Which platform for what.
WHAT FIREBASE IS
A set of services aimed at application developers, built on the same underlying platform.
WHAT IT OPTIMISES FOR
Speed of development, and clients talking directly to services.
WHAT GOOGLE CLOUD OPTIMISES FOR
Control, breadth of capability, and server-side architecture.
WHAT THEY SHARE
Projects, identity, billing and many underlying services.
WHAT THAT MEANS
They are not alternatives. A project can use both.
WHAT FIREBASE SUITS
Mobile and web applications Small teams Products where speed matters Applications with straightforward data needs
WHAT IT SUITS LESS
Complex querying and reporting Heavy server-side processing Applications with complex relational data
WHAT TO ESTABLISH BEFORE COMMITTING
How pricing works for the services you will use What your expected volume costs What a spike would cost
WHAT TO SET IMMEDIATELY
Budget alerts.
WHY
Consumption billing with clients calling directly means a defect can generate enormous usage.
WHAT TO KEEP PORTABLE
Your data model and business logic.
