The Best Firebase Alternatives in 2024! Open-Source and Scalable Solutions

Are you looking for Firebase alternatives in 2024? In this tutorial, you will learn about the best Firebase alternatives and cover names like Back4App, Parse, Backendless, Supabase, Appwrite, Nhost, etc.

Key Takeaways

• Key reasons to look for Firebase are the cost, vendor lock-in, and hosting limited to GCP
• The best alternatives to Firebase include Back4app, Backendless, and Supabase
• Learn the key features and pricing structure of the best Firebase alternatives

Firebase Overview

Firebase is Google’s app development platform and helps developers to build and run applications.

It offers a robust feature set that allows users to get applications to the market quickly and provides tools to monitor the application’s user experience.

The platform works well for mobile and web applications, and Google designed it to increase digital product creation productivity.

The core features of Firebase include NoSQL databases, real-time queries, scalable hosting, data storage, file storage, REST APIs, authentication, machine learning, and analytics. 

Firebase has been investing heavily in AI-enabled features like Gemini integration and Genkit. 

Why look for Firebase Alternatives? 

While Firebase offers an increasingly sophisticated array of services that handle various development requirements, it’s not always the easiest, fastest, or most affordable option. 

The article “Reasons Not to Use Firebase” also enlightened me about the risks of using Firebase.

Some users look for Firebase alternatives because the free tier is not available to all Firebase services, the Firebase service does not work in China, complex queries may be slow in some situations, and the platform lacks flexibility.

It’s not open-source and has vendor lock-in

Firebase is a Google-backed, closed-source platform with many excellent features, allowing developers to create an MVP quickly.

However, vendor lock-in is one of the biggest concerns among developers and the main shortcoming of Firebase.

A closed-source platform does not allow the adjustment of the source code to specific needs or environment customization to achieve maximum performance.

Pricing model is complex and hard to predict

Firebase server costs can increase significantly as an app begins to scale. Although Firebase offers a free plan, the free tier’s limitations make it suitable for small apps only.

Once the app starts scaling, you need to upgrade to the Blaze plan, which does not have a fixed pricing structure. Blaze is a pay-as-you-go service plan that charges based on your app’s server resources.

In essence, users cannot set an app’s maximum monthly budget. Consequently, users may receive unpleasant surprises by the end of the billing cycle.

Until January 2020, Firebase offered the Flame Plan. It was a fixed-price plan for $25/month, but this option is no longer available.

Some users were heavily affected by this change. Please learn more by reading the article Firebase Costs Increased 7,000%.

It’s not self-hosted it only supports the GCP hosting option

Firebase offers only one type of cloud hosting setup on the Google Cloud Platform. Users must use Firebase cloud infrastructure and share resources with other applications because there is no dedicated server option.

There are better options than this approach for complex applications that require customized server settings for optimal performance.

Since Firebase does not offer Dedicated Server or Enterprise contracts, users may face several limitations once the app begins to scale.

Privacy & Data Storage

According to item 1.5 of Firebase’s Terms of Service, users may select the data location for certain paid services.

For paid services where data location is not available, Firebase can store data in any Google facility. Please find the paragraph below:

Firebase Privacy and Security documentation revealed that the platform satisfies GDPR requirements. The document also showed that the data storage and processing locations might vary by service.

Google may use Firebase Service Data to improve non-Firebase Google services. Firebase allows users to turn off this control and avoid data collection.

Both databases are NoSQL, and there is no SQL option 

Firebase works with a closed-source NoSQL database for Firestore and the Real-Time database. It imposes restrictions on users of a NoSQL database, including limited querying and indexing.

GraphQL APIs are not available on the regular setup

One weakness of Firebase is the lack of out-of-the-box GraphQL APIs. Although it works perfectly with REST and has extensive documentation for developers, Firebase does not provide out-of-the-box GraphQL APIs.

