Serverless MQTT: Your Key to Efficient IoT Prototyping
Tags: mqtt, iot
Published: 2023-09-26 14:38:34

The Internet of Things (IoT) is transforming the way we live and work, from smart homes and cities to industrial automation and healthcare. But developing an IoT project can be a complex and time-consuming process, requiring expertise in hardware, software, and cloud services. That's why rapid prototyping has become a popular approach for IoT developers, allowing them to quickly test and iterate their ideas before investing in a full-scale deployment.

IoT prototyping usually contains several key parts like a hardware platform, open-source libraries and [**frameworks**](http://frameworks.de/), a cloud service for data storage and management, a simulator that mimics the behavior of real-world devices, etc. One of the essentials is connecting the device to the cloud with an MQTT Broker.

This blog will discuss the optimal device connection approach for quickly implementing an IoT prototype.

## Requirements of MQTT Service in IoT Prototyping

MQTT (Message Queuing Telemetry Transport) is a lightweight messaging protocol that is commonly used in IoT applications to enable communication between devices and servers. MQTT brokers act as intermediaries between clients and clouds, allowing for data to be sent and received in a scalable and efficient manner.

Typically, you can choose a self-hosting MQTT broker or a fully-managed MQTT service for the device connection of your IoT prototyping.

Hosting an MQTT broker requires some technical knowledge, and you need to create cloud-based infrastructure and maintain the instance by yourself. The open-source MQTT broker software installation and configuration may also take some time for beginners. But for a rapid IoT prototype, we should spend limited time in system and device testing rather than establish an MQTT broker.

Fully-managed MQTT service addresses the challenge of infrastructure management, saving your time in setting up an MQTT broker. However, some fully managed services are generally targeted at production environments and do not have particularly low connection specifications. Also, it is best to avoid using the time package to prevent unnecessary resource consumption for a rapid IoT prototype.

## Serverless MQTT: A Perfect Option for IoT Prototyping

Serverless MQTT is a cutting-edge technology in the realm of MQTT cloud service. It provides a messaging service that automatically scales based on demand without manual intervention.

EMQX Cloud Serverless, as a newly-offering edition of EMQX Cloud, perfectly meets the requirements we mentioned above. It is a fully managed MQTT service and provides all the capabilities of MQTT 3.1.1 and MQTT 5. Just a few clicks to connect the client to the deployment, and then you can focus on prototyping the application.

EMQX Cloud Serverless is ideal for development and testing scenarios where there are only a few connections or high-throughput situations. Thanks to its large-scale, multi-tenant cluster, EMQX Cloud Serverless adopts a pay-as-you-go pricing model, ensuring cost control by charging based on actual resource consumption rather than time. It eliminates the need for users to pay for idle resources, making it especially beneficial for IoT applications with unpredictable traffic patterns.

## Get Your Most Cost-Effective MQTT Service for IoT Prototyping

### Pay as You Go

EMQX Cloud Serverless calculates the concurrent clients with sessions. To be more specific, the number of sessions = the number of connected clients + the disconnected clients with sessions retained in the broker. If you have no idea about retained sessions (or persistent sessions), [**this blog**](https://www.emqx.com/en/blog/mqtt-session) explains it well.

EMQX Cloud Serverless uses **Session Minutes** and **Traffic** as its billing units. A Session Minute is counted for each session that connects to the Serverless deployment, regardless of its duration within a minute. Traffic is measured for both inbound and outbound data transfer of the deployment.

### Free Quota

Here comes the best part: EMQX Cloud Serverless offers a free quota of billing units every month. You will never get charged if your usage is always within the free quota. Theoretically, you can get a free managed MQTT server forever!


![Image description](https://dev-to-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/articles/ducl97vy4o4zuxkvfx2d.png)



1 million session minutes can support a small number of devices staying connected for quite a long time. In the setup process of Serverless deployment, you can set Spend Limit to 0 to get a free MQTT deployment in seconds. You can read [**this blog**](https://www.emqx.com/en/blog/how-to-get-a-forever-free-serverless-mqtt-service) for more information about pricing mode and free quota.

## Test out Your Ideas with EMQX Cloud Serverless Today

EMQX Cloud Serverless is an ideal solution for businesses that seek ways to improve efficiency, scalability, and cost-effectiveness. Its architecture in cloud computing enables developers to concentrate on coding and deploying their IoT system without the need to manage the infrastructure. Combined with MQTT, an automated messaging service that can scale up or down based on demand becomes a cutting-edge solution for IoT developers.

You can check out the following links to learn more:

* [**A Comprehensive Guide to Serverless MQTT Service | EMQX Cloud**](https://www.emqx.com/en/blog/a-comprehensive-guide-to-serverless-mqtt-service)
* [**Serverless or Hosting? Choose a Suitable MQTT Service for Your Project**](https://www.emqx.com/en/blog/serverless-or-hosting-choose-a-suitable-mqtt-service-for-your-project)

_Originally published at [www.emqx.com](https://www.emqx.com/en/blog/serverless-mqtt-your-key-to-efficient-iot-prototyping)_