Why use Back4app? Top benefits you will love!

Generally speaking, Back4app will help you to improve development productivity. It will do that by streamlining the backend development process, replacing repetitive tasks with ready-to-use building blocks, and managing the entire server-side infrastructure for you. 

Below, we will explore specific benefits of using Back4App versus other Backend as a Service platforms.

Open-Source

Back4app works with an amalgamation of open-source technologies. The list includes Parse Server, NodeJS, Redis, GraphQL, Docker, and many more.

Why is this important for you? The main benefits of using open-source technologies rely on the following aspects:

• No vendor lock-in

The source code of the technologies we use is free to download and use. Ultimately, you can run the same code pieces and self-host the same technologies by yourself.

It means Back4App has to continually perform a top-notch job in terms of performance, support, and pricing to meet user requirements.

• Affordable hosting pricing

Lower hosting prices are a direct benefit of using open-source technologies. Because there is no cost associated with licenses and copyright, it means a lower cost structure to maintain. So, it allows a more affordable pricing structure for you.

• Security

Open-Source code is transparent, constantly updated, and scrutinized by developers. It means a higher probability of finding and correcting security vulnerabilities. The technologies we use have been very stable and running for many years.

So, it adds an extra layer of protection in comparison to technologies that are closed-source or recently launched open-source projects.

Straightforward, easy-to-use, and low-learning curve

Back4app is very easy-to-use, and even newbies can build an application! Here are some examples:

• Spreadsheet-like interface

Our data model works like an excel spreadsheet. There are rows and columns, and you will be able to manipulate data efficiently and in a visual way.

It’s a powerful solution that allows you to create new tables, columns, and rows with just a few clicks. Also, the data model is fully integrated with our APIs.

• The APIs are automatically generated

Back4app provides a fully integrated developer experience to you. Our spreadsheet-like data model works together with REST and GraphQL application programming interfaces. It liberates your development by using platform APIs directly on your data without leaving the console.

We also provide you with extensive API documentation to improve your development experience further. The API Reference tool automatically assembles documentation for any objects saved in your database. 

The tool creates code snippets for each programming language and provides examples of requests and responses, for more information about how the API Reference tools work, please read the Automated API Reference Tool article.

• Ready to use SDKs

Back4App provides multiple easy-to-use SDKs that enable you to connect the backend to the application client-side in a quick way. The supported technologies include Android, iOS, JavaScript, React Native, Flutter, Xamarin, and many more.

We structured the app creation process to be as simple as possible. To connect your project to Back4App’s servers, you will need only to install the respective SDK, add your keys, and initialize your application using the API.

Relational Data

We designed Back4app to let you build relations and pointers with just a few clicks. This feature is fully integrated with the spreadsheet-like data model.

Like a SQL-based solution, you get the advantage of using relational data, aggregate functions, and indexing. The advantages of this setup include performing heavy transactional queries more efficiently and supporting ACID properties.

Affordable, easy-to-understand, and predictable pricing structure

We designed our pricing model to be easy-to-understand and predictable. Back4app only uses four variables for billing purposes. These are:

• API Requests
• Data Storage
• File Storage
• Data Transfer

Because there are fewer variables to control, it’s much easier to predict future expenses and understand what an app is being charged for.

Is it cheaper to host my app directly on a cloud provider? This is a common question we receive. The answer is not necessarily. We host most of our infrastructure on AWS, and because of our size, we can get volume discounts and have long-term contracts with them.

So, unless your company can do the same (which is not the reality for 99.9% of startups), our pricing structure will be very affordable even compared to AWS.

User Privacy

Protecting user privacy is fundamental to Back4App. Under our Privacy Policy, we do not sell or commercialize your data and only use it for administrative purposes, improving the product and services, R&D, and internal marketing.

Dedicated and Enterprise Plans

Our Dedicated hosting plans offer several benefits, including:

• Price based on resources and event-driven

• No noisy neighbors

• Customizable security settings

• Third-party plugins installation

• Ability to sign BAA for HIPAA

Also, Back4App works with Enterprise plans that are tailor-made to meet customers’ requirements. It may include on-premise deployment, private cloud management, dedicated support teams, etc. To know more, please get in touch with us.

Reliable and fully-redundant infrastructure

Back4app runs most of its infrastructure on top of AWS, and reliability has been our obsession since its inception.

All paid apps run on a fully redundant architecture without a single point of failure. It means that your app will process requests and store data at least on two different servers simultaneously.

On top of that, we backup your data daily and keep it safe on block storage.

Performance

All paid applications connect automatically to a CDN – Content Delivery Network service. A CDN is advantageous for several reasons, including optimizing requests routes and delivering content on edge locations. There is no extra cost for this service, and it’s part of all paid plan deals.

Conclusion

Generally speaking, Back4app will support you to accelerate the time-to-market to launch a digital product. It will do that by facilitating the backend development cycle, substituting repetitive tasks with ready-to-use pieces of code, and scaling the infrastructure for you.

Specific advantages over other BaaS platforms include being open-source, not having vendor lock-in, the ease-of-use, relational data model, ability to run complex queries, dedicated hosting, and predictable pricing structure.