Top 10 Firebase Alternatives in 2024

Here are some of the best alternatives to Firebase for scalable app development, and keep reading to learn more about these Firebase-like solutions:

Back4App

Back4app stands out as a unique and reliable Firebase alternative, leveraging the power of AI and built on top of open-source technologies.

Its core features include a real-time database, APIs, user management & authentication, custom code execution, storage, and push notifications. 

Back4app is designed for ease of use, with a user-friendly interface and a low learning curve. Its predictable and easy-to-understand pricing plan makes it a straightforward choice for businesses. 

Best of all, it offers a free tier, which is excellent for testing the platform. It provides a risk-free opportunity to test its features and benefits. 

The platform makes building APIs a breeze since it auto-generates RESTful and GraphQL APIs for your database models. Moreover, it provides SDKs for all your favorite programming languages.

By utilizing Back4app, you can significantly accelerate your app-building process. There will be no need to deal with your backend’s underlying infrastructure, scaling, maintenance, etc.

Back4app has a proven track record, having been in operation since 2015. It has been successfully used by many companies, including industry leaders like Accenture, and popular apps like Fight List and 1001 Apps, demonstrating its reliability and effectiveness.

 This customer case, Scaling a Game App to 55 Million Users, explained how the game development company Two4Tea successfully scaled its game Fight List using Back4App’s services. 

According to G2, the platform has 4.8 out of 5 stars and is highly rated for its ease of use, setup, and quality support. 

Pricing

• Free Tier — Great for testing out the platform
• Serverless Hosting — starts at $25/month
• Dedicated Hosting — starts at $500/month

Core Features

The core features of Back4app include a real-time data model, APIs, and serverless functions. The platform offers a web deployment feature that is ideal for deploying and scaling projects directly from GitHub.  

Additionally, Back4app allows users to interact with the platform via a low-code point-and-click dashboard or a natural language interface. 

Back4app’s data model runs on both NoSQL and the PostgreSQL databases. The data model has an Excel-like interface and is extremely easy to use. 

The API console of Back4app is a versatile tool, supporting both GraphQL and REST technologies.

This flexibility empowers developers to choose the best option for their specific use case, enhancing their development experience.

Another critical feature of Back4app is JavaScript serverless functions. These execution models are an excellent way for developers to interact with cloud elements while writing code. 

Read the article Back4App vs. Firebase to better understand the differences between both platforms. 

Why use Back4app as a Firebase alternative? 

Some developers consider Back4App better than Firebase for the following reasons:

• No vendor lock-in
• Supports NoSQL as well as SQL
• Built on top of open-source software
• Multi-cloud deployment options
• It’s a Firebase self-hosted alternative
• Allow you to perform complex relational queries
• Dedicated hosting and Enterprise plans
• It’s a Firebase alternative in China
• Excellent 24/7 customer support

Keep reading to discover more Firebase similar platforms. 

Parse

Parse is a popular free alternative to Firebase. The platform’s main features include an easy-to-use dashboard, real-time NoSQL database, user management & authentication, file storage, and built-in analytics. 

Additionally, the platform provides SDKs for the most popular programming languages, such as JavaScript, PHP, and Dart.

It is open-source, free to use and download, and protected under the Apache-2.0 license.

The platform offers a great developer experience due to its customizability and extensibility.

For example, Parse’s core features include an easy-to-use dashboard, graphical database interface, APIs, and object storage adapters to multiple services like S3. 

Parse’s multi-cloud deployment options are a significant advantage. Since the entire framework is open-source, users can download the repositories from GitHub and self-host their application on any major cloud provider such as AWS, DigitalOcean, Google Cloud, etc.

The article Chisel CMS—a headless CMS use case for Parse-Server discusses Chisel, an open-source headless CMS built on Parse-Server designed to complement the Jamstack movement. It explains the benefits of using Parse Server for CMS development.

Parse, with its long-running history, is backed by a large and engaged developer community. With over 38k GitHub stars, it is a thoroughly tested framework that fosters a sense of belonging and support for developers, contributing to faster application development.

