Backend as a Service – What is a BaaS?

 

Using a BaaS, you will outsource the responsibilities of running and maintaining servers to a third party and focus on the frontend or client-side development.

On top of that, a BaaS will provide tools to help you create a backend code and speed up the development process. It has ready to use features like scalable databases, APIs, cloud code functions, social media integrations, file storage, and push notifications.

Ready to know more about cloud backend as a service? Keep reading.

Contents

1 Frontend vs. Backend
2 BaaS vs. Custom Backend
2.1 Example 01 – BaaS vs. AWS EC2 Instances
2.2 Example 02 – BaaS vs. Custom coding Login feature
2.3 Example 03 – GDPR security settings
3 BaaS vs. MBaaS
4 Why use a backend as a service?
4.1 Business reasons to use a BaaS
4.2 Real-life examples of how to reduce costs with a BaaS
4.3 VantageBP
4.4 The Food Cowboy Case
4.5 Technical reasons to use a BaaS
4.6 A real-world example of how to scale up a game using a BaaS
5 When to use a backend as a service?
6 Advantages and Disadvantages of a BaaS
6.1 Advantages of a Backend as a Service
6.2 Disadvantages of a Backend as a Service
7 BaaS vs. Cloud Providers
7.1 IaaS Definition
7.2 PaaS Definition
7.3 BaaS Definition
8 IaaS x PaaS x BaaS
9 Serverless and BaaS are the same thing?
10 What features have a backend as a service?
11 What frontend technologies a BaaS supports?
12 Who should use a backend as a service?
13 How does a BaaS architecture look like?
14 What types of projects run best on a Backend as a Service?
14.1 A real-life example of how 1001 Dubai uses a backend service to build a SaaS application
15 Backend as a Service Market Size
16 Backend as a service companies
16.1 1. Back4App
16.2 2. Parse
16.3 3. Firebase
16.4 4. Cloudkit
16.5 5. Kinvey
16.6 6. Backendless
16.7 7. AWS Amplify
16.8 8. Azure Mobile Apps
16.9 9. Kii
16.10 10. Kumulos
16.11 11. GameSparks
16.12 12. 8Base
16.13 13. NHost
16.14 14. Supabase
16.15 15. appwrite
16.16 16. Kuzzle
17 Other BaaS Platforms
18 BaaS Providers Comparison
19 Conclusion
20 General FAQ
21 What is a BaaS – Backend as a Service?
22 What are the benefits of using a BaaS?
23 What features have a backend as a service?
24 What are the best BaaS providers?

Frontend vs. Backend

First things, first! Here is a simple explanation of the differences between the frontend and backend.

Frontend: Every software application has a section that the user sees that is called the frontend.
Backend: There is also a part that the user does not see that is named backend. These two portions combine through APIs.
Please refer to Wikipedia know more about Frontend vs. Backend.

BaaS vs. Custom Backend

For every app you build, there is a choice to develop it, creating a custom backend, or using a BaaS framework. Let’s understand the difference between these two approaches.

Going for a custom backend, you will have to create your backend from scratch and handle the infrastructure. The pros of this approach are the flexibility it provides and customization possibilities. The downsides will be higher development costs and a longer time to market.

On the other hand, a BaaS will deliver ready to use building blocks and code generation tools. The advantages of this approach are a much faster development process and reduced time to market. The cons will be lower flexibility and following a standardized architecture.

The following examples will help you to understand the differences between custom coding and using a BaaS.

Example 01 – BaaS vs. AWS EC2 Instances

Imagine you would like to build a new software project and that you will not use a BaaS. The first step before you start developing the backend side code is to set up the servers. Here is how it will work:

• Login on AWS or any other cloud.
• Go to Instances
• Launch Instance
• Select the Operating System
• Instance Size, Type
• Configure Instance Detail
• Number of instances
• Network
• IP
• Monitoring
• Other settings like Auto Scaling, IAM, etc
• Add Storage
• Security Settings

All right, your instance is up and running, and now you can start coding! Not really! That is only the first step of the process, and you will still need to install the web-server, database, framework, etc.

After all that is done, you can start coding. The time to perform this process can range from a few hours (for a small project with skilled backend developers) to more than a day for large environments.

This same process using a backend as a service will be done with a few clicks and take no more than a few minutes.

Example 02 – BaaS vs. Custom coding Login feature

Imagine that after your server setup is ready and you want to develop your application’s first feature. Let’s consider the first feature you will code is a social login to Facebook.

I will assume outsourcing development to an offshore company, which will cost $25/hour. This simple task will take around 16 hours and cost $400.

