| Firebase | AWS | |
|---|---|---|
| Maintainer | Amazon Web Services | |
| First release | 2011 | 2006 |
| License | proprietary | proprietary |
| Learning curve | The easiest backend on this list, sDK-first, no servers to manage, and an app can be talking to a database within an hour. | Steep. More than 200 services and the IAM permission model take real time to learn; certifications exist for a reason. |
| Performance | Serverless infrastructure on Google Cloud with realtime data sync built-in; performance is excellent until query patterns outgrow Firestore's model. | The largest global footprint of regions and availability zones, with the most mature managed services and SLAs in the industry. |
Firebase gets an app talking to auth, database and push notifications in a day with zero servers; AWS offers every building block imaginable at the cost of assembling them yourself. MVPs, mobile apps and small teams start faster on Firebase; products with complex backends, relational data or strict cost control at scale belong on AWS (or graduate to it).