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Firebase vs Socket.IO: What are the differences?
Firebase and Socket.IO are two popular real-time communication technologies used for building web applications. Let's explore the key difference between them.
Data Storage and Synchronization: Firebase is a real-time database platform that provides a NoSQL cloud database for storing and synchronizing data. It offers various features like authentication, hosting, storage, and more, making it an all-in-one solution for building real-time applications. On the other hand, Socket.IO is a library that enables real-time bidirectional event-based communication between clients and servers. It does not provide data storage or synchronization capabilities. Instead, Socket.IO focuses solely on enabling real-time communication.
Ease of Use and Setup: Firebase provides a user-friendly interface and offers pre-built SDKs for various platforms, making it easy to set up and integrate into applications. It also provides a simple API for reading and writing data, making development faster. Socket.IO, on the other hand, requires more manual configuration and setup and might require custom implementation for different platforms.
Scalability and Performance: Firebase is a fully managed service and provides automatic scaling and load balancing for your applications. It can handle a large number of concurrent connections and offers low-latency real-time updates. Socket.IO, on the other hand, requires manual scaling and load balancing implementation, which can be more complex and time-consuming.
Compatibility: Firebase offers SDKs for various platforms and supports multiple programming languages, including JavaScript, Android, iOS, and more. This makes it a versatile choice for building applications for different platforms. Socket.IO is primarily built for JavaScript and supports various frameworks like Node.js, React, Angular, and more. While it can be used with other languages, it might require additional setup and configuration.
Flexibility and Customizability: Firebase provides a set of pre-built features and functionality, making it easy to get started quickly. However, it might have limitations in terms of customization and flexibility. Socket.IO, on the other hand, provides more control and flexibility, allowing developers to create custom real-time communication solutions tailored to their specific needs.
Real-time Communication Patterns: Firebase provides real-time stream-like updates, where changes to data are pushed to clients in real-time. It is suitable for applications that require frequent data updates, such as chat applications or collaborative tools. Socket.IO, on the other hand, supports various real-time communication patterns, including broadcasting to multiple clients, room-based communication, and more. It offers more flexibility in handling different types of real-time communication scenarios.
In summary, Firebase is a comprehensive real-time database platform with built-in features and capabilities, suitable for applications that require real-time data synchronization. Socket.IO, on the other hand, is a versatile real-time communication library that focuses on providing real-time bidirectional event-based communication between clients and servers, offering more flexibility and control over the communication patterns.
We (my team) are building an App where we want to have Bi-directional texting, Single Directional Picture, and audio transfer.
We are building all this using Flutter.
There will essentially be 3 apps, 2 Mobile-based (Android and iOS) and 1 Microsoft Based. We've built up most of the code already, and made a few major mistakes but fixed it(namely had no proper state management).
How things will work:
Person A has a Mobile app 1, Person A presses a button that sends a "communication request" into a Pool of requests. Person B on Desktop App chooses a "communication request" from the pool, and engages in Bi-directional texting with Person A. Person B also opens communication with Person C who is on Mobile app 2, and they engage in Bi-directional texting. Person C will be notified of communication requests through Push Notifications.
So far we've been using Socket.IO, however, I'm starting to think that's not the best.
A problem we've encountered so far is that Person A(Mobile App 1 User), is the person who sends a "communication request" into the "Communication Pool". The Mobile App 1 User, can "cancel" the communication at any point in time. When they do that, I would like for a notification to be sent to Person B, the Desktop User, For them to pick up another communication request.
I am not sure how this should be done however, should it be done in the Back-end, then how does the Front-end get notified of the change?
Any advice on which to choose?
It's so simple when you use Firebase to manage the requests just make new field to the request for example callstate with values like "requesting" "incall" "cancelled" and both A and B can update this field.
We are starting to work on a web-based platform aiming to connect artists (clients) and professional freelancers (service providers). In-app, timeline-based, real-time communication between users (& storing it), file transfers, and push notifications are essential core features. We are considering using Node.js, ExpressJS, React, MongoDB stack with Socket.IO & Apollo, or maybe using Real-Time Database and functionalities of Firebase.
I would recommend looking hard into Firebase for this project, especially if you do not have dedicated full-stack or backend members on your team.
The real time database, as you mentioned, is a great option, but I would also look into Firestore. Similar to RTDB, it adds more functions and some cool methods as well. Also, another great thing about Firebase is you have easy access to storage and dead simple auth as well.
Node.js Express MongoDB Socket.IO and Apollo are great technologies as well, and may be the better option if you do not wish to cede as much control to third parties in your application.
Overall, I say if you wish to focus more time developing your React application instead of other parts of your stack, Firebase is a great way to do that.
Hello Noam 👋,
I suggest taking a look at Ably, it has all the realtime features you need and the platform is designed to guarantee critical functionality at scale.
Here is an in depth comparison between Ably and Firebase
Hey Noam,
I would recommend you to take a look into 8base. It has features you've requested, also relation database and GraphQL API which will help you to develop rapidly.
Thanks, Ilya
The start-up guides, tutorials and documentation in general for Firebase are pretty outstanding.
There is 1GB database storage for the free tier as compared to Supabase's 500MB. Not that I think there is anything wrong with Supabase, I intend to try it out someday.
Also if you are doing any sort of personal front-end project, even using a free cluster from MongoDB can be a lot of work and setup, with Firebase (specifically Fire store and Google Authenticator) the implementation of BaaS is quite easy to get up and running.
It's pretty easy to understand the Fires store security rules as well, and if you ever have a hard time trying to figure something out, there is good community support and YouTube tutorials for most topics.
Pros of Firebase
- Realtime backend made easy371
- Fast and responsive270
- Easy setup242
- Real-time215
- JSON191
- Free134
- Backed by google128
- Angular adaptor83
- Reliable68
- Great customer support36
- Great documentation32
- Real-time synchronization25
- Mobile friendly21
- Rapid prototyping18
- Great security14
- Automatic scaling12
- Freakingly awesome11
- Chat8
- Angularfire is an amazing addition!8
- Super fast development8
- Built in user auth/oauth6
- Firebase hosting6
- Ios adaptor6
- Awesome next-gen backend6
- Speed of light4
- Very easy to use4
- Great3
- It's made development super fast3
- Brilliant for startups3
- Free hosting2
- Cloud functions2
- JS Offline and Sync suport2
- Low battery consumption2
- .net2
- The concurrent updates create a great experience2
- Push notification2
- I can quickly create static web apps with no backend2
- Great all-round functionality2
- Free authentication solution2
- Easy Reactjs integration1
- Google's support1
- Free SSL1
- CDN & cache out of the box1
- Easy to use1
- Large1
- Faster workflow1
- Serverless1
- Good Free Limits1
- Simple and easy1
Pros of Socket.IO
- Real-time219
- Node.js143
- Event-based communication141
- Open source102
- WebSockets102
- Binary streaming26
- No internet dependency21
- Large community10
- Fallback to polling if WebSockets not supported9
- Push notification6
- Ease of access and setup5
- Test1
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Cons of Firebase
- Can become expensive31
- No open source, you depend on external company16
- Scalability is not infinite15
- Not Flexible Enough9
- Cant filter queries7
- Very unstable server3
- No Relational Data3
- Too many errors2
- No offline sync2
Cons of Socket.IO
- Bad documentation12
- Githubs that complement it are mostly deprecated4
- Doesn't work on React Native3
- Small community2
- Websocket Errors2
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