Many developers are drawn to Firebase for its robust suite of tools that promise rapid app development and real-time data synchronisation. It's a popular choice for building various types of applications, including chat systems. However, defaulting to Firebase for a chat product can be a decision fraught with long-term challenges. While Firebase offers convenient real-time database solutions and seamless integration with other Google services, its suitability for large-scale, complex chat applications is limited. Issues such as scalability concerns, customization constraints, potential cost escalations, and vendor lock-in can arise as chat applications grow in size and complexity.
This blog delves into why using Firebase for a chat product, while initially appealing due to its rapid development tools and real-time capabilities, may present significant challenges in the long run and explore some of the most promising alternatives to Firebase for building real-time chat applications.
Firebase : A quick overview
Firebase, a Backend as a Service (BaaS) platform from Google, assists developers in building, testing, releasing, and monitoring web and mobile applications for end-users. It offers a variety of features that simplify the development process, including:
01.
Realtime database
Firebase provides cloud-based data storage through its Firebase Realtime Database and Cloud Firestore, both of which are non-relational databases. These databases store and synchronize data related to your application and services.
02.
App analytics
Firebase includes a dashboard that visualizes your app’s activity, enabling you to make informed business decisions based on this data.
03.
Cloud storage
Firebase offers secure storage for various file types, accessible directly from your application.
04.
Cloud functions
These are serverless functions that execute code in response to events triggered within your app.
05.
Real-time messaging
Both the Firebase Realtime Database and Cloud Firestore can push real-time updates to client devices whenever there are changes to the database. Additionally, Firebase Cloud Messaging allows you to send native push notifications and notification messages across multiple platforms (iOS, Android, web).
Firebase Products for Chat Applications
While Firebase does not offer a single, dedicated product solely for building chat applications, it provides a suite of tools that collectively enable a robust chat experience:
Realtime database and cloud firestore: These NoSQL databases store and synchronize chat messages in real-time, allowing users to see messages instantly. The realtime database is suitable for simpler chat applications with frequent updates due to its low latency, whereas Cloud Firestore offers more flexibility and scalability for complex chat features and larger user bases.
Firebase Authentication: This feature allows users to sign in securely using various methods like email/password, social media logins, or phone numbers, ensuring that only authorized users can participate in chats.
Cloud Functions: These can be used to implement functionalities such as sending push notifications when a new message arrives or performing spam filtering on messages.
Firebase Cloud Messaging: This enables you to send push notifications to users' devices even when the chat app is not running in the foreground, helping to notify users about new messages and keeping them engaged.
What makes Firebase a less-than-ideal choice for building chat applications?
01.
Limited customization
Firebase's data models may not easily accommodate all the complex data structures and relationships that are typical in chat applications, such as message threading, user presence, or message history management.
02.
Real-time capabilities
While Firebase provides real-time data syncing through its Realtime Database and Firestore, these may not scale optimally for very large-scale chat applications with high concurrency and complex data querying needs.
03.
Vendor Lock-in
Using Firebase ties your application to Google's ecosystem. Migrating away from Firebase can be challenging if your application grows beyond its capabilities or if you need to integrate with other non-Google services.
04.
Limited Backend Control
Firebase abstracts much of the backend complexity, which can be advantageous for rapid prototyping but may limit your ability to optimize performance or customize backend logic as your application evolves.
05.
Limited querying
The Realtime Database offers basic querying functionalities, which might not be sufficient for advanced chat features like filtering messages based on specific criteria.
06.
Scalability
Firebase's Realtime Database, a popular option for chat apps, has a limit of 200,000 concurrent connections. This might not be an issue for startups, but for highly scalable applications, it can be restrictive. Sharding the database is an option, but it's a complex process that adds development overhead.
07.
Firebase offers less flexibility for customization compared to building with raw sockets.
CometChat : A better alternative to Firebase
CometChat stands apart from Firebase as a dedicated real-time chat infrastructure platform, offering robust APIs and SDKs that empower businesses to integrate real-time communication into their mobile apps and websites.
