Google Firebase vs Microsoft Azure comparison

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Comparison Buyer's Guide
Executive Summary
Updated on Mar 6, 2024

We compared Microsoft Azure and Google Firebase based on our user's reviews in several parameters.

In summary, Microsoft Azure is praised for its scalability, reliability, and wide range of services, with positive feedback on customer service, setup cost, and licensing. Google Firebase is valued for its integration with Google services, real-time database functionality, and ease of use, with commendations on customer service and pricing. The main differences lie in the specific features and advantages highlighted by users for each platform.

Features: Microsoft Azure is highly praised for its scalability, versatility, reliability, and extensive range of services. On the other hand, Google Firebase is valued for its seamless integration with other Google services, real-time database functionality, scalability, ease of use for beginners, and diverse set of development tools and APIs.

Pricing and ROI: The setup cost for Microsoft Azure is considered commendable, with users mentioning the ease and simplicity of the installation process. In contrast, Google Firebase also offers a straightforward setup process with reasonable pricing options and flexible licensing agreements., Microsoft Azure has been praised for offering cost savings, increased efficiency, and improved scalability. Azure's diverse services and tools enable successful project implementation. On the other hand, Google Firebase efficiently manages and stores data, improves app performance, and effectively tracks user analytics. Its user-friendly interface and integration with other Google services contribute to a satisfactory ROI.

Room for Improvement: Microsoft Azure users have provided feedback on areas that require improvement, while Google Firebase users have identified several areas for improvement. These include better documentation and tutorials, enhanced interface customization, increased flexibility with data querying, improved error handling, and more comprehensive error messages.

Deployment and customer support: The user reviews for Microsoft Azure and Google Firebase show that there are varying time frames for deploying, setting up, and implementing new tech solutions. Some users mention separate time frames for deployment and setup with no clear consensus, while others treat deployment and setup as the same period., Microsoft Azure's customer service stands out for its responsiveness and expertise. Azure team promptly resolves technical issues with the help of comprehensive documentation. On the other hand, Google Firebase receives positive feedback for its prompt assistance, knowledgeable and friendly customer service representatives, quick response times, and efficient troubleshooting. Overall, both products provide highly regarded customer service and support.

The summary above is based on 40 interviews we conducted recently with Microsoft Azure and Google Firebase users. To access the review's full transcripts, download our report.

To learn more, read our detailed Google Firebase vs. Microsoft Azure Report (Updated: March 2024).
765,386 professionals have used our research since 2012.
Q&A Highlights
Question: Looking to compare Google Firebase, Amazon AWS, and Microsoft Azure
Answer: We like Google Firebase hosting and authentication and also the excellent cloud functionality. Our team found the flexibility of handling and dealing with the database through EDL to be very useful. We also like that it has security rules to control database read/write operations in real time. We feel the stability and performance of Google Firebase to be very good. We feel it would be advantageous for Google Firebase to have capabilities to work offline. If Google Firebase had faster migration and support for more languages it would be a more attractive solution. Amazon AWS has been great in helping us move clients easily and seamlessly to the cloud and offers a wide range of cloud services within the growing AWS ecosystem. It interacts very well with on-premise data centers. You can scale up to an unlimited number of processes very quickly. They offer a price forecasting and billing dashboard broken down by service, with budgets and alerts that have helped us recognize and shut down services we no longer needed (thereby reducing costs), which has been a very big win for us overall. You really have to watch your costs for processes and such if you go with AWS, as they can add up very quickly. Also, although AWS is available globally, not all service centers offer every service, so it causes some functionality issues in different markets. Microsoft Azure is extremely scalable with the capability to build an environment quickly. The automation and agility of Microsoft Azure is very valuable. It offers a great information protection feature - you can create custom labels for different documents and files. This keeps data more organized and secure. Support with Microsoft Azure depends on the plan you purchase; lower-tier plans get limited support. Microsoft Azure can be a very expensive solution overall and can be complex to set up and manage. Integration with other products needs to be better. Microsoft Azure seems to be a bit slow in catching up with what other solutions have to offer. Conclusion: All of these solutions are very good and offer many of the same features and perform similar functions and capabilities. Although Google Firebase tends to be a slightly cheaper and more flexible option, at the end of the day it boils down to which ecosystem you or your client are more heavily vested with as each of these solutions has attributes that make them more valuable and more efficient within their prescribed ecosystem.
Featured Review
Quotes From Members
We asked business professionals to review the solutions they use.
Here are some excerpts of what they said:
Pros
"The most beautiful feature of Google Firebase is that it gives you a lot of functionalities out of the box, without you having to develop or having to complete a solution. For example, identity management is integrated, and security is out of the box, particularly security for the user and the ability of each user to see his data. I also like that Google Firebase has a really good performance and is comparable to MongoDB. It's on the same level, and sometimes, it's on an even higher level than MongoDB. Other functions that Google Firebase has that I find valuable include information dissemination, mail automation, and SMS, available out of the box. Another valuable feature of the solution is that it allows you to develop some functionalities on the server side, so you can write JavaScript functions on the server side and use those functions quite easily. Google Firebase gives you almost a full backend environment out of the box without you having to do any deployments or a lot of administration because all administration is given out of the box.""I found the flexibility of handling and dealing with database through EDL to be very useful.""The user interface is very good and easy to navigate.""What I like most about Google Firebase is that it's one of the easier options to host a website or app quickly.""This solution supports our real time database. We also use it for AB testing and for its Google Cloud functions. We make use of Crashlytics and reporting on details.""It's stable.""If you are selling an app with extensive Firebase use, costs may go up.""It is a stable solution...It is a very scalable solution."