Pricing

Parse is free to download and use and it is protected under the permissive Apache 2.0 License.

Core Features

The core features of Back4app include a spreadsheet-like database, user management & authentication, storage adapters (like S3), and push-notifications.

Why use Parse as a Firebase alternative? 

• It’s open-source
• No vendor lock-in
• Multi-cloud deployment options
• Large developer community support
• Thoroughly tested framework

Keep reading to discover more Firebase competitors. 

AWS Amplify

AWS Amplify is Amazon’s Backend as a Service (BaaS) solution.

The platform allows you to rapidly build highly scalable full-stack web and mobile applications. 

Its main features include user management, authentication, file storage, push notifications, built-in CI/CD, and more!

AWS Amplify orchestrates many popular AWS services, such as Cognito, DynamoDB, Lambda, S3, and AppSync. It allows you to manage all mentioned services through an easy-to-use dashboard.

Using AWS Amplify, it is possible to configure a backend in minutes, ship faster, and scale effortlessly. 

The platform integrates with other AWS services like Dynamo DB, Lambda, S3, Cognito, AppSync, etc. 

Building an application using AWS Amplify is easy and involves steps like creating the backend, connecting it to the application, managing users, and creating the UI. 

The most common use cases include building data models, hosting progressive web applications, hosting static sites, and user authentication. 

The AWS case study on Neiman Marcus describes how the luxury retailer accelerated the launch of its digital selling application using AWS’s cloud-native and serverless technologies, particularly AWS Amplify.

This approach enabled a 50% faster market introduction and a 90% reduction in development costs.

According to G2, the platform has 4.1 out of 5 stars and is favorably rated for helping users build serverless applications on the AWS environment and being a stable solution.

Pricing

AWS Amplify’s pricing structure is relatively complex.  

• Free tier to start
• Pay as you go model above the free threshold 
• Build and Deploy – $0.01 per build per minute
• Data Storage – $0.023/GB per month
• Data Transfer Out – $0.15/GB served

For more details on pricing, please check Amplify’s pricing page. 

Core Features

AWS Amplify allows users to connect to multiple source code repositories like Github, Gitlab, etc.

The deployment process is super easy; users need to connect to a repository, configure the settings, and deploy. AWS Amplify will take care of scaling the hosting globally. 

Other important features of AWS Amplify include data storage, authentication, APIs, and analytics. This flexible platform integrates with other AWS services like S3 and Cognito.

Why use AWS Amplify as a Firebase alternative? 

• Backed by AWS
• Makes it easy to integrate with other AWS services
• You’re already familiar with AWS
• Frontend UI elements

Backendless

Backendless is a visual application development platform that helps users build scalable applications quickly.

It has been operating since 2012 and is one of the pioneering Backend as a Service (BaaS) solutions.

Using Backendless, it is possible to create real-time applications, location-aware apps, and mobile and web apps.

The visual app builder makes the experience of developing apps intuitive, easy to manage, and fast. On top of that, it allows people with less technical knowledge to build pretty complex apps.

The platform offers exceptional customer support. If you’re ever stuck, getting help on Slack or other forums is easy. The company also provides professional services for custom development projects.

Backendless’s showcase, including clients like Bettercast and Bank al Etihad, highlights its versatility.

A key example is the University of Concepción, where Backendless efficiently managed a large-scale educational app, proving its ability to deliver scalable, user-friendly solutions for complex educational needs.

According to G2, the platform is highly praised for its user-friendliness, simple setup process, and exceptional support and has 4.4 out of 5 stars.

Pricing

Backendless offers three different pricing categories:

• Backendless Cloud — Free tier and paid plans starting at $15/month
• Backendless Pro — from $10k to $50k/year
• Managed Backendless — Under quotation

Core Features

Backendless’s core features include a data model, messaging, cloud code, file storage, and a front-end UI builder. 

The UI feature is unique, and Backendless is most likely the only Firebase alternative offering an out-of-the-box UI builder fully integrated with the backend features. 

