chosen by the client.</p>

<h2>4. Message Queueing:</h2>
<p>Unlike GCM, MQTT uses a persistent message queue that stores messages until they are successfully delivered to clients, ensuring higher message reliability and durability.</p>

<h2>5. Security:</h2>
<p>GCM provides end-to-end encryption and secure transmission of data using Google's infrastructure, offering robust security measures. MQTT, on the other hand, may require additional security implementations to ensure data confidentiality.</p>

<h2>6. Connection Overhead:</h2>
<p>GCM has a lower connection overhead as it utilizes Google's infrastructure for message delivery, optimizing network resources. MQTT, being a lightweight protocol, may introduce slightly more connection overhead due to its direct client-to-broker communication.</p>

<h2>Summary:</h2>
<p>In summary, Google Cloud Messaging and MQTT differ in terms of payload limitation, communication model, reliability, message queueing, security measures, and connection overhead.</p>
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Pros of Google Cloud Messaging
Pros of MQTT
  • 9
    Free
  • 6
    Scalable
  • 4
    Easy setup
  • 2
    Easy iOS setup
  • 1
    IOS Support
  • 3
    Varying levels of Quality of Service to fit a range of
  • 2
    Lightweight with a relatively small data footprint
  • 2
    Very easy to configure and use with open source tools

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Cons of Google Cloud Messaging
Cons of MQTT
  • 1
    Reliability
  • 1
    Easy to configure in an unsecure manner

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What is Google Cloud Messaging?

Google Cloud Messaging (GCM) is a free service that enables developers to send messages between servers and client apps. This includes downstream messages from servers to client apps, and upstream messages from client apps to servers.

What is MQTT?

It was designed as an extremely lightweight publish/subscribe messaging transport. It is useful for connections with remote locations where a small code footprint is required and/or network bandwidth is at a premium.

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What companies use Google Cloud Messaging?
What companies use MQTT?
See which teams inside your own company are using Google Cloud Messaging or MQTT.
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What tools integrate with Google Cloud Messaging?
What tools integrate with MQTT?

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What are some alternatives to Google Cloud Messaging and MQTT?
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.
Amazon SNS
Amazon Simple Notification Service makes it simple and cost-effective to push to mobile devices such as iPhone, iPad, Android, Kindle Fire, and internet connected smart devices, as well as pushing to other distributed services. Besides pushing cloud notifications directly to mobile devices, SNS can also deliver notifications by SMS text message or email, to Simple Queue Service (SQS) queues, or to any HTTP endpoint.
RabbitMQ
RabbitMQ gives your applications a common platform to send and receive messages, and your messages a safe place to live until received.
Apple Push Notification Service
It is the centerpiece of the remote notifications feature. It is a robust, secure, and highly efficient service for app developers to propagate information to iOS (and, indirectly, watchOS), tvOS, and macOS devices.
Firebase Cloud Messaging
It is a cross-platform messaging solution that lets you reliably deliver messages at no cost. You can notify a client app that new email or other data is available to sync. You can send notification messages to drive user re-engagement and retention. For use cases such as instant messaging, a message can transfer a payload of up to 4KB to a client app.
See all alternatives