More Google Firebase Pros →

"The focus on security is excellent. We really appreciate that about the solution.""I use a virtual machine for remote desktop and Microsoft Azure is user-friendly.""Its scalability is valuable. Depending on our requirements, we can add as many virtual machines as we want. We are able to get high availability for services. Services are always available, and they have the maximum uptime. If there is any issue with one of the services, another service is always available. It is pay-as-you-go. You don't have to spend any money upfront. You use the service and pay after one month or a couple of hours of use.""The most valuable feature is the instant availability of resources.""The solution has enabled us to provide advanced indicators and analytics to the client on their data.""Good information protection feature.""The tool's most valuable features are SQL servers and Managed Instance databases.""The feature that we like best is integration with Active Directory."

More Microsoft Azure Pros →

Cons
"Google Firebase should add extra functionality to do global delete and updates across your database.""Google Firebase's app testing feature for Android, where you can upload your APK, needs improvement because it's not working very well.""The cold start-up of the cloud function needs to speed up. For me personally, I'm not experienced in anything there, however, I've just read online it's a problem.""There was no way of knowing how the rise in traffic would impact the price.""The solution's notification system could be much better.""Firebase's real-time information isn't technically real-time. It takes a while to upload user activity into the app. It's not as fast as Datadog, the other solution we use.""The only thing that I won't do on Firebase is the hosting side of things for a progressive web app because it feels like you actually still need to download the app first before you can actually get into the functionality of the app.""In Google Firebase, reporting is an area with shortcomings where improvements are required to be made in the future."

More Google Firebase Cons →

"The documentation can be outdated and is not as clear in Microsoft Azure as it is in AWS or Google.""In my opinion, what could be improved is making the actual costs more predictable. It is very difficult to estimate the cost or the budget you are going to need to run your environment in Azure Cloud. You have to be a specialist to understand how you will be charged, which constantly changes.""Technical support could be better. They need to be more responsive.""Microsoft Azure is so complicated inside. If you should do something internally, if you have to configure something, the opinion about Azure is that it is a little complicated inside. That's why the end users and clients are looking for help and why we help them configure and do anything inside of Azure. That is why we offer other tools to optimize the Azure environment.""Quite an expensive solution.""We have faced some issues on the pricing side, but it has improved lately. We are trying to adjust to the new pricing methods that they are using now. It should be better from now on.""The solution could improve by simplifying network management.""The solution could always work to reduce its costs."

More Microsoft Azure Cons →

Pricing and Cost Advice
  • "They have a free tier that will cover most projects. For more intensive use, you pay as you use it, but the price is very cheap."
  • "It is not easy to calculate the cost per copy, use or if the load rose dramatically we did not know how that would impact the final price."
  • "The monthly cost is based on writing data and queries to the database."
  • "The pricing component is a bit confusing when it comes to what exactly you'll pay for, but I wouldn't say it's expensive."
  • "The moment you go into volumes, then you work on a pay-per-volume basis."
  • "The price of Google Firebase is very good."
  • "We are using the free version of Google Firebase."
  • "Pricing for Google Firebase is not so expensive, and if you're a start-up with a small amount of data, it will be quite cheap, and there's even a free tier that you can use. If you're doing a pilot with a reasonable amount of data, for example, just a few gigabytes, it's still on the free tier. If you increase the amount of data, Google Firebase pricing is still reasonable."
  • More Google Firebase Pricing and Cost Advice →

