Firebase Open Source Alternatives in 2023

This article will explore ten of the best Firebase open source alternatives. The list includes Back4App, Parse, Kuzzle, CloudFoundry, etc.

Firebase is a leading mobile and web application development platform that Google acquired in 2014. It is ideal for startups, SMEs, and new developers to build web, Android and iOS applications.

This highly scalable platform enables the coders to create applications quickly within less budget. In this regard, Firebase offers a variety of products, including Realtime Database, Cloud Firestore, Test Lab, Cloud Messaging and much more.

However, companies want to try Firebase open-source alternatives because of some limitations associated with this program. For that reason, this article displays one of the top open-source alternatives to Firebase with all of their characteristics and pricing structures. This guide will also represent the core features and drawbacks of Firebase.

Firebase Core Features

Here are the core features of Firebase:

Free to Start Platform

Firebase is an ideal platform for startups and developers who are looking for free software to build, host and run their web and mobile applications. Indeed, the Spark plan of Firebase is entirely free to use, and you can even integrate it with a variety of Google Cloud products without paying anything.

This plan provides 10 GB hosting storage, 1 GB database storage and 5 GB cloud storage. Please read Firebase Pricing Explained to know more.

Realtime Database

It is basically a NoSQL database that enables businesses to sync and gather data in real-time. The real-time sync property of Firebase also empowers the users to approach data by using any device, including smartphones and desktop devices.

Authentication

Firebase authentication is an effective product of this platform that provides a better experience to new users and enhances sign in security. This feature of Firebase enables the users to register on applications not only through email but also by using other accounts like Facebook, Twitter, GitHub and Google.

App Distribution

This is a beta product of Firebase that aids in administering the testing scheme. Moreover, Firebase App Distribution gives a complete overview of pre-release versions of your application. So, developers can witness how their application will work after the launch on a single dashboard.

Cloud Messaging

Firebase Cloud Messaging, also known as FCM, confers developers to send push and email notifications. Indeed, Firebase works as an all-in-one platform, so it also helps to engage target users. In this regard, it provides A/B test notifications, custom content and advanced message targeting. Luckily, programmers don’t need to add any code to enable notifications with Firebase.

Firebase Limitations

Firebase also has some limitations that we are discussing below:

Database Limitations — Firebase only works with NoSQL databases. For example, The Realtime Database of Firebase depends on a single file structure. With this big JSON file, it becomes complicated for developers to deal with perplexing queries and enforce connections between items and input.

Not All Products Are Free to Start — Novices typically prefer Firebase because it is free to start option, but all of its products don’t give a free trial. Yes, Spark Plan of Firebase doesn’t include Cloud Functions, custom model deployment, IaaS functionalities.

Advantages of Going Open-Source

Another major question that arises here is why businesses and developers should consider open-source Firebase alternatives. So, we will like to defend open-source solutions with their advantages.

Cost-Efficient

Open-source solutions are considered the cost-effective ones because their starting fee is minimal. Similarly, businesses need less hardware structure when they go with open-source platforms. They also don’t need to pay the cost of hardware maintenance and upgrade.

Availability of Resources

Businesses can easily access the required resources when they go with open-source app development solutions. Undoubtedly, various resources and libraries are available on GitHub and GitLab that support open-source app development projects.

No Vendor Lock-In

Developers don’t have to stick with the same platform when they use open-source solutions. These platforms are not only highly scalable, but it is also convenient to migrate your project from one service provider to another.

Enhanced Security

Open-source solutions are more secure because more development experts can identify the code errors and other bugs in such projects. By the same token, vulnerabilities of open-source projects could be timely inspected and fixed with the help of regular updates.

Community Support

The community support of open-source Firebase alternatives is also appreciable. Undoubtedly, people share their projects with other community members, so it becomes quick to fix errors and get help to sort out different issues.

Furthermore, it is also seamless to get support from online community forums about open-source solutions. Stack Overflow, Digital Point, Android Forums, GitHub and Code Ranch are reliable communities in this regard.

