Cloud Hosted Databases DBaaS
Tags: firebase, firestore, database, cloud
Published: 2021-07-05 18:39:24

I am creating a post to list all cloud-hosted alternatives to Firestore. All of these databases are scalable and serverless technologies.

## 1. [Cloud Firestore](https://firebase.com)
NoSQL Database built on Firebase platform
- Amazing support for many different libraries
- Incredible Default Realtime Support with Robust Caching
- Wonderful Robust Security Rules for Backend Validation written in CEL (Common Expression Langauge)
- Very Limited Querying
- No support for any type of joins
- Must handle all types of counts manually
- Vendor Lockin, can't use outside of Firestore
- Firestore Functions can do a lot in background
- See [here](https://dev.to/jdgamble555/dear-firebase-team-p17) for my in-depth problems with Firestore (love/hate)
- [Price:](https://cloud.google.com/firestore/pricing) Pricing based on usage

## 2. [Dgraph Cloud](https://dgraph.io)
Graph Database using GraphQL known to be faster than Neo4j based on Badger.

- Extremely Fast and Powerful
- Has realtime support through graphql websockets.
- Very Limited Backend Validation Security (Hopefully they are working on this), but can hack this with Custom Lambda Mutations (a lot more work) written in GraphQL Queries
- No Nested Filters (same thing as filtering JOINS), should have this by end of the year, can hack with custom DQL queries
- Has Data Studio like Cloud Firestore
- Can Edit almost everything in Cloud Studio
- Use my [easy-dgraph](https://dev.to/jdgamble555/easy-dgraph-create-dgraph-graphql-on-the-fly-10bm) js library for easily creating graphql queries
- Best used with URQL for Caching
- Will have storage usage in the future like Firebase
- Must use external Auth Controls like Firebase Auth or Auth0
- [Price:](https://dgraph.io/pricing) $39.99 a month, or dedicated based on usage ($199)

## 3. [Supabase.io](https://supabase.io)
PostgresSQL using a JS Library with an online easy-to-use system. 

- JS Library makes any kind of queries easy to create, especially complex joins and filters
- Uses Postgres's RLS (Row Level Security) policies for very robust backend validation
- Has current storage bucket capabilities like Firebase
- Has built-in Auth controls
- [Price:](https://supabase.io/pricing) $25 a month, or dedicated based on usage

## 4. [Hasura Cloud](https://hasura.io/)
GraphQL postgreSQL database

- RLS for security
- Needs Auth0 or Firebase for authentication
- NHost.io built on top of this
- [Price:](https://hasura.io/pricing/) $99 a month standard to custom

## 5. [Nhost.io](https://nhost.io/)
PostGreSQL with GraphQL built on Hasura

- Adds storage and RBAC to Hasura.

## 6. [MongoDb Atlas](https://www.mongodb.com/cloud/atlas)
GraphQL connection to feature rich noSQL.

- Has Robust Join Capabilities for a denormalized database, but can be slow if not indexed
- Many Languages Support, Functions, Triggers
- Streams for Realtime Support via Websockets
- Has a GraphQL api
- JSON Schema Validation and built in RBAC
- [Price:](https://www.mongodb.com/pricing) $57 a month dedicated instance

## 7. [Fauna](https://fauna.com/)
GraphQL connection for custom relational noSQL.

- Realtime available using streams, limited
- Built in ABAC, Custom FQL Rules for Robust Security Validation
- Vendor Lock-in, can't view under-the-hood
- [Price:](https://fauna.com/pricing) $22.5 a month, $135, $450, depending on needs

## 8. [Neo4j Aura](https://neo4j.com/cloud/aura/)
GraphDb, basic graphQL, uses Cypher Language for everything else
- Cypher includes RBAC and Robust Query Validation
- Realtime support with external instance of Kafka (from my understanding), not built-in
- Limited Documentation
- GraphQL does not work out-of-the-box and needs a middlware server
- [Price:](https://neo4j.com/pricing/) $65 a month to custom

## 9. [Amazon Neptune](https://aws.amazon.com/neptune/)
GraphDb, gremlin and SPARQL (latest technology!)

- AWS (IAM) for ABAC Security
- Lambda Functions (Java, Javascript, and other langauges) - Field Validation as well
- Gremlin Websocket for Realtime
- Limited Documentation 
- Easy access to all Amazon Services
- [Price:](https://aws.amazon.com/neptune/pricing/) Custom pricing, probably starts at $450 a month

## 10. [MariaDB Cloud / SkyDB](https://mariadb.com/products/skysql/)
A Fork of MySQL management
- Built-in User Management
- MYSQL Validation Data Rules
- Realtime Data Streams with Kafka (not built-in to my understanding)
- Storage Options
- [Price:](https://mariadb.com/pricing/) Custom Pricing, pay as you go, maybe $700 starting?