It includes component toolkits, business logic, and rapid UI development resources. 

Why use Backendless as a Firebase alternative? 

• It’s easy to use
• It offers a visual development tool kit
• It provides integrations with 3rd-party tools like Bubble, Zapier, and AppGyver
• It offers on-premise deployment 
• It offers dedicated plans
• Easy data import/export

Kuzzle

Kuzzle offers three different products, and the company is focused on IoT and open-source software.

The first is an IoT suite designed to streamline the deployment of IoT applications. The second is a backend to facilitate the development of web and mobile applications. The third is a Platform as a Service focused on IoT deployment. 

The open-source products are great options for data management and IoT development. Using Kuzzle, you can create projects for Smart Cities, Smart Logistics, Smart Buildings, etc.

The application stack is not only powerful but also user-friendly, available for free download.

Users can choose to self-host an application or use Kuzzle’s cloud to host it, with the platform offering multiple SDKs options, including Javascript, C#, Dart, and Golang, making it easy for you to get started and confident in your ability to use the platform.

With a track record since 2015, Kuzzle has proven its reliability, serving customers like Biogen, La Poste, Veolia, and SNCF.

The Kuzzle IoT case study on Connected Construction Sites highlights how Bouygues Construction’s Omniscient service used Kuzzle IoT for real-time geolocation and management of construction resources.

According to FeaturedCustomers, Kuzzle, the platform has 4.8 of 5 stars, and reviewers say it’s an excellent replacement for Firebase and offers hosting in France. 

Pricing

• Free to download
• Support plans of €500, €1,000, and Premium under quotation
• Professional Services, Training, PoC under quotation

Features

Kuzzle’s open-source DNA is applied across its features. The product line covers a backend platform, fit-to-purpose IoT features, and a platform as a service. 

The backend encompasses data storage, authentication, a real-time engine, and multiprotocol APIs. 

The IoT platform focuses on delivering a fit-to-purpose experience to users looking to simplify the management of devices and data regarding the Internet of Things. 

Why use Kuzzle as a Firebase alternative? 

• It’s open-source
• It has fit-to-purpose IoT features
• No vendor lock-in
• It offers professional services and training
• It offers tailor-made support plans

Supabase

Supabase is an excellent open-source alternative to Firebase.

The platform lets you get an app up and running in less than 2 minutes. It provides a Postgres database, authentication, instant APIs, edge functions, storage, real-time subscriptions, and more!

Its ease of use and flexibility allow developers to build backends for different types of apps, from real-time apps and web crawlers to static presentation websites.

Supabase, whether self-hosted or in the Supabase cloud, is a versatile platform. It recently added tools for building and deploying AI-based applications, further expanding its capabilities.

Next Door Lending, a top national mortgage broker, utilized Supabase for effective data management and user experience enhancements. This enabled them to efficiently manage a growing borrower base and integrate advanced analytics, significantly boosting their business scalability and operational efficiency.

Supabase is a young company and has been running since 2020. Although it is a new player in this market, it has a large and engaged developer community to support the open-source repository. It has more than 70k stars and 6k forks on GitHub.

As of the date of this writing, according to Product Hunt, the platform has 4.8 out of 5 stars and is highly rated for its developer experience and excellent documentation.

Pricing

• Free Tier — For testing & prototyping
• PRO Plan — $25/month
• Team Plan — $599/month
• Enterprise Plan — Under quotation

Features

One of Supabase’s key features is a fully managed Postgres database. It offers an Excel-like interface and the simplicity of a spreadsheet. 

The platform encompasses additional features like authentication, storage, edge functions, realtime synchronization, and a vector database ideal for AI applications. 

Why use Supabase as a Firebase alternative? 

• It’s open-source
• Developer-oriented platform 
• A growing community of developers 
• It’s based on PostgreSQLand supports pgvector
• It offers multiple deployment options
• No vendor lock-in

appwrite

Appwrite is an open-source platform for building backends for web, mobile, and desktop apps.

