Firebase

An app development platform backed by Google

5.0•222 reviews•

3K followers

An app development platform backed by Google

5.0•222 reviews•

3K followers

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Engineering & Development

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Authentication & identity tools

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Databases and backend frameworks

An app development platform that helps you build and grow apps and games users love. Backed by Google and trusted by millions of businesses around the world.

Firebase Reviews

The community submitted 222 reviews to tell us what they like about Firebase, what Firebase can do better, and more.

5.0

Based on 222 reviews

Review Firebase?

Reviewers broadly see Firebase as the fastest way to get an app backend running, with Auth, Firestore, hosting, functions, analytics, and real-time sync working together with little setup. Users praise its speed for MVPs, cross-platform APIs, and low early costs, while several founders say it helps small teams avoid DevOps and ship quickly; makers of HasData, Goals, and Retina specifically cite auth, realtime sync, and push notifications. The main complaints are pricing surprises, growing complexity, lock-in, uneven documentation, and Firestore’s relational limits.

+220

Summarized with AI

Pros

authentication (25)

scalable backend (24)

real-time database (19)

analytics (11)

easy setup (11)

fast performance (11)

cloud storage (6)

Firestore (5)

Crashlytics (3)

Google Cloud integration (3)

Cons

complex documentation (2)

complex setup (2)

Pros

Cons

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Reviews

All Reviews

Most Informative

•28 reviews

What's great

fast performance (11)easy setup (11)cloud storage (6)analytics (11)scalable backend (24)authentication (25)real-time database (19)

Firebase lets you go from idea to working backend in minutes. Auth, real-time database, cloud storage, hosting, analytics, it's all preconfigured and works together out of the box. For MVPs and prototypes, nothing else gets you to market faster. The real-time sync is genuinely magical for collaborative features, and the free tier is generous enough to validate ideas before spending a penny.

What needs improvement

price predictability (1)

Pricing predictability is the biggest issue, it's easy to get surprise bills if a real-time listener goes haywire or a function gets hammered. The documentation is sprawling and sometimes inconsistent between older and newer SDK versions. Vendor lock-in is real, migrating off Firebase is painful once you're deep in Firestore. And the emulator suite, while helpful, doesn't perfectly replicate production behaviour, which leads to "works locally, breaks in prod" moments.

vs Alternatives

Supabase

Supabase was the main alternative, open-source, Postgres-based, and more transparent on pricing. AWS Amplify for the full AWS ecosystem. For auth specifically, Auth0 and Clerk. I ended up moving to Supabase for production work because I wanted SQL, row-level security, and predictable pricing, but Firebase is still my go-to for rapid prototyping and hackathons.

Ratings

Ease of use

Reliability

Value for money

Customization

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4 views22d ago

•9 reviews

What's great

easy setup (11)cloud storage (6)authentication (25)

Firebase gives us reliable push notifications (FCM) across iOS, Android, and web from a single API - no per-message pricing, massive scale out of the box, and deep OS integration for delivery guarantees. For a sports

scheduling app where timely match reminders are critical, it just works.

What needs improvement

complex documentation (2)

Token management is our weak spot - stale tokens accumulate in user_push_tokens and we only clean up on send failure. No built-in delivery analytics (did the user actually see it?). FCM quotas and error codes are poorly

documented. And the Firebase Admin SDK is a heavy dependency for what's essentially just HTTP calls to FCM v1 API.

vs Alternatives

OneSignal and raw VAPID/web-push. OneSignal was tempting (great dashboard) but adds a third-party dependency sitting between us and users. Raw VAPID worked for web only - no iOS support without FCM. Firebase won on cross-platform coverage and we already use Google infrastructure.

Ratings

Ease of use

Reliability

Value for money

Customization

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12 views14d ago

used Firebase to build QuitSugar

•6 reviews

Firebase simplifies the heavy lifting of backend tasks like authentication, notifications, and real-time database management. Its ready-to-use authentication service with Google and email login saved hours of development time compared to rolling out custom solutions. Firebase's real-time database capabilities enable instant syncing of user progress and collaborative challenges, making it perfect for the social features in Quit Sugar. Its tight integration with Flutter made it a natural choice over alternatives like AWS Amplify.

What's great

authentication (25)real-time database (19)

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29 views1yr ago

used Firebase to build GyftPro

•3 reviews

We chose Firebase for GyftPro because of its comprehensive suite of backend services that streamline app development, making it the ideal choice over other alternatives. Firebase offers real-time database capabilities, seamless authentication, and powerful cloud functions that enable us to build and scale GyftPro efficiently. Its integration with Google Cloud ensures top-tier security and scalability, crucial for handling user data and traffic spikes during peak gifting seasons. The built-in analytics and crash reporting tools give us real-time insights to optimize the app’s performance and user experience. Overall, Firebase’s ease of use and robust features make it the perfect backend solution for GyftPro.

What's great

analytics (11)scalable backend (24)authentication (25)real-time database (19)Google Cloud integration (3)Crashlytics (3)

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20 views1yr ago

•12 reviews

While Firebase has many strengths, I find it notably challenging, if not impossible, to create diagrams for tracking KPIs directly in the platform. The need to constantly reapply filters is not the most efficient way to monitor important metrics. Furthermore, I'm somewhat skeptical about the accuracy of the tracking data, which sometimes seems less precise than expected. Despite these issues, I must commend the excellent features like Authentication and Firestore that Firebase provides. These tools are fantastic and greatly simplify many aspects of app development and data handling. They certainly add significant value to the platform and make it a powerful tool for developers. I look forward to seeing how Firebase evolves to address these feedback points in future updates.

What's great

authentication (25)Firestore (5)

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14 views3yr ago

used Firebase to build Enki

•3 reviews

We chose Firebase for our authentication solution because it’s cost-effective and offers extensive customization options. One standout feature we built is a guest mode that lets users seamlessly try the app without signing up. When they're ready to commit, all user data is effortlessly transferred. Additionally, Firebase plays a key role in our per-user encryption system. By enabling encryption keys to be embedded within user tokens, Firebase ensures we can only access those keys when provided by the user. This allowed us to implement a highly secure encryption method with relative ease.

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2 views1yr ago

used Firebase to build Watch Planner

•3 reviews

Big thanks to Firebase! Using their Crashlytics and Notifications for Watch Planner has been a game-changer. Crashlytics gave us clear insights into app stability, and setting up push notifications was incredibly easy. Firebase makes it simple to ensure a smooth user experience while keeping users engaged. Highly recommend it to any devs out there! 🙌

What's great

easy setup (11)Crashlytics (3)

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1yr ago

used Firebase to build Checklist Genie

•4 reviews

I use Firebase for authentication and Firestore for real-time syncing because it lets users log in instantly and collaborate on shared checklists with live updates. It's fast, reliable, and scales effortlessly—perfect for keeping everyone in sync without extra infrastructure.

What's great

fast performance (11)scalable backend (24)authentication (25)Firestore (5)real-time database (19)

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1 view11mo ago

used Firebase to build Urban Green

•3 reviews

Using Firebase was a key choice for Urban Green because it allowed seamless real-time data synchronization, making plant updates, care logs, and community interactions quick and efficient. Firebase’s cloud infrastructure also enabled secure user authentication and scalable data storage, which is essential for a growing user base.

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1yr ago

•1 review

its ok... not very beginner-friendly. It asks you for a justification when you create more than 5 projects... I did so because I was unsure about my Auth system, so had to remake things- it sent me an email asking why I require more space

What needs improvement

complex setup (2)

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3 views2yr ago

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