Top 10 Open Source Alternatives to Firebase

Here are some great open source tools you can use to replace Firebase.

1. Back4App

Back4App is a reliable open-source alternative to Firebase that was made public in 2015. This open source backend, is a Firebase alternative is known among developers because of its low-code app development capabilities with an approach to GraphQL and REST APIs.

Indeed, Back4App is an exemplary open-source platform to build modern web and mobile applications. Its relational database and SDKs support also enable businesses to build applications with great ease.

Fresh Projects, Two4Tea and VantageBP, are notable and satisfied customers of Back4App.

Features

Quick Data Querying — Back4App provides an excellent combination of APIs and SDKs to gather and filter data. It utilizes GraphQL and REST APIs with Parse SDKs to efficiently query and stock data. JavaScript, .NET, Flutter, iOS and Android are the leading software development kits (SDKs) that it confers.

Support for Custom Plans — As an open-source alternative to Firebase, it doesn’t only back the small or startup ventures, but it is ready to deal with all kinds of big and complex projects. You just need to chat with their team if you want to proceed with a custom project.

Notifications — This Firebase alternative provides email and push notification support to engage more users. Developers can seamlessly manage the notification properties for different app frameworks.

Realtime Database — It permits the users to store and access data in real-time. Yes, it depends on Parse Server Live Query to approach data details spontaneously.

User-Friendly Interface — If you are using Firebase because of its user-friendly interface, then you can go with this Firebase replacement without any hesitation. Its interface just looks like a spreadsheet.

Other Features – File storage, data storage, social login, open source technology, manage users

Pricing

Like Firebase, Back4App also comes with a free to start pricing model. Its Free plan permits the businesses and their development teams to commence a small project without paying anything. Under this Free plan, they can make 25k requests and store 1 GB of data. Fortunately, you don’t need to give your credit card details for the Free program.

On the contrary, the monthly cost of the Shared plan commences from $25 and its Dedicated program bills you $250 per month.

2. Parse

Parse, also recognized as Parse Platform, is a well-established open-source alternative to Firebase. Especially if you are willing to proceed with a development platform with the support of a tech giant, then Parse should be your choice. Yes, Parse is a Facebook backed solution. Therefore, it could be conveniently compared with Google’s Firebase.

Similarly, Parse also owns a big and friendly community just like Firebase. It has 16K+ forks and 35K+ stars on GitHub. Moreover, this full-stack app development solution helps businesses build and launch apps with a high engagement ratio quickly.

Features

SDKs & Libraries — Parse owns a considerable collection of open-source software development kits (SDKs) and libraries. You can easily find all of them at GitHub. The major SDKs and libraries of Parse are Swift, Objective-C, Android, JavaScript, Dart, Flutter, PHP and Unity.

API Support — Another great advantage of using Parse is its APIs. In this regard, Parse grants REST, and GraphQL APIs and users can also find quick guides about using these APIs under the Docs section on the official website of Parse Platform.

Community Support — The community support of this Firebase alternative is remarkable. You can’t only get support at GitHub, Stack Overflow and Server Fault but Parse Community Forum can also be very useful hereof.

Easy Documentation — Documentation is also very smooth with Parse. You can explore everything about Parse Server Guide and Client SDK Guides on the official website.

Pricing

Parse Platform is a free to download open-source alternative to Firebase.

3. AWS Amplify

With the robust backing of Amazon, AWS Amplify is also a big name among Firebase open-source alternatives. Amazon Web Services introduced this tool in 2018. AWS Amplify provides Firebase like properties to its users.

Indeed, businesses can build scalable real-time applications with great authentication features just like Firebase on this platform. Moreover, it also facilitates the developers with Amazon Machine Learning tool just like Firebase ML.

Noom, Busby, HyperTrack and Orangetheory Fitness are renowned companies that are utilizing AWS Amplify for their tech stacks.

Features

DataStore — It doesn’t matter what operating system you are using for your application; AWS Amplify will provide multi-platform on-device storage support. Yes, it provides storage support for all iOS, web, Android and React Native applications. Content storage for private and public data could also be accessed through a storage module.