The platform’s main features include authentication (with social integrations), database management, serverless functions, messaging, storage, and real-time API.

It is highly developer-oriented and offers an extensive set of features. The platform can be self-hosted or hosted in the cloud.

Appwrite offers native support for the most popular technologies and frameworks, including Flutter, Next.js, React, Svelte, Vue, and Angular.

Even though it is a young company that launched in 2019, it has grown its open-source repository massively and has more than 41k Github stars. 

As of the date of this writing, according to Product Hunt, the platform has 4.8 out of 5 stars and is positively rated as an intuitive backend and ease of setup. 

Pricing

• Starter Plan — Completely free
• Pro Plan — $15 per member per month
• Scale Plan — $599 per organization per month
• Enterprise Plan — Under quotation

Features

The key features of appwrite include authentication, databases, file storage, functions, and messaging.

The authentication feature covers multiple login methods, such as Email/Password, SMS, and OAuth, and offers email templates. 

Users can store, query, and manage data using a scalable database that offers in-memory caching, permission roles, and custom data validation. 

The file storage feature encompasses encryption in transit and rest and advanced compression capabilities.

Messaging is available via several channels like emails, push notifications, and SMS.

Why use appwrite as a Firebase alternative? 

• It’s open-source
• Developer-oriented platform
• A growing community of developers 
• It’s easy to use

Nhost

NHost is another open-source alternative to Firebase. It is an open-source backend and development platform that enables quick app building and scaling.

It features a Postgres database, real-time GraphQL API, authentication, storage, serverless functions, and more. On top of that, it integrates with third-party services such as Hasura and Graphite.

Nhost provides everything a Jamstack app would need.

The platform focuses on the developer experience. It allows developers to develop locally and quickly push the code to the cloud. Additionally, it comes with a feature-rich command line interface (CLI).

Nhost has excellent regional support, offering 80+ CDN locations and six regions over four continents.

The company started operations in 2019 and currently supports clients like HyperLab, Servehub, NautaCapital, and Terminator.

Boom.tv, collaborating with AAA game studio Midnight Society, adopted Nhost for its web app development, benefiting from its open-source authentication and comprehensive backend services, leading to an efficient and successful game launch.

As of the date of this writing, according to Product Hunt, the platform has 4.6 out of 5 stars and is positively rated for fast responses to questions, listening to developer’s requirements, and smooth functioning. 

Pricing

• Starter Plan — Completely free
• Pro Plan — $25 per project per month
• Team Plan — $599 per project per month
• Enterprise Plan — Under quotation

Features

Nhost’s product encompasses features like a Postgres database, GraphQL APIs powered by the Hasura framework, authentication, serverless functions, file storage, and AI elements.

The Postgres database interface looks like a spreadsheet, and NHost provides users with root access.

NHost provides out-of-the-box GraphQL APIs coupled with the Postgres database, allowing users to easily and safely expose data to the world. 

Serverless functions are another excellent feature available at NHost. They allow users to tailor logic to meet the most diverse business requirements. 

The authentication feature works for mobile and web applications and covers Sign-in / Sign-up, Reset Password, and OAuth. 

File rage is also available at NHost, and users can benefit from a global CDN and control access with permissions. 

Lastly, NHost offers container services that support Docker files and multiple programming languages, such as Go and Python. 

Why use Nhost as a Firebase alternative? 

• It’s open-source
• Low learning curve
• Great developer experience
• It supports GraphQL
• No vendor lock-in
• It’s open-source
• Low learning curve
• Great developer experience
• It supports GraphQL
• No vendor lock-in

Kinsta

Kinsta is more of a “traditional” cloud hosting platform, and the key use case is WordPress hosting. 

The platform allows developers to deploy WordPress applications and static and dynamic web applications.

Its other features include automated backups, staging branches, built-in security, and excellent scaling capabilities.

With Kinsta, deploying web applications and databases is a breeze, requiring just a few clicks.

