mBaaS Comparison: The best 2024 providers

This article will discuss the service offerings of some of the best mobile backend-as-a-service (mBaaS) providers. The list includes service providers that use both open-source and proprietary frameworks.

The deployment options range from cloud services to the ones that can be installed on corporate intranets.  Some of these platforms do not provide any support, while a few others have a dedicated support team that attends to customers around the clock.

Before we dive into reviewing BaaS providers, let’s introduce the concept of BaaS to the complete newbies. Keep reading to know the best mBaaS available in the market.

What is a mBaaS?

Some vital aspects of application hosting, such as creating backups, redundancy servers, taking care of scalability, among many others, are complicated, expensive, and time-consuming.  

However, everything becomes easy when you use a backend as a service. The BaaS provider handles the server-side tasks to focus on developing the user-frontend of your core application.

What are the core features of a mBaaS?

• Database
• Storage
• APIs
• Notifications
• Authentication

Top 20 mBaaS Providers

Below is the list of backend-as-a-service providers.

Keep reading to know more about the best mBaaS companies.

Back4App 

Back4App offers a comprehensive product that uses several open-source technologies, including NodeJS, Parse Server, etc. Their approach is simple; they help developers with the resources needed to create scalable applications without the hassles of reinventing the wheel.

Customers: Some of their customers include global companies such as Accenture, El Pais, and many others listed on their website.

The engineering office is based in Sao Paulo, Brazil, while the headquarters is in California, USA.

• Free Plan: Available
• Pricing: From $25/month.
• Features: The platform features include data model, push-notifications, REST and GraphQL APIs, login, authentication data backup, multiple SDK, non-technical administration panel, cloud functions, reset passwords, and CLI, 
• Open Source: Yes.
• Download: Available
• Cloud-Hosting: Available
• Self-Hosting: Available
• Dedicated Servers: Yes. Options include private Cloud and on-premises deployment.
• Technical Documentation: Available
• Support Services: Provides 24/07 support.
• Professional Services: Solutions Architect, Consulting, and enterprise plans.
• Remarks: Configurable GDPR privacy settings available.

Parse 

Parse is another excellent framework for expediting mobile application development. Facebook converted the project to open source in 2016. Since that time, the files and source codes of Parse have found their home at GitHub.

• Free Plan: Yes
• Pricing: Completely Free. Available for download at GitHub.
• Features: JSON-like data management console, social-login (Facebook, Apple, Twitter, WeChat, GitHub, Google, etc.), password rest, integration with AWS file storage, push-notifications, SDKs (GraphQL, Rest, Javascript, iOS, Android, etc.)
• Open Source: Yes
• Download: Available
• Cloud-Hosting: Not Available
• Self-Hosting: Available. It can only use a self-hosting option.
• Dedicated Servers: Not Available
• Technical Documentation: Available. Detailed docs, guides, and videos are on the official website.
• Support Services: Not Available
• Professional Services: Not Available
• Remarks: This framework has over 16k stars and 4k forks on Github.

Backendless 

This platform focuses on offering a web hosting service, a framework, an API generation engine, and a services marketplace. These four functions form the core of BaaS.

The customer base includes Repo Cyber, World Vision, Window Nation. See others on their official website. The company is based in Dallas, Texas, USA.

• Free Plan: Available 
• Pricing: this platform has three pricing tiers. The Cloud, limitless, and fully managed options. Pricing starts at $15/month.
• Features: database, cloud code, caching, geolocation, codeless, messaging, user management logging, realtime database, and security.
• Open Source: Available
• Download: Available
• Cloud-Hosting: Available
• Self-Hosting: Available
• Dedicated Servers: Available
• Technical Documentation: Available. Detailed tutorials, guides, and videos are available online.
• Support Services: Available
• Professional Services: Yes. Consulting services are available.
• Remarks: The company has an online store with Stripe and AWS plugins.

Kinvey 

This backend-as-a-service is an excellent option for enterprise organizations. The platform initially developed by Progress was acquired by Kinvey in 2017.

• Free Plan: Free trial available.
• Pricing: The price structure is not published on the website.
• Features: connected templates, UI builder, web/mobile code sharing, AI/ML, chatbots, serverless backend, microservices, and functions.
• Open Source: No
• Download: Not Available
• Cloud-Hosting: Available
• Self-Hosting: Available
• Dedicated Servers: Available
• Technical Documentation: Detailed documentation, user guides, and videos available online.
• Support Services: Available
• Professional Services: Available
• Remarks: It’s a HIPAA compliant platform.

AWS Amplify

Amazon Web Services offer this service. AWS Amplify is a JavaScript library used for building cloud applications, frontend development, and mobile app development.

