Firebase Self Hosted Alternatives

Do you love Firebase but would prefer a Firebase alternative self-hosted solution? In this article, we shall review some alternative platforms that you can install and run from your server. 

Server solutions can either be open-source or closed-source, and each category has its distinct benefits and drawbacks. Open-source solutions widely used in modern computing, Statista estimates that the industry will be worth $32.95 bi in 2022. This forecast shows a 24% increase in just one year.

Self-hosted solutions are widely used in sectors like cybersecurity, financial services, engineering, healthcare, and government agencies.

Firebase Overview

Firebase is a well-known cloud solution for mobile development. The Backend as a Service platform is presently owned by Google and provides a managed service that empowers developers with a suite of tools for building, deploying, and managing mobile applications. 

Developers on Firebase can scale the server as the need arise. They can use cloud tools like realtime database (NoSQL databases), authentication, storage, manage users, cloud functions, CLI, and machine learning for app projects.

With this cloud solution, developers can build server-side functions without reinventing the wheel. Moreover scaling apps is done automatically by the cloud service provider. 

Despite all the excellent features of Firebase, it does not offer an on-premise deployment option. Therefore, the option of hosting Firebase on a personal server is off the table. 

An Overview On-Premise Deployment

On-Premise server deployment refers to a solution where server infrastructure and its application components are hosted on a client’s server.

While cloud server solutions are getting increasingly popular, many prefer on-premise hosting options and are sometimes compelled to use them due to regulatory requirements.

Benefits of Self-Hosting

• One-Time Investment: The cost of deploying an on-premise server solution is high. However, this costs a one-time payment and the owner takes full ownership of the server infrastructure,

• Low Risk: Om-premise deployment empowers a business to take control over its assets and subsequent maintenance. The business can implement a restriction policy and monitor user and app activity. It gives more control over corporate data management. 

• Close Control: An in-house IT team handling deployment and management, gives a business power to oversee server access and data security. This enhanced security offered by on-premise hosting is appealing to most businesses.  

Does Firebase offer self-hosting?

Firebase is designed to offer an agile cloud environment for building, deploying, and managing apps. It does not provide an option to self host an application.

The same servers Google uses to provide its services powers Firebase, making it a very reliable cloud solution preferred by many businesses worldwide.

Top 5 Self-Hosted Firebase Alternatives

Here are the top-five Firebase self-hosted alternatives that offer on-premise deployment options.

Back4app 

The first Firebase alternative offering an on-premise hosting option is Back4App. It is a reliable and scalable service powered by open-source technologies. It is an amalgamation of open-source tools, and Back4App is an excellent option for building mobile, web, and IoT applications.

Features  

• Offers a powerful backend providing functions like storage, syncing, app management, and many more.
• Supports REST API and GraphQL APIs.
• LiveQuery feature empowers developers to write codes for real-time data storage and syncing.
• Supports scalable hosting for business that wants to scale their service as the need arises.
• Supports mobile apps and web apps

Pricing 

• Free: The free starter package is bundled with a one-gigabyte transfer and storage, 24k requests, and 250MB database storage.

• Shared: This plan offers daily backup and recovery, multi-region, and auto-scaling. The price ranges from $25-$100 per month.

• Dedicated: This plan offers enhanced security on dedicated virtual machines that are monitored around the clock. The costs of Silver and Gold plans are $250 and $400 per month, respectively.

Parse Server 

Parse is a backend server that offers SDKs for mobile backend development. It’s a powerful platform for building mobile and web apps.  It has been widely used to build apps for Android, iOS, Windows, OSX, and React.

Developers on the Parse platform enjoy the support and codes from a vast community of open-source developers. With features like file and data storage, APIs and push notifications, high-level server management is minimized significantly.

A quick overview of apps developed with Parse includes Social Media apps, media streaming, IoT, and, payment and e-commerce apps.

Features

• APIs: Parse developers have access to multiple API options. They can either choose REST API or GraphQL API for building high-end applications.
• Notifications: Can create apps that send users updates in real-time, powered by LiveQuery.
• Push Notifications: Features for sending notifications to app users, even when they are not active on the app.  This is excellent for marketing or sending update notifications and much more.
• Social Login: this feature allows for third-party authentication through popular social networks like Facebook, LinkedIn, or Twitter.

Pricing

Parse is available for free download from the Parse Github Page.

Dokku 

Dokku is a solution with several enhancements that allow developers to configure and deploy apps on various server environments.

Dokku leverages the power of Docker to manage remote server deployment without hassles. 

Features

• Easy to Use: Dokku offers a preinstalled image that allows developers to get up and running with the platform immediately.
• Open-Source: This solution uses several open-source platforms like Docker and Heroku Build Packs. Users also enjoy support from Digital Ocean Service.
• Free: It is completely free. However, the users must pay for Digital Ocean servers that host the app.

Pricing

Dokku is an open-source platform available for free download at Dokku Download.

Kuzzle

Kuzzle presents consists of a suite of tools including an administrative console, search plugins, APIs, geofencing, and other open-source utilities. It is commonly used for web, mobile, and IoT development.

Features 

• Offers a real-time query language for building event-based apps.
• Open-source app for several excellent features.
• Businesses can leverage Kuzzle’s horizontal scaling feature for on-premise deployments.
• Kuzzle is available as a free download Kuzzle here.

Pricing 

• Free: The Kuzzle’s free plan has limited features but lets you get up and running.

• Support Plans:  The Starter and Premium support plans cost €500/month and €1,000 respectively. The premium plan is quoted on request.

Backendless 

Backendless offers a visual environment for full-stack app development. It also offers options for cloud, dedicated, on-premise, and managed server deployments.

Features 

• The high-performance Backendless servers can scale automatically
• Offers caching functions for enhancing the app’s speed.
• Uses a central log file that improves the app’s performance.
• Can build location-aware apps with functions like geofencing.

Pricing

• Backendless Cloud: The pan offers developers access to database tables, autoscaling, push notifications, API calls, and many more. The price ranges from $0 to $25/month.

• Backendless Pro:  The users can download the Backendless Pro version and run it in any environment.

• Managed Backendless: This plan offers a managed server with features like guaranteed uptime, and dedicated hosting, among others. The pricing structure is flexible.

Conclusion

Firebase is Google’s cloud-based solution with excellent features for developing, deploying, scaling, and managing apps. 

Firebase only runs on the Google Cloud. It does not offer self-hosted deployment options.

The five on-premise alternatives to Firebase are Back4apps, Backendles, Dokku, Kuzzle, and Parse.

FAQ