  • "Related to pricing and licensing, you have to be careful how you operate with the concept."
  • "Be careful with Azure Cool storage accounts; if you are dealing with high object counts, then it can be more economical to use Hot storage because of the high storage access costs associated with Cool."
  • "Make use of Azure pricing calculator and you will find out that Azure Is still more reasonable that the competition and do your research, when unclear speak with your MS support."
  • "It’s necessary to use third party products or to use good self-management economic tools"
  • "Keep to PaaS to gain the optimal benefits from an OPEX finance and resource perspective."
  • "Several thousand dollars and counting, we haven't needed to upgrade on premises hardware (In fact we eliminated all of the old on-premises hardware and run 100% on Azure) or pay for it's maintenance, power etc."
  • "If you are not aware of costs, pricing, etc., you can end up with a hefty bill. However, I found that the Azure price calculator is a valuable tool to use before starting to deploy VMs in Azure. This tool will give you an overview of the costs you should expect on a monthly, quarterly or yearly basis."
  • "Pricing is very difficult to guesstimate. With so many a la carte options and individual pricing it can be a hassle to understand."
  • More Microsoft Azure Pricing and Cost Advice →

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    Comparison Review
    Anonymous User
    Amazon Web Services, Rackspace OpenStack, Microsoft Windows Azure and Google are the major cloud hosting and storage service providers. Athough Amazon is top of them and is oldest in cloud market, Rackspace, Microsoft and Google are giving tough competition to each other and to Amazon also for alluring IT customers. This article give brief history of these cloud hosting service providers and compares the cloud services provided by them. -- Amazon Web Services -- It's hard to find someone who doesn't agree that Amazon Web Services is the market leader in IaaS cloud computing. The company has one of the widest breadths of cloud services - including compute, storage, networking, databases, load balancers, applications and application development platforms all delivered as a cloud service. Amazon has dropped its prices 21 times since it debuted its cloud six years ago and fairly consistently fills whatever gaps it has in the size of virtual machine instances on its platform - the company recently rolled out new high-memory instances, for example. There are some cautions for Amazon though. Namely, its cloud has experienced three major outages in two years. One analyst, Jillian Mirandi of Technology Business Researcher, has suggested that continued outages could eventually start hindering businesses' willingness to invest in Amazon infrastructure. That sentiment gets to a larger point about AWS though - the service seems to be popular in the startup community, providing the IT… Read more →
    Questions from the Community
    Top Answer:I would recommend Google Firebase instead of Microsoft Azure, simply for the array of features that it has to offer. In particular, the Firebase library grants you access to a shared data structure… more »
    Top Answer:We like Google Firebase hosting and authentication and also the excellent cloud functionality. Our team found the flexibility of handling and dealing with the database through EDL to be very useful… more »
    Top Answer:IBM Public Cloud is IBM’s Platform-as-a-Service. It aims to provide organizations with a secure cloud environment to manage data and applications. One of the features we like is the cloud activity… more »
    Top Answer:One of the best features of SAP Cloud Platform is that it is web-based and you can log in from anywhere in the world. SAP Cloud Platform is suitable for companies of any size; it works well with both… more »
    Top Answer:Microsoft’s Windows Azure platform is not easy or intuitive to deploy. The difficulty will be impacted by the type of application that you are trying to use the platform to build. Organizations that… more »
    Ranking
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    Comparisons
    8,368
    Reviews
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    Average Words per Review
    391
    Rating
    8.3
    Views
    30,394
    Comparisons
    24,344
    Reviews
    27
    Average Words per Review
    547
    Rating
    8.3
    Comparisons
    Also Known As
    Windows Azure, Azure, MS Azure
    Learn More
    Overview

    Google Firebase is a stable, reliable, and scalable mobile platform that enables you to quickly develop apps, accelerate them, and monitor their performance.