Beyond essential chat and calling features, CometChat supports various messaging formats such as embedded forms, cards, location previews, and file previews. These features not only enhance engagement but also integrate your chat app deeply into business operations, encouraging user interaction and retention.
CometChat goes beyond being a standard chat API provider by recognizing the unique roles that chat plays in sectors like telehealth, marketplaces, social communities, and dating. Tailored chat components for these industries ensure a comprehensive chat solution that seamlessly enhances the core product experience.
What truly sets CometChat apart are its extensive range of standout features and distinctive factors:
1. Best-in-Class UI Kit
Our UI kits are crafted to streamline and accelerate the integration of chat features into your app. Designed for modern chat experiences, they feature a wealth of ready-to-use functionalities comparable to those found on popular platforms like WhatsApp and Slack.
We provide comprehensive UI kits specifically tailored for the leading front-end frameworks, including React, React Native, Flutter, and Android.
2. Integrated text, voice, and video
Everything under one roof. With CometChat, there's no need to manage multiple vendors or navigate different dashboards. We provide a unified solution for all your real-time communication needs.
3. Purpose-built for chat
CometChat is uniquely tailored for developers looking to integrate chat functionality, unlike sockets and Firebase. Our SDKs, pre-built UI components, comprehensive documentation, and sample apps drastically reduce the time and effort needed to develop a chat application.
4. Unrivaled support
Benefit from white-glove implementation assistance and global support coverage, ensuring seamless onboarding and ongoing success.
5. Expand beyond basic chat
Interactive messages boost user engagement and streamline business operations. Schedule consultations, gather leads, conduct surveys, and more directly within the chat interface, transforming chat into a powerful business tool.
CometChat is trusted worldwide by thousands of customers, from small startups to large enterprises, for its user-friendly interface, robust features, and dependable performance.
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Direct Comparison of Firebase and CometChat
| Features | Firebase | CometChat |
|---|---|---|
Development effort
| Easier to get started with managed services and SDKs but for building complex chat features, you may require significant development time.
| Easy to integrate almost any chat features with SDKs and with ready to go, modular and flexible UI Kits for all popular front end frameworks. This abstracts away most of the backend complexity.
|
Core chat features
| Realtime Database provides real-time updates, but lacks many advanced chat features out-of-the-box. More development is needed.
| Offers a full suite of native chat features, including one-on-one conversations, group chats, typing indicators, read receipts, and online presence tracking. Integration with UI kits is seamless and straightforward.
|
Moderations
| Lacks built-in moderation capabilities, requiring developers to implement their own moderation features.
| Provides advanced moderation features, including profanity filtering, message history, user blocking/banning, and more. Utilizes AI to enhance moderation capabilities.
|
Notifications
| Supports push notifications via Firebase Cloud Messaging (FCM) but requires some initial setup.
| Provides push notifications out-of-the-box. Supports FCM, APNS, custom notification payloads.
|
Analytics and insights
| Offers Firebase Analytics for general app analytics. No chat-specific insights.
| CometChat provides comprehensive data tracking and analysis, including conversation and engagement analytics, user-level data tracking, and AI-powered insights. Businesses can leverage advanced tools to analyze messaging adoption, correlate messaging with user activity, and personalize user experiences. Additionally, data can be exported via APIs for more in-depth business analysis.
|
Pricing
| Free tier with usage limits. Paid tiers based on usage.
| Offers a free build plan for up to 25 monthly active users (MAUs). Paid plans start at $119 per month. Voice calling is priced at $0.001 per user minute, and video calling is charged at $0.003 per user minute.
|
AI features
| No built-in AI features. Developers need to integrate external AI services.
| AI-powered features like sentiment analysis, intent detection, smart replies, etc. Helps build AI chatbots.
|
Aarathy Sundaresan
Content Marketer , CometChat