Simple Content & User Management — It is elementary to administer content and users with this open-source alternative to Firebase. Amplify Studio awards auto-verifying signup, editing user groups and content testers in this regard.

Amplify Libraries — These are open-source libraries that assist the coders in building cloud-based applications quickly with the help of Flutter, Android, iOS and JavaScript libraries.

Push Notifications — To attain and retain more users, AWS Amplify also provides excellent push notification support.

Pricing

The pricing structure of AWS Amplify is divided into two sections under the heading of Static Web Hosting. The first is the Free tier that permits the developers to use 1000 monthly build minutes without paying anything. Withal, the second plan is Pay-As-You-Go. It only bills the businesses for used resources.

4. Kuzzle

Kuzzle is another similar to Firebase open-source platform that assists the programming community in building backends and deployment of applications. This Firebase alternative awards two kinds of products.

The first one is Kuzzle IoT which covers data visualization, smart city sensor connections and device management. Similarly, Kuzzle Backend is another product of this platform. This product offers ready-to-use server-side solutions to businesses.

La Poste, Biogen and SNCF are notable customers of Kuzzle.

Features

Open-Source & Scalable — Users can rapidly approach the previous projects and resources on GitHub when they use Kuzzle. By the same token, this open-source alternative to Firebase also has the ability to deal with all sizes of projects.

Best for Modern App Development — It is the finest solution to build modern web and mobile applications. Yes, it supports technologies like Redis, Node.js, Elasticsearch and Typescript.

Pricing

Kuzzle comes with three kinds of plans: Starter, Business and Premium. Its Starter and Business plans bill you €500 and €1000 per month respectively. Businesses can ask for a quote for a Premium plan.

5. Supabase

It is hard to skip this platform in our list because Supabase comes with a straightforward tagline, ‘The Open Source Firebase Alternative’. It is easy to judge from this tagline that Supabase could be used as a Firebase alternative.

It only takes 2 minutes to build the server-side of your application with properties like authentication, instant APIs, storage, real-time database and much more.

Features

Portable Database — Supabase depends on open-source SQL database PostgreSQL. This is a very scalable and portable database that allows developers to migrate data anytime.

Supabase Auth — Businesses can sign up on this platform using their social media accounts and different enterprise emails.

Object Store — It gives support to all types of files that are used for storage.

Pricing

The pricing infrastructure of Supabase is very predictable. Its Free plan provides limitless API and database support without charging anything. The monthly fee of its Pro plan commences from $25. The initial cost of the Pay-As-You-Go program of Supabase also starts from $25.

6. Appwrite

With 16K+ stars, 3,700+ pull requests and 2.5K+ forks on GitHub, Appwrite is another useful Firebase’s open-source alternative. It could be the best option for businesses and coders that are working on mobile, web and Flutter projects.

This powerful platform enables the companies to build backends of their applications with zero dependencies. By the way, it also gives enough support for Apple and Android projects.

Features

Realtime Services — It authorizes the meantime subscription of multiple channels. These real-time services are available for backend development of Android, web, iOS and Flutter applications.

Storage API — The storage API of Appwrite enables the coders to modify, view, query and download project files smoothly.

Pricing

This self-hosted and open-source Firebase alternative is free to download. In addition, its official website doesn’t share anything about pricing models.

7. Hoodie

If you are finding an open-source alternative to Firebase without server-side skills, then Hoodie should be your choice. Although it is known as a full-stack JavaScript app development platform but could be more beneficial for development teams who want to emphasize frontend tasks only.

Hoodie is also famous as an offline-first architecture among the programming community. Compared to mobile app development, Hoodie is more reasonable for web app projects.

Features

noBackend — The noBackend architecture of Hoodie empowers individuals with zero backend experience to build an app within 15 minutes.

Easy Authentication — App authentication is simple with Hoodie. Like Firebase, you can also go with social media platforms like Twitter and Facebook to conduct signup activities.

Pricing

Hoodie is free to download.

