parse-server VS Appwrite

Backend as a Service (BaaS) goes back to early 2010’s with companies like Parse and Firebase. These products integrated everything a backend provides to a webapp in a single, integrated package that makes it easier to get started and enables you to offload some of the devops maintenance work to someone else.

Prototype Pollution Fix

Parse Server is a great way to quickly spin up a backend for your project. Parse is a Node based utility that sits on top of ExpressJS.

Parse

You can try https://parseplatform.org/, it is self-hosted if you need. And also there are a number of cloud services with compatible API, like https://www.back4app.com/ It has dart-friendly generated API client, much simpler than firebase and is built on top of postgresql and mongodb.

Parse - https://parseplatform.org/

Not to crash the party or anything. Supabase is great and all but in terms of feature completeness and getting actual products built, it doesn't come close to Parse[0].

Same with Appwrite. Both of these are very popular but they either lack essential features or have them behind a subscription wall. For example, the OSS version of Supabase (last I checked) doesn't include the edge functions which are really important for easily computing stuff on the server side. Parse on the other hand is 100% open source and has a huge feature set. It's older than all of these lo-code tools and actually helps solve the issues one comes across when using such tools.

Another thing is extending these tools which is a pain. For example, Parse supports multiple databases by default (postgres & MongoDB) and the ability to write a custom adapter if you need something else. Similarly, if you at any point need to go 100% custom it also makes that possible so you are never locked in. These tools however don't have that level of low-level control and are general all or nothing kind of tools best for small-to-medium sized problems which don't have a lot of room to grow.

But both of these (Appwrite & Supabase) are super markety. Appwrite is all over the place with their ads, Supabase got a huge trend when it launched etc. Parse on the other hand is not too good at marketing their product being fully community run which is one reason not many know of it. Another is their not-so-fancy docs.

I have no stake in any of these products: just my conclusion after having tried all of these.

[0] https://parseplatform.org/

If you haven't tried Appwrite, make sure you give it a spin. It's a open source backend that packs authentication, databases, storage, serverless functions, and all kinds of utilities in a neat API. Appwrite can be self-hosted, or you can use Appwrite Cloud starting with a generous free plan.

What is Appwrite? Appwrite is an open-source backend server that abstracts the complexity of backend development, allowing developers to focus on building their applications. It provides a wide range of services including databases, storage, functions, and authentication, all designed to work seamlessly together. This integration simplifies the development process, reducing the need for extensive configuration and integration work.

Appwrite is an open source BaaS platform that provides services like serverless functions, serverless databases, user authentication, and messaging. Since its release, it has quickly become a popular choice for building websites and applications.

Appwrite for user management, databases, and serverless functions

Appwrite: Open-source backend server for web and mobile developers.

Today, this ecosystem is going strong with new providers like Hasura, AppWrite and Supabase powering millions of projects. There are a few reasons people choose this style of hosting, especially if they are more comfortable with frontend development. BaaS lets them set up a database in a secure way, expose some business logic on top of the data, and connect via a dev-friendly SDK from their app or website code to save data easily. These modern tools build a blend of managed database with curated plugins such as authentication, great admin dashboards, and function as a service type capability - all in one package, and often offered as a integrated hosted service.

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Joins - see Future of Queries - MariaDB supports json joins, so definitely possible!

Wow, looks nice! I almost felt like I could understand Bitcoins code xD

Could you do Appwrite? https://github.com/appwrite/appwrite

I'm not affiliated to them, just wanted to get started hacking it.