On the other hand, using a BaaS will allow you to implement the same feature in less than one hour. You will have a saving of 15 hours and $375. Not bad for a simple task implementation!

Example 03 – GDPR security settings

GDPR privacy requirements are pretty complicated, and the implementation will demand a lot of engineering effort. The requirements will range from implementing HTTPS for transit data to encrypt server-side data in rest (and several other conditions).

The exact amount of engineering hours to fulfill all the elements will depend on the project’s size and complexity, but can easily surpass 100 hours of implementation.

Outsourcing this implementation to a backend as a service company makes sense, especially for small to medium projects. Because the backend platforms can dilute the investment made to implement GDPR settings among hundreds or thousands of apps, the stake per app will be minimal.

A company with a single project will have to offset all the investments under only one application. Even if the app is successful, it will demand much more time to return the investment.

BaaS vs. MBaaS

BaaS – Backend as a Service and MBaaS – Mobile Backend as a Service are pretty much the same things! You can use a backend as a service for web projects or mobile projects. So, what is a mobile backend as a service? It’s recognized as a mobile backend as a service (MBaaS) or mobile BaaS when used for mobile development.

Why use a backend as a service?

A BaaS platform will help you to solve two problems:

• Manage and scale cloud infrastructure
• Speed up backend development

There are many benefits of using a BaaS cloud, and the reasons to use a backend as a service classifies into business and technical aspects.

Business reasons to use a BaaS

The business advantages of a backend as a service are mainly related to productivity gains and outsourcing cloud management responsibilities. In particular, for small to medium size projects, you will have substantial benefits using a backend platform.

The math is pretty simple; a backend/infrastructure engineer will cost around $80k/year in the USA. Outsourcing part of the work to a third party will allow offsetting this cost.

The other advantage is delivering faster time to market to a software project. Waiting for several months to provide a software product will kill the market opportunity or make you start behind the competition. So, the business advantages of a BaaS are:

• Reduce time to market
• Save money and decrease the cost of development
• Assign fewer backend developers to a project (same results with fewer developers)
• Outsource cloud infrastructure management
• Real-life examples of how to reduce costs with a BaaS

VantageBP

VantageBP is a SaaS company that helps brands eradicate counterfeits, identify rogue resellers, and enforce unauthorized sales across 100 online marketplaces. Using a BaaS allowed the company to reduce time to market and validate their MVP much faster, eliminate the requirement for a DevOps engineer, and scale up infrastructure automatically.

The nice thing is that I don’t have to worry about uptime, scalability, or DevOps issues. Joren Winge, VantageBP CTO

To know more about VantageBP’s use case, learn the article below:

How VantageBP saved $500K USD using a BaaS

The Food Cowboy Case

“Deciding on how to architect and develop the backend of an application is a difficult one for many startups. Especially if it’s a new concept or idea without a proven market and customer base already established. In most cases, we recommend launching an MVP application on a solid BaaS (Backend as a Service) platform that offers scalability options and low upfront costs. One of our clients, The Food Cowboy, saved over $200,000 in cloud and software development costs by launching the initial version of their platform on Parse. While it did limit some of the features they planned to offer; it provided a low maintenance environment for them to showcase their MVP to potential investors and customers.”

Technical reasons to use a BaaS

Good backend developers are difficult to find and are well-paid professionals. If you find one of them, make sure you use their time wisely and ask them to deliver high-value code. Programming, repetitive activities, and boilerplate code is a waste of time and money. So, it has to be avoided.

The other advantage of a backend service is that it will let your frontend developers concentrate on what they are best at. That is, delivering frontend code and excellent usability for your application. So, the technical advantages of a BaaS are:

• Focus on frontend development
• Excludes redundant stack setup
• No need to program boilerplate code
• Standardize the coding environment
• Let backend developers program high-value lines of code
• Provides ready to use features like authentication, data storage, and search
• Let you clone apps and run testing environments
• Focus on coding business logic rather than boiler plate code
• Has ready to use security settings and backup procedures

 

A real-world example of how to scale up a game using a BaaS

Two4Tea is a development company located in France, and its passion is developing mobile games. Their biggest hit is a trivia game called Fight List. The game has more than 55 million downloads worldwide, operates in seven different languages, and has thousands of simultaneous users.

As soon as they launched Fight List, the success came pretty quickly! Using a BaaS platform helped them scale up from a few users to thousands of concurrent users pretty quickly. To know more about Fight List’s use case, learn the article below:

Scaling up a mobile game using a BaaS

When to use a backend as a service?