8. Couchbase

Couchbase is another award-winning and one of the most exciting Firebase like platforms. It has several similarities with Firebase, such as it bases on a NoSQL cloud database and builds applications in a short time.

Its database offers a memory-first and geo-aware server infrastructure that businesses love to use to build modern applications. Like Firebase, it also overcomes the development and hosting charges of application projects.

Sky, LinkedIn, PayPal and Tesco are big enterprises that are using Couchbase for their tech stacks.

Features

SDK Support — Users can find a beautiful combination of SDKs when they use Couchbase. The common SDKs this NoSQL database offers are .Net Core, Java, C, JS, Ruby, Python, Scala and PHP.

Couchbase Capella — Capella is a Database as a Service (DBaaS) feature that helps in administering the databases. It also manages all updates and backups.

Quick Comparison — Businesses and developers that are utilizing other DBs like Redis, Oracle, and SQL Server can also conduct a quick DB comparison to know the difference. These comparisons are available on the homepage of Couchbase’s official website.

Pricing

The pricing structure of Couchbase is very straightforward. It follows a per-node pricing model and divides its products into three categories: Capella, Server and Mobile. The Basic plan of Couchbase Capella starts from $0.32/hr per node. The hourly charges of Couchbase Server are $0.66/node.

However, the fees of Couchbase Mobile are not mentioned in the pricing section.

9. Dokku

Dokku is a smart Firebase alternative that aids developers to create and administers the lifecycle of applications smoothly. It is basically a Platform as a Service (PaaS) solution that reduces the hardware infrastructure cost of app development.

This open-source Firebase alternative is famous among users because of its fast development speed. It also overcomes the time to market. So, it becomes easy for startups to introduce their minimum viable product to investors.

The prominent customers of Dokku are Bonton, MAK IT, Zipwhip and Hostr.

Features

Extensible — It is easy to add features and resources to Dokku projects when businesses want to extend their services. In this regard, development teams can script codes in any language and conduct smooth modifications in the project.

Easy to Install — With the robust backing of Docker, users can conveniently install this PaaS solution on any device and benefit from its features. Its drag and drop properties are also impressive.

Community Support — Dokku also owns a discussion section on GitHub where coders can discuss all of their queries with experienced community members.

Pricing

This open-source Firebase alternative is entirely free to use and download for developers and businesses. However, Dokku Pro is a paid solution. The lifetime charges of Dokko Pro are $650. With this Early Bird plan, companies can get free upgrades, email & API support and 1 production server.

10. CloudFoundry

CloudFoundry is also a reliable multi-cloud and open-source alternative to Firebase that was initially launched in 2011. This PaaS vendor provides complete support to build applications mainly, its assistance for app testing activities is appreciable.

The leading companies that shared on StackShare about their affiliation with CloudFoundry are Intel, Startup Bakery, Mendix and tech stack.

Features

Scalable — This is a scalable Firebase alternative that is equally useful for big enterprises and small startup teams. It is quick to extend and reduce resources with this PaaS vendor.

Secure — Like other open-source alternatives, CloudFoundry is also very safe to proceed with. Apps that offer sensitive data could also depend on this platform because of its security features. However, it is always better to consult with seasoned developers and security experts before picking a cloud platform for sensitive data apps.

Powerful & Fast — The cloud environment of CloudFoundry enables speedy development. Therefore, development teams can reduce their time to market with this open-source Firebase alternative.

Community Support — To offer trusted community support, CloudFoundry doesn’t only depend on online communities like GitHub and StackShare. But it also organizes fruitful meetups and events to make businesses more aware of its products.

Pricing

CloudFoundry is a free to start Firebase alternative. It doesn’t share anything about its pricing model on its official website. To explore more about this vendor, you can also contact their sales team.

Conclusion

Firebase is a popular cloud-based app development platform. Although many open-source Firebase alternatives are available in the cloud market but it is hard to shortlist a single one. Our list of these open-source alternatives to Firebase would definitely help the businesses and developers to choose the right solution.

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