Welcome to yet another tech showdown hosted by the Flare Compare Team! Today we'll be comparing three of the most popular Backend-as-a-Service (BaaS) platforms out there - Firebase, Parse, and Kinvey. All three have their pros and cons, but we'll be determining which one comes out on top based on certain criteria. Let's get started!
Pricing
When it comes to pricing, all three platforms have a free tier, but let's take a look at what each of these tiers offers.
- Firebase: Free plan includes 1 GB storage, 10 GB hosting, and 50k monthly reads and writes for the real-time database. This is a solid offering for small-scale apps.
- Parse: Free plan includes 1 million API requests, 1 GB database storage, and 5 GB file storage per month. Pretty generous, we must say!
- Kinvey: Free plan includes 2 million API requests, 1 GB data storage, and 1 GB file storage. This free tier is pretty standard but offers a decent amount of resources.
When it comes to paid plans, all three platforms offer pay-as-you-go and fixed plans. However, we won't bore you with the details of every plan offered by these platforms. What's important to note is that Firebase has a reputation for being more expensive compared to the other two platforms.
Winner: Parse
Features
All three platforms boast an impressive set of features, but let's see how they compare.
- Firebase: Real-time database, authentication, file storage, hosting, cloud functions, and analytics.
- Parse: Real-time database, authentication, file storage, push notifications, cloud code, and analytics.
- Kinvey: Real-time database, authentication, file storage, push notifications, cloud code, reporting, and analytics.
As you can see, all three platforms offer similar features, with small variations here and there. However, Kinvey stands out for its reporting and analytics features.
Winner: Kinvey
User Interface
The user interface is an essential aspect of any BaaS platform as it determines how easy it is to navigate its features and perform tasks.
- Firebase: Firebase has a user-friendly console, which is easy to navigate for beginners and experts alike.
- Parse: Parse has a simple and intuitive web interface that makes it easy to manage your app.
- Kinvey: Kinvey's console is user-friendly, and you can easily navigate through the different tabs without any issues.
All three platforms have well-designed user interfaces with easy-to-use menu systems. However, Firebase's interface feels the most polished, and it's easy to learn and navigate around.
Winner: Firebase
Documentation
In any tech-related field, documentation is a critical aspect because developers need to refer to it from time to time. Let's see how these three platforms stack up in the documentation department.
- Firebase: Firebase has extensive documentation, and their website includes tutorials, examples, and API reference docs.
- Parse: Parse's documentation is clear and concise, and they offer examples and API reference docs.
- Kinvey: Kinvey has well-documented tutorials, a knowledge base, and API reference docs.
All three platforms have good documentation, but Firebase has the most comprehensive documentation, followed closely by Kinvey.
Winner: Firebase
Performance
When it comes to performance, all three platforms are well-optimized for fast and efficient app development. However, let's take a look at some numbers reported by users.
- Firebase: Firebase's real-time database has an average response time of 109 ms, according to users.
- Parse: Parse reports an average cloud code run time of 222 ms, which is pretty impressive.
- Kinvey: Kinvey promises high-performance and zero downtime, although they don't provide specific performance numbers.
Based on user reports, Firebase is the fastest among the three platforms.
Winner: Firebase
References
- Firebase Pricing page: https://firebase.google.com/pricing
- Parse Pricing page: https://parseplatform.org/pricing
- Kinvey Pricing page: https://www.kinvey.com/pricing
- Firebase Docs: https://firebase.google.com/docs
- Parse Docs: https://docs.parseplatform.org/
- Kinvey Docs: https://devcenter.kinvey.com/