Firebase vs AWS | Which Is The Best?

The use of smartphone applications is robustly increasing among the global population. With this growth, present-day web and mobile app development has become complicated.

However, modern cloud development platforms like Firebase and AWS are helping developers simplify their development chores.

Still, the majority of businesses, startups, and development teams need clarification on Firebase vs AWS. So, this article is going to compare Firebase and Amazon Web Services in an easy manner. 

What is Firebase?

Firebase is a thorough compilation of backend app development tools and computing services initially made public in 2011.

This is basically the finest Mobile Backend as a Service (MBaaS) or Backend as a Service (BaaS) platform powered by Google. 

This cloud platform classifies its products into three major categories: Build, Release & Monitor and Engage.

The core Firebase services are Cloud Firestore, Realtime DB, Cloud Functions, Crashlytics, Remote Config, Authentication, and Cloud Messaging.

You can utilize these offerings to build, run, host, upgrade and deploy backends of mobile and web applications without managing infrastructure.

If we discuss its billing structure, it is easy to understand. The no-cost plan of Firebase provides free offerings to users.

You can entertain 50k monthly users, get 5GB cloud storage, 10GB hosting storage and much more with its Spark or No-cost program.

You just have an account on Firebase to access this plan. Luckily, you don’t have to insert credit card details like AWS here.

On the other hand, Blaze plan acts upon a pay-as-you-go billing structure. So, you only have to pay for utilized instances.

However, these fees could vary from region to region. All in all, Firebase is a BaaS CSP that facilitates its users with a highly scalable suite of backend services.

Halfbrick, Hotstar, Gameloft and Mobills are featured customers of Firebase. 

Benefits of Firebase 

Developers leverage the distinct features of Firebase. Let’s talk about the key Firebase advantages here:

Managed Service

Firebase is a handy and fully managed backend service. With this solution, you don’t have to be concerned about infrastructure.

Yes, you just have to focus on the core competencies, and Firebase takes care of server-side functionalities. Moreover, fully managed infrastructure lets you scale up and down the resources anytime. 

Real-time Databases

Firebase has two real-time databases that support NoSQL data models. Indeed, Realtime DB and Cloud Firestore are the leading databases offered by this CSP.

You can employ Realtime Database for medium-sized or small projects that need less scalability. Also, this DB is suitable for simple data types. 

However, the use of Firestore seems perfect when it comes to large applications with complicated data models.

Firestore is basically the advanced version of Firebase’s database. In short, Firebase gives you a choice to adopt a database according to the requirements of your project. 

Fast & Secure

Firebase speeds up the development process by providing detailed and ready-to-use tools, SDKs and APIs.

Similarly, this backend vendor follows security protocols to keep your data protected in different operations. It also complies with security standards such as ISO, CCPA, GDPR and SOC. 

Customization

This BaaS provider lets you customize the user experience for Android, iOS, C++ and Unity applications.

Hereof, the use of the Remote Config tool is considered the best. This tool enables you to personalize the application experience according to the behavior of different users. 

Besides, this tool is beneficial when it comes to introducing the new version of applications. You can develop and release improved versions according to the preferences of app users. 

Smart Analytics

The availability of unmetered and free analytics is another benefit of Firebase. Yes, you can consume Google-backed analytics to explore 500 events.

It displays user insights in different charts, graphs, and diagrams. This smart user tracking tool definitely helps in improving user engagement and ad revenues. 

Quickly Fix the Bugs 

Bug issues have an adverse effect on the overall performance of an app. So, engagement and application ratings start falling gradually.

However, the powerful Firebase tool named Crashlytics authorizes developers to identify and fix the bugs quickly. This crash reporting tool works with all types of devices and catches the bugs in the meantime. 

What is AWS?

Amazon Web Services, or AWS, is one of the most used cloud computing platforms founded in 2006 by Amazon.

This computing vendor offers a variety of services, including Platform as a Service (PaaS), Software as a Service (SaaS) and Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS). 

At this moment, AWS is providing 200+ products to manage, create, run, host, deploy and scale mobile and web applications in global data centers.

Yes, Amazon Web Services confers its development solution to 245 countries, including China. You can easily get storage, networking, databases, messaging, AI, security, dev tools, analytics and data management features with this CSP.

