MongoDB vs Firebase: Which is the Best Database in 2021?
By: Echo - Custom Software Development Company
Tags: Mongodb Developers, Database, Firebase Cloud Functions, Firebase, Mongodb

Most entrepreneurs make the same mistake again and again. When they are choosing the technologies for the complete mobile app solution they tend to choose it without understanding the backend development needs. This is more when it comes to cloud storage and database.

The first thing that is very essential to understand is the technical usage of every database. Once you have understood the usage you can decide the one that is right for your product. In this article, the two databases namely MongoDB and FireBase will be compared, and from which you can know which one is the best one for you. But before going with the technical comparisons it is important to first understand the basics of the databases and the things involved in them.

Why is technology stack the most important thing to know?

As everyone knows developing an application is not an easy task. If you create an app and if it should reach a broad audience then you have to consider your iOS, Android, and web apps users. Also, you will need to build for all these platforms. You should also have secure cloud storage with a strong and secure database. This is to store the data and support the apps.

Your cloud storage and the database will have to scale if you aim to get more users. You will have to find more ways to get new users if you have solved your scaling problems. Therefore this will increase your website and mobile app traffic. This in turn will need more backend technology scaling.

Is your app crashing and causing a service meltdown? Do you know what went wrong? It is obviously the database. The database is a big deal when you design apps for iOS, Android, or the web. It could become a problem if it is not designed or set up correctly.

It is very important to choose the best database from the start if you are developing an application. Before that, you will have to learn about the different databases and the important things involved in it.

Know about the database types

You need to think about two database categories: one is SQL while the other is NoSQL.

SQL

In SQL relational databases, the leading one is MySQL. This is compatible to create both small and the large size application. In SQL databases the data are stored linearly. These are stored in tables like the excel spreadsheet. For you to understand, you can consider SQL as MS Excel on steroids.

Top SQL database alternatives

No SQL

A NoSQL database is a non-relational database that is used to store and retrieve the data. These work best with big data and real-time web applications. Here the data is in a tree-like structure. For example, the new information is added as a branch, and then the sub-branches and you can keep on adding.

Top NoSQL database alternatives

Why do companies choose NoSQL over SQL?

This works for both the unstructured and unrelated data

NoSQL gives a few features of the traditional database. This is to improve speed and scalability.

These databases are quite cheaper, faster, and safer to extend a pre-existing program.

Choose the best: MongoDB vs Firebase

Now you might have understood why a NoSQL database is the best option for you to set up your servers. The firebase and the mongo DB can be used as a service and can be used when you are developing your application. These have their websites with which you can configure the backend server for your data. Also with these, you can set the users, permissions, data security, and many other important factors. All these configurations are possible on both the firebase and MongoDB.

What is a firebase?

A real-time engine with background connectivity is the firebase. This is an entire ecosystem for building web and mobile applications. Presently Google acquires firebase. Google Firebase is a much more complete solution when compared to MongoDB. It has many services like hoisting, storage, cloud function, machine learning, and much more.

The non-technical readers can consider this as a backend as a service. It provides a real-time database and backbend as a service. When you want your data to remain synchronized across all your app users, the real-time database is the perfect one.

The cloud firestore lets you store your data in the cloud. With this, your app data can be synced across all your users’ services or share with multiple users. This one provides robust client libraries and full support for the offline mode. Not only this, but it also provides a comprehensive set of security rules and easy-to-use data browsing tools.

This works automatically fetching the changes from your database and they happen and this is why it is said that firestore works in absolute real-time. The cloud firebase services integrate seamlessly with all the outer firebase products. This is the perfect one for the applications that need real-time data fetching like chatting apps, multiplayer apps, stock trading apps or sports score update apps.

Firebase features

Real-time database

Cloud firestore

Hosting

Test lab

Crash reporting

Dynamic links

Firebase storage in-app messaging

Cloud storage

Google analytics

Performance monitoring

ML kit

Cloud messaging

Cloud functions

AdMob

What is MongoDB?

MongoDB is an open-source NoSQL database that offers the scalability and the flexibility that you want with the querying and indexing of your needs. Scalability and consistency were the main emphases while building MongoDB.

This doesn’t provide a complete ecosystem like that of the firebase. This primarily focuses only on the storage of data and is adopted widely just because of the several different app categories it can power.

Here the developers have a lot more power in developing the apps. This is because they don’t have to make their application accommodate the needs of the database anymore. With MongoDB, it can accommodate the app to store the data naturally.

Pros of firebase

Instant data updates without refreshing

Easy to synchronize multiple computers with the database

Need not worry about the server going into meltdown if you suddenly get tons of traffic

It has a cloud-based event queue

Real-time firebase push notifications

This is ideal for a real-time chat or messaging applications

Firebase pricing offers, as you plan with flexible rates

It offers the synched application state

This offers a superfast CDN

Firebase allows straightforward hosting

Pros of MongoDB

This has powerful sharing and scaling capabilities

Dynamic and there is no rigid schema

This is flexible. The field addition or deletion has less or no impact on the application.

Data representation in JSON or BSON

MongoDB has geospatial support

Easy integration with Bigdata Hadoop

This bone offers a free version when you configure it in your server. You will get a serverless setup with the paid version.

The documentation has a very vast collection of literature and tutorials.

This is also very flexible and it doesn’t require a unified data structure across all objects.

This is more secure. No SQL injection can be made.

Where to use firebase

You can use firebase when you want to develop your application in a short time. This can be used if your app needs data in real-time

With this, you can plan to scale your application easily and frequently.

This is perfect for instant messaging, online gaming, and social network apps. It provides real-time sync between devices and browsers.

Where to use MongoDB

This can be used in evolving data requirements.

Real-time analytics and high-speed logging

Better caching and high scalability

Complete configuration management

This can be used where it is important to maintain the location.

Also, it can be used in large enterprise data management.

Who has the upper hand in 2021? — MongoDB VS firebase

Both technologies are special in their way. They have their expertise and the space of integration. The firebase is designed for real-time updates and data management while MongoDB is the best one for quick data handling for large companies. The final decision is left to you. You can consider all the pros and choose the best from these two databases. It is okay with whatever database you choose, make sure you have highly skilled developers who can set up the back-end database structure.