Google App Engine vs Firebase
iam10k via StackOverflow
I am trying to decide which option to go with. (or another if it is better) This is for a messaging type app where there will be high volume of notifications and database writes.
Option 1 - Google App Engine using Cloud Endpoints and Cloud Datastore
Pros:
- Able to build out an API the way I would like.
- Scalable
Cons:
- More work implementing a notification system. (Which will end up being Firebase Cloud Messaging)
Option 2 - Firebase
Pros:
- Able to use the Firebase Database, Firebase User Authentication, Firebase Cloud Messaging(notifications)
- Detailed use statistics for all devices
Cons:
- No API
Option 3 - Would it be possible to combine Google Cloud Endpoints and Firebase?
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http://stackoverflow.com/questions/37471546/google-app-engine-vs-firebase
MicroR via StackOverflow
First off take a look at the chart here from the Google docs for a great comparison and contrast of the different mobile app backend services they offer. Here is the chart:
My personal opinions are:
Option 1 - Google App Engine using Cloud Endpoints and Cloud Datastore
Pros:
- You will learn a lot more about the restful pattern writing your own API
- You have to write it yourself, but you can get really creative with your API methods and Google Cloud Messaging and the type of methods you create.
Cons:
- It takes more work and wrapping your head around datastore can be hard at first. You really have to do everything yourself.
Option 2 - Firebase
Pros:
- It is made to be easy to use for beginners and there are ample tutorials/courses on Firebase to do those popular things you want to do like send push notifications and sync data.
Cons:
- What if Firebase goes the way of Parse.com... Where Facebook announced they won't be supporting it anymore. That would really suck! You would be locked in to Firebase and not have developed any programming knowledge on how to make a restful API. However due to Google's heavy investing in Firebase and now upgrading GCM to Firebase Cloud Messaging, it is clear they have big plans for Firebase and it is not going anywhere.
Read more in the link for possibly combining them - I am not sure how that would work.
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Tom via StackOverflow
I'm puzzled that many discussions of Firebase (including the question and answer above) fail to mention what, to me, is a very important difference: price.
Here is the Firebase price schedule.
Here are the Datastore and GAE pricing.
It can be tricky to compare these, but my interpretation is that Firebase is very expensive.
And this should come as no surprise. GAE and datastore have to compete with similar services from Amazon, Microsoft etc., and the competition is fierce. Yes, these services are not as generic as infrastructure and SQL, of course, but they seem to be close enough that the prices remain competitive.
Firebase, on the other hand, is a premium service that competes with other backend services like Parse, and once you decide to use it I think it would be very difficult to switch. It should come as no surprise that Google is pushing Firebase so hard - they are probably going to make a ton of money off of it since they can price it at such a premium.
In my opinion, the upshot of this is that Firebase is a good choice for low volume and high-margin services, but if you plan to create a typical, consumer oriented, ad supported service that would depend on large volume to make money, then the cost of Firebase may kill your profit.
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