Why We're Moving on from Firebase

This page summarizes the projects mentioned and recommended in the original post on news.ycombinator.com

SurveyJS - JavaScript Form Builder with No-Code UI & Built-In JSON Schema Editor
Keep full control over the data you collect and tailor the form builder’s entire look and feel to your users’ needs. SurveyJS works with React, Angular, Vue 3, and is compatible with any backend or auth system. Learn more.
surveyjs.io
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Stream - Scalable APIs for Chat, Feeds, Moderation, & Video.
Stream helps developers build engaging apps that scale to millions with performant and flexible Chat, Feeds, Moderation, and Video APIs and SDKs powered by a global edge network and enterprise-grade infrastructure.
getstream.io
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  1. supabase

    The Postgres development platform. Supabase gives you a dedicated Postgres database to build your web, mobile, and AI applications.

    [Firebase founder]

    I no longer work at Firebase / Google, but two points:

    1. There may be issues with the GCP integrations & UX/DX, but GCP integration is good for many customers and necessary for the future of the business.

    One of the common failure modes for the 2011-2014 crop of Backend-as-a-Service offerings was their inability to technically support large customers. The economics of developer tooling are a super-power-law. So, if you hope to pay your employees you'll need to grow with your biggest customers.

    Eventually, as they become TheNextBigThing, your biggest customers end up wanting the bells and whistles that only a Big Cloud Platform provide.

    This was a part of the reason we chose to join Google, and why the Firebase team really really really pushed hard to integrate with GCP at a project, billing, and product level (philosophy: Firebase exposed the product from the client, GCP from the server) despite all the organizational/political overhead.

    2. I'm excited to see the next-gen Firebases do well. It has been 10 years since we launched and there are now some great innovations in the space. I like the way Supabase (https://supabase.com/) has exposed Postgres and InstantDB (https://www.instantdb.com) graphdb+realtime is really promising.

  2. SurveyJS

    JavaScript Form Builder with No-Code UI & Built-In JSON Schema Editor. Keep full control over the data you collect and tailor the form builder’s entire look and feel to your users’ needs. SurveyJS works with React, Angular, Vue 3, and is compatible with any backend or auth system. Learn more.

    SurveyJS logo
  3. pocketbase

    Open Source realtime backend in 1 file

    I've been playing with Pocketbase which uses SQLite:

    https://pocketbase.io/

  4. Directus

    The flexible backend for all your projects 🐰 Turn your DB into a headless CMS, admin panels, or apps with a custom UI, instant APIs, auth & more.

    I have to also mention https://directus.io/ here. Coming from Strapi, Feathers.js and Supabase i have to admit it is the closest competitor to Supabase i know. There are things Supabase is doing better but the Admin Interface and the Customization Capabilities of Directus are just unmatched.

  5. SQLDelight

    SQLDelight - Generates typesafe Kotlin APIs from SQL

    SQLDelight had neat built in support for this

    https://cashapp.github.io/sqldelight/

  6. thin-backend

    🔥 Thin Backend is a Blazing Fast, Universal Web App Backend for Making Realtime Single Page Apps

    Check out thin.dev https://thin.dev/ It uses SQL DDL statements literally as the building blocks for everything.

  7. sst

    Build full-stack apps on your own infrastructure.

  8. Appwrite

    Build like a team of hundreds_

    I've found appwrite to be a potential contender for db + auth.

    https://appwrite.io

  9. Stream

    Stream - Scalable APIs for Chat, Feeds, Moderation, & Video. Stream helps developers build engaging apps that scale to millions with performant and flexible Chat, Feeds, Moderation, and Video APIs and SDKs powered by a global edge network and enterprise-grade infrastructure.

    Stream logo
  10. wundergraph

    Discontinued WunderGraph is a Backend for Frontend Framework to optimize frontend, fullstack and backend developer workflows through API Composition.

    I'm the founder of WunderGraph (https://wundergraph.com) and I'd like to mention it as an open source alternative as well.

    What makes WunderGraph different is the focus on integrations. You can easily integrate internal and 3rd party APIs, and choose your own client. We generate code e.g. using swr, so you can build on top of existing ecosystems.

    We're also currently building a cloud version, which uses fly.io machines to be able to scale functions to zero and even run a SQLite database that can "sleep". I'd love to hear people's opinion.

    Here's a video of the cloud alpha that'll be launched soon: https://youtu.be/N8DFjh7FjLU

NOTE: The number of mentions on this list indicates mentions on common posts plus user suggested alternatives. Hence, a higher number means a more popular project.

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