Here are three everyday use cases for using a backend as a service platform:

• Making an MVP – Minimum Viable Product
• Stand-alone apps or applications that require a small number of integrations
• Enterprise apps that are not mission-critical
• For these cases, using a BaaS is a no-brain and will save you a lot of time and money.

Advantages and Disadvantages of a BaaS

Here are the pros and cons of using a backend as a service.

Advantages of a Backend as a Service

• Development speed – It’s super fast
• Development price – It’s really cheap
• It’s serverless, and you don’t need to manage infrastructure

To know all the benefits of using a BaaS, please read: BaaS – 22 Benefits you will enjoy

Disadvantages of a Backend as a Service

• Less flexibility in comparison to custom coding
• A lower level of customization in comparison to a custom backend
• Vendor lock-in for closed source platforms

BaaS vs. Cloud Provider

I will explain here, in a straightforward way, the differences between IaaS, PaaS, and BaaS. First, the definitions.

IaaS Definition

• IaaS stands for Infrastructure as a Service.
• Some IaaS examples are AWS, Google Cloud, Azure.

PaaS Definition

• PaaS stands for Platform as a Service.
• Some PaaS examples are Heroku, Engine Yard.

BaaS Definition

• BaaS stands for Backend as a Service
• Some BaaS examples are Back4App, Parse, Firebase.

IaaS x PaaS x BaaS

Every time you move from IaaS to PaaS and from PaaS to BaaS, you add layers of service (or segments of value) to your application. Here is a simple overview:

• IAAS = Data Center + Servers + Storage +Networking
• PAAS = IAAS + Deploy + Manage + Scale
• BAAS = PAAS + Features to Build Backend

To know more about the differences between a BaaS and a PaaS, please read BaaS vs. PaaS: Which is a better option?. Need more info about IaaS and PaaS? Please read IaaS vs. PaaS.

Serverless and BaaS are the same thing?

Serverless computing is a more broad term and encompasses services like BaaS, but also FaaS, and PaaS. To better understand the differences, please read BaaS vs. Faas.

What features have a backend as a service?

A backend as a service will provide you with features that can be deployed across all types of applications. Here are the most common features of a backend as a service.

• Scalable Database (NoSQL or SQL)
• APIs (GraphQL and REST)
• Business Logic via Cloud Code Functions
• User authentication
• Social Integration (Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter, etc.)
• Email Verification
• Push Notifications
• Geolocation
• Database Graphical User Interface (GUI)
• Logs
• CDN and Cache
• Infrastructure (Security settings, auto-scaling, data backup, DB optimization)

To read a detailed report about BaaS features, please access the report: The basic BaaS Features you should consider.

What frontend technologies a BaaS supports?

The most common client side technologies a BaaS software handles are:

• React Native
• iOS Native (Swift or Objective-C)
• Android Native
• Ionic
• Xamarin
• Flutter
• Unity

Who should use a backend as a service?

A BaaS platform is a technical service and designed for app developers. A user with no specialized skills will face challenges in using it. The most common uses cases are:

• Frontend engineers with limited knowledge in backend development
• Backend engineers that want to speed up development
• Engineers that wish to outsource low value/repetitive tasks to a third party

A BaaS platform is not the ideal choice for citizen developers because it requires technical and programming knowledge.

How does a BaaS architecture look like?

Generally speaking, a mobile backend as a service architecture is divided into three different layers.

The first layer is the foundation and contains the database servers. A database cluster will have at least two servers to replicate data and a backup routine to retrieve data.

Most BaaS providers use NoSQL databases on their technology stacks due to scaling flexibility, but there is a growing trend to use SQL databases like Postgres.

The second layer is the application cluster and contains multiple servers to process requests. The quantity of servers fluctuates throughout the time of the day, and auto-scaling procedures are necessary to fulfill the group with the correct amount of servers.

The third layer connects the application servers to the Internet, and it’s composed of load balancers and CDNs.

What types of projects run best on a Backend as a Service?

• Real-time applications (chat, messaging apps)
• Transportation apps (similar to Uber)
• Social-network type apps
• Ecommerce apps
• Music or Video streaming apps
• Games

To know more read BaaS Projects Examples.

A real-life example of how 1001 Dubai uses a backend service to build a SaaS application

1001 Dubai is a mobile commerce provider concentrated on creating apps for Supermarkets and Convenience Stores. The company has hundreds of clients in the Middle East region, more than 80K downloads and distributes the app via the SaaS model.

The application’s backend architecture runs on a backend as a service, there are no DevOps team operating servers, and the company outsourced the entire infrastructure to a backend provider. To know more, please read the article below:

How to create a SaaS app using a backend as a service?