## 11. [TigerGraph Cloud](https://www.tigergraph.com/cloud/)
GraphDB Restful Endpoint

- Restful Endpoint
- RBAC Built-in
- GSQL Query Langauge for Security Field Validation
- Kafka for real time streaming
- [Price:](https://www.tigergraph.com/tigergraph-cloud-pricing/) Pay as you go, dedicated, could get expensive, free version with credits

## 12. [Nebula Graph](https://nebula-graph.io/)
Chinese GraphDb with recent funding

- RBAC
- nGQL, openCypher for Security and Queries
- Kafka or Pulsar
- [Nebula Graph Cloud](https://www.nebula-cloud.io/) in Beta

## 13. [Redis Enterprise Cloud](https://redislabs.com/redis-enterprise-cloud/overview/)

Key Value Store that can be used as GraphDB
- Rest API
- RBAC
- Pubsub
- [Price:](https://redislabs.com/redis-enterprise-cloud/pricing/)Free Version, $7, and Flexible add GraphDB

## 14. [HarperDB Cloud](https://harperdb.io/product/harperdb-cloud/)
SQL on JSON with Rest API
- NewSQL, Microservice Architecture
- Authentication Security (JWT and Roles), no field security that I can find
- Pubsub websockets
- [Price](https://harperdb.io/pricing/): Free tier, per instance pricing

## 15. [CockroachCloud](https://www.cockroachlabs.com/product/cockroachcloud/)
SQL on JSON 
- NewSQL, allows complex querying
- Uses Changefeed to watch data
- [Price:](https://www.cockroachlabs.com/pricing/): No Free tier, by the hour

## 16. [Couchbase Cloud](https://www.couchbase.com/products/cloud)
newSQL noSQL allowing relational data
- Spark Streaming, DStreams from DCP
- [Price:](https://www.couchbase.com/pricing) per hour, custom pricing

## 17. [InfiniteGraph](https://infinitegraph.com)
GraphDB, claims massive scalability
- Looks like GraphQL, probably websockets, documentation not available to free users?
- [Price:](https://infinitegraph.com/pricing/) - Free version , $100 50gb

## 18. [SingleStore](https://www.singlestore.com/managed-service/)
- Elastic Cloud Database Relational SQL
- Could not find specifics, has streaming capabilities
- [Price:](https://www.singlestore.com/pricing/) - Credit system, free version gives $500 worth of credits

## 19. [PlanetScale](https://www.planetscale.com/)
Mysql compatible powered by Vitess
- In beta, could not find real time data information or client side integration
- [Price:](https://www.planetscale.com/pricing) - low pricing for startups, cost per read / writes / storage

## 20. [AstraDB](https://www.datastax.com/products/datastax-astra)
- Apache Cassandra NoSQL database
- DataStax Astra Streaming Technology
- [Price:](https://www.datastax.com/products/datastax-astra-db-calculator) - has free tear, price per usage


## Honorable Mentions (No Cloud Service or Enterprise Only Cloud)
- [RethinkDB](https://rethinkdb.com/) - JSON with joins, specialize in realtime data
- [Appwrite.io](https://appwrite.io/) - noSQL, storage, rest api

- [GraphDB - Ontotext](https://www.ontotext.com/products/graphdb/) - RDF Db
- [Stardog](https://www.stardog.com/pricing/) - RDF GraphDB, has custom cloud version, but no free version
- [Apache Jena](https://jena.apache.org/) - RDF Triple Store
 
____

- Let me know pros and cons of any you have used.
- I will update the list if new features become available, so let me know.
- Post a comment if you know of another cloud-hosted product (must be serverless), and I will add it here as well.

J