    With Google Firebase You Can

    • Build and run successful apps
    • Scale globally
    • Monitor app quality and performance with little effort
    • Boost user engagement

    Google Firebase Features:

    • Crashlytic
    • Automatic updates
    • Fast and easy deployment
    • Access to Cloud Firestore
    • Multi-platform sign-in authentication
    • Flexible drop-in UI
    • Real-time database
    • Remote configuration
    • Firebase machine learning
    • Cloud messaging
    • Advanced message targeting
    • Push messages
    • Error monitoring

    SDKs supported by Google Firebase:

    • Web SDK
    • iOS SDK
    • Android SDK
    • Admin SDK

    Benefits of Google Firebase:

    • Fast implementation: Google Firebase makes it possible for you to set up your authentication system quickly, using minimal code.
    • Comprehensive security: With Google Firebase, your systems remain secured; It is backed by Google Sign-in, Chrome Password Manager, and also Smart Lock.
    • Machine learning capabilities: Firebase offers machine learning capabilities that help you deploy and train custom models.
    • Eliminate the need to manage servers: Because Google Firebase offers cloud functions, it enables you to run your mobile backend code without having to also manage your servers.
    • Authentication for any platform: Google’s Firebase authentication makes the sign-in process easier by providing an end-to-end identity solution that works with any platform.
    • Customized notifications: With cloud messaging, you can customize alerts, defining how and when they are sent, what sounds they should make, and can also select the expiration date for each message. In addition, it gives you the ability to track custom conversion events.
    • Fast and secure web hosting: Firebase makes it possible for you to have easy and secure web hosting with fast content delivery. Firebase hosting also provides free SSL certificates.
    • Cloud storage: With Google Firebase you have access to cloud storage that supports robust uploads and downloads, can handle user-generated content, and provides simple and intuitive access control.
    • Developer-friendly: Developers prefer to use Firebase because it lets them focus on creating frontend code for mobile applications rather than having to concentrate on backend code.

    Reviews from Real Users

    PeerSpot user Nilakshi S., technical team lead at AuthentiCode says, “The solution is very stable and very reliable. There aren't any bugs or glitches.”

    "What I like most about Google Firebase is that it's one of the easier options to host a website or app quickly," says Craig F., application development manager at a financial services firm.

    A senior developer at a consultancy says, “The documentation for Google Firebase is great. Also, what I like about it is the integration to Android, which is the reason I went with Firebase.”

    Windows Azure is Microsoft's cloud platform, where developers can create, deploy, and maintain their apps. This cloud application platform allows developers to concentrate on the actual applications, while it takes care of all the elements behind the apps.

    Windows Azure works across multiple frameworks and languages. It is fully scalable, localized in that it is hosted globally in many datacenters, and has widespread capabilities with elements of application development, deployment, and management.

    Azure is comprised of several different service modules, including Infrastructure; Web; Mobile; Dev & Test; Big Data; Media;Storage, Backup & Recovery; and Identity & Access Management.

    Microsoft Azure works as a:

    1. Platform as a service (PaaS)
    2. Software as a service (SaaS)
    3. Infrastructure as a service (IaaS)

    Microsoft Azure is available:

    • On-premises
    • Hybrid
    • Multi-cloud
    • At the edge

    Compared to its competitors, Microsoft Azure:

    • Has more affordable features
    • Has easier migration for organizations already using other Microsoft tools
    • Has several educational resources available
    • Provides robust support
    • Is ideal for small and large businesses

    Microsoft Azure Features:

    • Scalability
    • Stability
    • Flexibility
    • Azure Site Recovery
    • Active Directory
    • Monitoring features
    • Cloud-based
    • Automated tasks
    • Change capability cadence
    • Showback capabilities
    • Information protection
    • Azure Data Lake
    • Excellent portal
    • Intuitive user interface
    • Remote desktop
    • Fast provisioning
    • Data security
    • Data resiliency
    • Speed of service
    • Integrated delivery pipeline
    • Disaster recovery
    • Robust templates
    • Flexible coding languages
    • Virtual systems testing

    Benefits of Microsoft Azure:

    • Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS): Because Microsoft Azure is an IaaS, organizations can deploy as well as manage applications easily and quickly. Azure also provides you with the ability to customize the cloud software to meet your specific business needs.
    • Seamless integration: Microsoft Azure is built to seamlessly integrate with existing IT departments via hybrid databases, secure private connections, and storage solutions.
    • Cost-effective: Because Azure can harmoniously exist in your business environment with your data center, it is a very cost-effective solution.
    • Analytics support: Azure is designed with built-in support that is used to analyze data and provide key insights. Azure offers Cortana Analytics, Stream Analytics, Machine Learning, and SQL services.
    • Unique storage system: Compared to other cloud services, Microsoft Azure has more data centers and delivery points, which helps create an optimal user experience and also helps deliver content faster. In addition, Microsoft Azure makes it possible for organizations to exchange content across several virtual machines.
    • Enhanced flexibility: Azure provides extreme flexibility by allowing you to choose any level of functionality you require. It also supports many of the same technologies IT teams and developers usually depend on, making it easier for them to manage.
    • Easy implementation: Microsoft Azure is easy and quick to deploy. If necessary, you can change web apps to Azure with almost zero downtime.

