Firebase

Score8.4 out of 10

138 Reviews and Ratings

What is Firebase?

Google offers the Firebase suite of application development tools, available free or at cost for higher degree of usages, priced flexibly accorded to features needed. The suite includes A/B testing and Crashlytics, Cloud Messaging (FCM) and in-app messaging, cloud storage and NoSQL storage (Cloud Firestore and Firestore Realtime Database), and other features supporting developers with flexible mobile application development.

Categories & Use Cases

Evelyn So, M.Sc View profile

Strategy Consultant at Thinker & Co. (1-10 employees employees)

Use Cases and Deployment Scope

I used Firebase to build a webapp using Cursor, an AI coding tool. Cursor suggested Firebase as the database.

Pros

Connect with Github

Cons

When I moved to using Lovable as my AI code editor, Supabase is more convenient choice as it is already integrate with Lovable.

Return on Investment

The free version serves basic usage.

Usability

Alternatives Considered

Supabase

Other Software Used

Lovable, GitHub, ChatGPT

Verified User

Consultant in Corporate (1-10 employees employees)

Use Cases and Deployment Scope

We use Firebase (FB) as a backend for new FlutterFlow projects. It is easily integrated with the product and for a while was the only choice. However I would greatly prefer tabular(SQL) data to FB when it comes to any function that you need to write.

Pros

Tight integration with FlutterFlow
Ease of deployment
NoSQL structure allows for easier experimentation

Cons

Functions require learning a different language
There is not a good native UI for viewing/working with data
Google's Constantly changing (deep linking) exhibits noncommittal nature to the product's features.

Return on Investment

Ease of deployment for FlutterFlow projects
Rapid manipulation of database schema
Slight learning curve for those coming from SQL background
40% decline in productivity on projects due to Firebase functions

Usability

Alternatives Considered

MongoDB, MongoDB Atlas, Supabase, Azure SQL Database and Microsoft SQL Server

Other Software Used

FlutterFlow, Supabase, Make

Jose Perri View profile

Director of Engineering and Product Development in Research & Development at Alarmas Marshall (11-50 employees employees)

Use Cases and Deployment Scope

As manufacturers of electronic equipment interconnected through the IoT Cloud, we needed a robust backend technology that could easily scale as our user base grew. The solution that we needed was to include a real-time database as well as the possibility of executing functions in the cloud according to that database received the data of our clients, for example, sending push notifications.

Pros

Increase in real time the processing capacity according to the demand.
The realtime database is surprisingly fast running efficiently on Android and IOS.

Cons

Although the functionality of the real-time database is complete through code, the functionality of the WEB console is limited.
In the case of cloud functions, although there is a method of testing operation, its implementation is not very practical, and programs must be downloaded to run on the local PC; being a platform in the cloud, it would be great to be able to test functions from the WEB console directly.

Most Important Features

Realtime database.
Cloud Functions.

Return on Investment

Fast development on all operating systems involved.
Being a system in the cloud, maintenance and updating costs are minimized compared to a structure with its own servers.

Alternatives Considered

Amazon Web Services

Other Software Used

TeamViewer, Postman, Streamlabs

Pablo Albani

COO (Chief Operating Officer) in Information Technology at Mauna (1-10 employees employees)

Use Cases and Deployment Scope

We use Firebase together with its documentary base called Firestore to execute all the transactional processes of our web app, using both its authentication and user administration system, as well as its potential as a backend for the application that we have developed in Angular and Node Js. It's one of the main reasons we went for GCP instead of AWS or Azure

Pros

User authentication
Server-less application management
Performing searches in documentary datasets

Cons

Searches/filters using multiple conditions
Detailed analytics/metrics

Most Important Features

Server-less administration of the web app
User authentication
Development speed

Return on Investment

Very short time to market
Development and maintenance of the web app with a small team
Great user experience

Alternatives Considered

AWS Lambda and Azure Virtual Machines

Other Software Used

Google BigQuery, Amazon SageMaker, Google Data Studio

Osama Khan View profile

IT consultant in Information Technology at NurulQuran (1-10 employees employees)

Use Cases and Deployment Scope

We used Firebase to keep track of the attendance of students in our class. The database is relatively fast for storing attendance. It doe take a little while to set up. User authentication works well. It takes some time to set up it. One thing about the authentication that bothers us is that you can not reset the password directly. When a user creates their account, Firebase gives the user the ability to set the initial password. But afterward, Firebase only lets you reset the password by email.

Pros

database
user authentication
file storage

Cons

easier to setup
direct reset password
more free storage

Most Important Features

authenticate user login
update database records
store files

Return on Investment

Free to startup
pay as you go
reduce costs

Other Software Used

Azure StorSimple