The headquarters of AWS is in Seattle, USA. However, AWS has office locations in several nations around the world.

• Free Plan: Not Available
• Pricing: Flexible Pay as you go payment options.
• Features: Notifications, analytics, authentication, bots, API, storage, AR & VR.
• Open Source: Available.
• Download: Available.
• Cloud-Hosting: Available.
• Self-Hosting: Available. Simply download the source code from GitHub and install it on your server.
• Dedicated Servers: Available.
• Technical Documentation: Many detailed guides and tutorials are available online.
• Support Services: Options for support include Developer, Business, Enterprise.
• Professional Services: No Available t
• Remarks: The framework has native support for AWS Cloud.

Firebase

Firebase is a versatile platform for mobile and web application development. With Firebase, developers can create serverless apps and send push notifications to connected mobile devices.

Firebase is a highly secure and efficient platform for scalability. One unique feature of Firebase is its real-time database, which makes it an excellent choice for developing apps with live chat.

Google owns firebase; the Corporate headquarters is in California.

• Free Plan: Available
• Pricing: Flame Plan: Deprecated, Blaze Plan: Uses a flexible Pay as you go option.
• Features: The main features include realtime database, phone authentication, storage, cloud functions, hosting, ML kit, and many other excellent features.
• Open Source: Not Available 
• Download: Not Available
• Cloud-Hosting: Available
• Self-Hosting: Not Available
• Dedicated Servers: Not Available
• Technical Documentation: Detailed documentation, user guides, and videos available online.
• Support Services:  The platform supports case submission.
• Professional Services: Not Available
• Remarks: Firebase does neither offer private clouds or enterprise plans.

NHost

NHost is a great option for web and mobile applications. The company is based out of Sweden.

• Free Plan: Available.
• Pricing: The pro plan starts at $19/month, enterprise plans would be quoted on request.
• Features: Realtime database, Storage, Synchronization, Permissions, Authentication, Serverless Functions, etc.
• Open Source: No
• Download: Not Available
• Cloud-Hosting: Available
• Self-Hosting: Not Available
• Dedicated Servers: Not found
• Technical Documentation: Extensive and detailed platform tutorials available online.
• Support Services: Support is available.

Kuzzle

With Kuzzle, you have a ready-to-go backend solution that you can host on your own server.  It has powerful features for creating various types of applications ranging from web, mobile, and IoT apps.

Clients include Biogen, QWant, EKO, among others listed on their official website. The company has offices in France, The United Kingdom, and Canada.

• Free Plan: Available.
• Pricing: Managed cloud plans start at $1,200/month.
• Features: Authentication, admin console, advanced search, realtime database, geofencing, and many more.
• Open Source: Available
• Download: Available
• Cloud-Hosting: Available
• Self-Hosting: Available
• Dedicated Servers: Available.
• Technical Documentation: Documentation available online.
• Support Services: Community support available for free while premium support services start at $2,400/month.
• Professional Services: Offers training, consulting, and proof of concept services.

Hoodie 

This platform provides developers with the resource they need to create feature-rich web applications faster than ever.

• Free Plan: Available for Free
• Pricing: Available as a free download. 
• Features: The offline first approach is the unique feature of this framework. It supports plugin for additional functions such as sign-up, data storage, shares, emails, synchronization, 
• Open Source: Yes
• Download: Available
• Cloud-Hosting: Not Available
• Self-Hosting: Available
• Dedicated Servers: Not Available
• Technical Documentation: Documentation is available online.
• Support Services: Not Available
• Professional Services: Not Available

Kumulos 

This is a user-friendly and secure mobile apps development platform.  The platform is more focused on supporting application development agencies. 

The customer list includes Waracle, NS804, Ciber, and others listed on the official website. The company has offices in North Carolina and the UK.

• Free Plan: Free trial available.
• Pricing: Not published on the website.
• Features: Push-notifications, SEO, cloud hosting, in-app messages, and crash reporting.
• Open Source: Not Available
• Downloadable: Not Available
• Cloud-Hosting: Available
• Self-Hosting: The availability of this option is not published 
• Dedicated Servers: The availability of this option is not published.
• Technical Documentation: Documentation available.
• Support Services: Support available through email and an online community. Also, they provide technical training, user training, dedicated Slack channel.
• Remarks: This platform caters to the needs of mobile app agencies.

PlayFab 

Since its acquisition in 2018 by Microsoft, the company has become an integral part of the Silicon Valley software giant.  PlayFab provides backend as a service for game developers.  It is also an excellent platform for developing and hosting live games.