    Reviews from Real Users:

    "It is a flexible solution that is straightforward to use," says the principal consultant at a computer software company.

    OmarJ., future datacenter consultant: Microsoft Azure Cloud at a tech company, adds that "The user interface is very nice and makes everything easy to use."

    You can build an environment in minutes. It's very good in terms of being an infrastructure as a service, and I found that really fascinating,” says an information technology consultant at a computer software company.

    "I think Azure's level of automation to achieve efficiency or agility is valuable. I also like the change capability cadence, the showback capabilities, and understanding what our costs are," says an enterprise architect at an energy/utilities company.

    Marco C., Ing. at Wolters Kluwer, says "The valuable features of Microsoft Azure are that it is cloud-based and has good storage. The storage is completely managed by Azure. We do not need to do any patching of security because it is handled by Azure which is a benefit. The solution is fully compatible with the Microsoft technology stack and is very scalable."

    "The most valuable feature of Microsoft Azure is it has everything together in one place. It is one large tool with lots of small tools that are updated often," says the owner of a media company.



    Sample Customers
    Fabulous, Pic Collage, Shazam, SkyScanner
    BMW, Toyota, easyJet, NBC Sports, HarperCollins, Aviva, TalkTalk Business, Avanade, and Telenor.
    Top Industries
    REVIEWERS
    University27%
    Computer Software Company20%
    Financial Services Firm20%
    Retailer7%
    VISITORS READING REVIEWS
    Computer Software Company13%
    Comms Service Provider11%
    Educational Organization9%
    University9%
    REVIEWERS
    Computer Software Company22%
    Financial Services Firm13%
    Comms Service Provider9%
    Manufacturing Company8%
    VISITORS READING REVIEWS
    Educational Organization35%
    Computer Software Company9%
    Financial Services Firm9%
    Manufacturing Company7%
    Company Size
    REVIEWERS
    Small Business65%
    Midsize Enterprise19%
    Large Enterprise16%
    VISITORS READING REVIEWS
    Small Business25%
    Midsize Enterprise17%
    Large Enterprise59%
    REVIEWERS
    Small Business41%
    Midsize Enterprise15%
    Large Enterprise44%
    VISITORS READING REVIEWS
    Small Business14%
    Midsize Enterprise40%
    Large Enterprise46%
    Buyer's Guide
    Google Firebase vs. Microsoft Azure
    March 2024
    Find out what your peers are saying about Google Firebase vs. Microsoft Azure and other solutions. Updated: March 2024.
    765,386 professionals have used our research since 2012.

    Google Firebase is ranked 5th in Infrastructure as a Service Clouds (IaaS) with 32 reviews while Microsoft Azure is ranked 1st in Infrastructure as a Service Clouds (IaaS) with 298 reviews. Google Firebase is rated 8.4, while Microsoft Azure is rated 8.4. The top reviewer of Google Firebase writes "An application development solution that has a lot of services like storage, Firestore, and push notifications". On the other hand, the top reviewer of Microsoft Azure writes "Promotes clear, logical structures preventing impractical configurations and offers seamless integration ". Google Firebase is most compared with Amazon AWS, DigitalOcean, Oracle Cloud Infrastructure (OCI), Alibaba Cloud and Linode, whereas Microsoft Azure is most compared with Oracle Cloud Infrastructure (OCI), Amazon AWS, Pivotal Cloud Foundry, SAP Cloud Platform and OpenShift. See our Google Firebase vs. Microsoft Azure report.

    See our list of best Infrastructure as a Service Clouds (IaaS) vendors.

    We monitor all Infrastructure as a Service Clouds (IaaS) reviews to prevent fraudulent reviews and keep review quality high. We do not post reviews by company employees or direct competitors. We validate each review for authenticity via cross-reference with LinkedIn, and personal follow-up with the reviewer when necessary.