Trango Tech, a mobile app development company, saw a 20% increase in website speed and a 10% rise in sales after moving to Kinsta’s hosting services, allowing them to focus on new product development.

On top of that, Kinsta is leveraged by companies such as Tripadvisor, Unicef, ClickUp, and ScreamingFrog.

As of the date of this writing, according to G2, the platform has 4.8 out of 5 stars and is positively rated as a great combination of customer support, reliability, and performance. 

Pricing

Kinsta has different pricing for different services:

• Static Sites — Free
• WordPress Hosting — $30/month
• Web Applications — $7/month
• Managed Databases — $18/month

Features

Kinsta uses Google Cloud to provide fast and best-in-class WordPress hosting. The platform offers edge caching, continuous optimization of MySQL databases, and built-in application monitoring. 

The company is expanding its product suite and delivering services like web application hosting, managed databases, and static site hosting. 

The all-in-one offering supports four database types, 19 programming languages, and a custom Docker file setup.

Why use Kinsta as a Firebase alternative? 

• Easy to use
• Traditional approach to hosting
• Hosting for databases, applications, and WordPress
• 37 datacenters available for deployment
• SOC2 compliant

Hasura

Hasura lets users connect to databases, services, and code effortlessly into a unified graph. 

By leveraging Hasura, users can build APIs up to ten times faster than traditional API building. The platform is known for its high performance, reliability, and scalability. 

Another great thing about it is that it features advanced CI/CD tooling that enables rapid iteration.

Compared to Firebase, it offers fewer features, but it’s perfect in what it does.

It supports multiple database options, including Postgres, SQL Server, Amazon Aurora, and Google Big Query. Hasura offers you a free-to-download version or a hosted cloud option.

The company has been operating since 2017, and its client showcase includes Netlify, BBVA, Walmart, and Atlassian. 

The case study on Philips Healthcare and Hasura highlights how Philips leveraged Hasura’s GraphQL technology for its Radiology Operations Command Centre, accelerating development up to 4 times faster than traditional methods.

As of the date of this writing, according to G2, Hasura has 4.4 out of 5 stars and is positively rated because of its ease of use, flexibility, and database management. 

Pricing

• DDN Free – Ideal for individual developers building a supergraph

• DDN Base – Ideal for a single team building a business supergraph

• DDN Advanced – Ideal for multiple teams creating federated supergraphs

Features

Hasura allows users to connect to multiple data sources, including PostgreSQL, MySQL, SQL Server, etc., and build, operate, federate, govern, and evolve robust APIs.

The list of features includes filtering, pagination, sorting, aggregations for GraphQL, and API versioning. It also provides monitoring tools to measure the API performance. 

The company complies with the most critical security and privacy standards, including GDPR, SOC2, and HIPAA, and can provide DPAs—Data Processing Agreements—and BAAs—Business Associate Agreements. 

Why use Hasura as a Firebase alternative? 

• It’s open-source
• It supports NoSQL and SQL databases
• It works with external databases
• It offers Enterprise plans
• Low-latency

Other Firebase Alternatives

Other Firebase alternatives include Ably for realtime messaging and notifications, PubNub for realtime features, 8Base for users looking for AI-based development, and Heroku for users who want to deploy full-stack applications rather than only their backends. 

Firebase Alternatives Comparison

Conclusion

Firebase is a robust app development platform from Google. It supports customers in developing and improving applications quickly during the entire development and production cycle.

Although it offers excellent benefits, its limitations include not being open-source, vendor lock-in, a lack of SQL databases, and a lack of availability in multiple countries like China.

This article explored multiple Firebase alternatives, provided an overview of each solution, and highlighted Firebase’s core features, pricing structure, and advantages.

This article delves into a range of Firebase alternatives, including companies that offer open-source solutions like Back4app, appwrite, or Supabase. 

It also covers fit-to-purpose platforms to solve specific problems, like Kinsta for WordPress hosting and Kuzzle for IoT applications.