• Free Plan: Available, with limited features.
• Pricing: Indie Studio plan costs: $99/month while the Professional plan costs $299/month
• Features: Game services (multiplayer, responsive custom email templates, matchmaking), LiveOps (manage game config, trigger actions, schedule tasks) realtime analytics (dashboards, engagement reports, full-text search,) add-ons (multiplayer, monetization, analytics, game distribution platforms).
• Open Source: Not Available
• Downloadable: Not Available
• Cloud-Hosting: Available
• Self-Hosting: The availability of this option is not published.
• Dedicated Servers: The availability of this option is not published.
• Technical Documentation: Available
• Support Services: Yes. Offers dedicated support for the Indie Studio plan. The professional plan has dedicated support as well as SLA agreement.
• Professional Services: Not Available
• Remarks: Provides custom quotes for enterprise plans on request.

Pubnub 

This backend-as-a-service provider empowers developers with functions for creating chats, live-notifications, and device control applications.

Users of this platform include  DocuSign, Adobe, Logitech, and many others published on their websiteThe company headquarters is in San Francisco, CA.

• Free Plan: Available for free provided transactions does not exceed one million per month.
• Pricing: Premium plans start at $49 per month.
• Features: Functions (business logic and device state), Pub/Sub messaging (iOS, Android, and IoT), online status, Push Notifications, and realtime visibility.
• Open Source: No
• Download: Not Available
• Cloud-Hosting: Available
• Self-Hosting: Not Available
• Dedicated Servers: Not Available
• Technical Documentation: Yes. Extensive documentation is available online.
• Support Services: This provider has three types of support plans. GOLD costs $500/month, Platinum costs $1,500/month and Enterprise plan costs $5000/month. Subscribers enjoy support ranging from email support to a dedicated support agent.
• Professional Services: Information not published on their website.

Deployd 

This is an opensource API engine for creating APIs.  With this platform, developers can expedite the procedure of creating APIs without the need for boilerplate coding.

• Free Plan: Available. As an opensource framework, the download is completely free.
• Pricing:  It is Free.
• Features: API engine, authenticate users, create user collections, and many more.
• Open Source: Yes
• Download: Available
• Cloud-Hosting: Not Available
• Self-Hosting: Yes, simply download the framework and install it on the server of your choice.
• Dedicated Servers: Yes. You can download the framework deploy on any dedicated server.
• Technical Documentation: Yes. Available from online sources.
• Support Services: Not Available.
• Professional Services:  Not Available.

Azure Mobile Apps

This is a Microsoft-powered backend-as-a-service that developers can use to create mobile apps fast. The platform helps developers expedite the procedure of creating cross-platform applications. The user can also choose to develop native apps for iOS, Android, Mac, or Windows.

• Plan: Free access to the most popular products for a year.
• Pricing: Flexible Pay as you go payment plans
• Features: .NET/PHP/Java/HTML apps available, authentication, IDE integration, push-notifications, CLI, create mobile-first, service store, and retrieve data. 
• Open Source: No
• Download: Not Available
• Cloud-Hosting: Available
• Self-Hosting: Only available at Azure
• Dedicated Servers: Only available at Azure 
• Technical Documentation: Technical documentation available online.
• Support Services: Only available at Azure
• Remarks: The platform integrates seamlessly with Azure Cloud. 

 Kii

This platform is a dedicated backend-as-a-service for IoT applications.

• Features: user management, device management, push-notifications, data management, sensor-cloud-interactions, geolocation, and many more.
• Open Source: Yes
• Download: Available
• Cloud-Hosting: Available
• Self-Hosting: Available
• Dedicated Servers: Available
• Technical Documentation: Technical documentation available for download.
• Support Services: Available
• Remarks: Public and private cloud deployment options available

CloudKit

CloudKit is Apple’s backend-as-a-service that has native support for Xcode. This platform allows the developer to sync data across multiple devices, sync data across various apps. Authenticate through iCloud, send notifications, and many more.

• Free Plan: The free plan is limited to 1PB for each app.
• Pricing: The user switches to Pay as you go option after exceeding the free limit.
• Features: Simple sharing, Automated syncing, analytics dashboard.
• Open Source: Not Available
• Downloadable: Not Available
• Cloud-Hosting: Available
• Self-Hosting: Not Available
• Dedicated Servers: Not Available
• Technical Documentation: Available
• Support Services: Available
• Remarks: This platform only works with Apple products.

8Base

BaaS service to create professional applications using GraphQL. The company is located in the USA.

• Free plan available
• Paid plans start at $25 per month
• Features include GraphQL API, relacional data builder, serverless functions, and built in user administration.
• Open Source: No
• Cloud-Hosting: Available
• Technical Documentation: Comprehensive documentation available online.
• Support Services: Available
• Remarks: Professional services available.

Do you want more information about the backend as a service? You would find this tutorial informative.

BaaS | Backend as a Service