Interestingly, this platform comes with a free tier program for the majority of its products.

However, when your needed instances spike from the provided limit, you simply have to follow a pay-as-you-go pricing structure. So, you don’t have to pay any upfront fee or complete package cost with AWS. 

In short, AWS is a highly secure, scalable and flexible solution for all of your computing needs.

That is why leading brands like Adobe, Netflix, Facebook, Amazon Music, and Ubitus are satisfied customers of Amazon Web Services. 

Benefits of AWS 

AWS grants a large number of advantages to its users. Let’s discuss them in detail:

Economical

Amazon Web Service is a less expensive cloud solution, mainly when compared to Firebase. It lets you begin your dev journey for free.

In this regard, you simply need to create an account on AWS and insert your credit card credentials. 

Moreover, around 29 of its products come with an ‘always free’ tag. CloudWatch, SQS, CodeCommit and DynamoDB are examples of it.

Correspondingly, around 28 products are in the ’12 month free’ category, and 58 offerings have free trials. By the way, you can also optimize your project cost with its financial management features.

Self-Hosting Option

AWS is an open-source platform that comes with the benefit of self-hosting. With 105 availability zones in 33 global regions, it allows you to self-host your project. Besides, it lets you migrate your project from AWS to other cloud computing solutions on the fly. 

Reliable APIs

This platform provides a wide range of APIs to developers that are scripted in distinct languages. You can utilize these APIs to deploy backends, manage infrastructure, or create full-stack apps.

Hereof, it is straightforward to craft WebSocket and RESTful APIs, and you can proceed with 1 million API calls for free. 

More Functionalities 

Unlike other cloud computing solutions, AWS has the largest list of IaaS, PaaS, and SaaS offerings.

Indeed, it covers a wide range of services, mainly when you compare it with Firebase. This platform has functionalities for testing, hosting, development and deployment of applications. 

Highly Secure Platform

Amazon Web Services is a highly protected CSP powered by 300 security offerings. It emphasizes a lot over infrastructural security.

That is why organizations like using AWS for on-premises and cloud solutions. Similarly, it deals with all security concerns, from data protection, identity & access management to safety for network control points.

Furthermore, it performs 5 billion resource configuration inquiries on a monthly basis. Around 600 billion API events are conducted daily for auditing purposes.

On the other hand, it is compliant with 143 security protocols, including HIPAA, GDPR, FIPS 140-2, PCI and much more. 

Pay-as-you-go Pricing Model

AWS’s pricing approach is a pay-as-you-go model. This highly extensible solution authorizes developers and businesses to pay for used resources only. Also, you can access additional resources within a few clicks through this approach.

Firebase vs AWS | The differences you need to know

Let’s talk about the key differences between Firebase and AWS:

Firebase is a closed-source suite of cloud computing products. Hereof, Backend as a Service (BaaS) features are the key offerings of Firebase.

Contrarily, AWS is an open-source CSP that comes with more than 200 computing products. AWS’s key offerings are PaaS, IaaS, and SaaS. 

Firebase only facilitates its users with managed services, but AWS has the capability to grant both non-managed and managed solutions to its customers.

Firebase is Google’s proprietary technology, and AWS works under the umbrella of Amazon.

Firebase has vendor lock-in, which is why it becomes difficult to migrate from this CSP to another solution.

However, with the self-hosting feature, AWS doesn’t apply vendor lock-in, and you can easily switch from AWS to another platform.

Although both platforms follow a pay-as-you-go pricing model but, AWS is considered more economical. However, Firebase doesn’t ask for credit card information for free tier plans.

Amazon AWS vs Firebase | Comparison Table

Conclusion

This article explains all the differences between AWS and Firebase. Although both are cloud computing platforms but, Firebase only provides BaaS or backend services.

Withal, AWS is a comprehensive solution consisting of IaaS, SaaS, and PaaS offerings. We also discussed all further aspects in detail in this article.

Hopefully, this guide will be helpful enough to understand the differences between these two CSPs.

Henceforth, it will be easy for companies and developers to employ services from Amazon Web Services and Google Firebase.