Backend as a Service Market Size

Backend as a service is a rapidly growing industry, and according to Marketsandmarkets, the market will grow from $2 billion in 2020 to approximately $6 billion in 2025. It means a compound annual growth rate of 23.9%.

The expanding adoption of mobile devices and BaaS increasing mobile development productivity are the two core reasons that justify the industry’s growth.

Backend as a service companies

Here is a comprehensive list of BaaS providers in 2021.

1. Back4App

Considering I invested a lot of time writing this article and it is 11:08 PM now, I will start with Back4App, the company I work for. Please try it first. You will like it so much that you will not need to try the other platforms, and it will save you time. If you don’t like it, please email me at george@back4app.com and say the reasons.

Our product has the following features:

• Scalable Realtime Database (NoSQL or SQL)
• APIs (REST or GraphQL)
• Cloud Code Functions for business logic
• Notifications
• File Storage
• Authentication

The technology stack it’s based on open source technology. Our stack covers Parse Server, NodeJS, and other open-source technologies. On top of the open-source, we have implementations that improve general performance and dashboards that make the platform more comfortable to use. It’s like hosting Word Press by yourself versus hosting with a professional hosting service.

Another important aspect of our platform is that we take care of scaling. We have some pretty large apps running with us, and a well-designed architecture is instrumental in delivering performance and reliability.

Pricing wise, there is a limited free tier available and paid plans to start at $5/mo. The free level is designed for development purposes, and production applications usually run a paid plan.

The advantages of using Back4App are the following:

Open-Source: There is no vendor lock-in and you can customize your code for better performance.
Relational Queries: We allow our customers to build cross-table relations at the schema level on a NoSQL database or querying over a Postgres database.
Easy of use: The platform is straighforward to use and takes no more than five minutes to start coding a simple app.
Flexibility: You can manage your open-source code versions, and the source code can be adapted if necessary for best performance.
Hosting: Several hosting options available and service is very reliable. It offers a fully serverless structure or dedicated instances.
CDN – Content Delivery Network: The apps hosted at Back4App will automatically distribute content globally.
GraphQL: This a new implementation and will provide the most advanced query language for your API. The benefits are retrieving data in a single request and in a predictable way.
Support: 24/7 support: Different support levels are available according to the budget of each client.
Let’s continue and learn some more BaaS Solutions.

2. Parse

It’s an open-source framework supported by a large community of app developers. It has more than 17k stars and 4k forks on Github. Parse’s goal is to provide developers a way to create apps faster. The framework does that, offering developers a stack that covers an API server module for Node.JS, a dashboard to manage apps, SDK & Libraries, adapters, and documentation.

This framework used to be hosted by Facebook, but it decided to provide no longer hosting services in 2017. So, you need to self-host the framework or use specialized hosting services. Alternatives to self-host Parse are the leading cloud providers like AWS, Azure, or Digital Ocean. The open-source framework is entirely free, and the only cost you will incur is hosting the framework.

The list of features include:

• Spreadsheet like database
• APIs
• SSO for social networks
• Push-Notifications
• File Storage

The advantages of using the Parse framework are the following:

Data Management: It’s possible to store essential data types, queries, locations, and pictures with just a few code lines. Parse allows you to handle, search, filter, and update your content with a web-based data browser.
Simplicity: The framework is straightforward, and the learning curve will take less than one hour for small projects.
Flexibility: Working with an open-source framework takes versatility to the next level. You can adapt the source code and adjust for your specific needs.
Custom Code: Parse will provide you with a feature called Cloud Code. You will be able to custom code using Javascript with this feature.
Multiplatform: There is plenty of SDKs available, and you can use Parse in almost every platform. It handles mobile, web, and IoT technologies.
GraphQL: It allows recovering data in a single call and in a predictable way.
Want to know more about the differences between Parse and Back4app? Please read the complete tutorial here.

3. Firebase

It’s a closed-source platform acquired by Google in 2014, and this backend service assists in quickly producing applications. Firebase covers features like analytics, authentication, real-time database, and hosting.

Pricing wise, there is a limited free tier available, and paid plans run on a consumption base. The more you use, the more you will pay; the less you use, the lower will be your bill. The $25/mo fixed price plan is no longer available.

Google started to invest heavily on Firebase in 2016, and the strategy covers three main pillars:

Development Features: This block cover tools to accelerate mobile app development and includes user authentication, storage, real-time database, machine learning, and cloud functions. Cloud Firestore lets you sync data across multiple devices, query, structure data with collections/documents, and sync online/offline data.
App Quality: Firebase provides a comprehensive set of mobile analytics services that will help you to improve general app performance. These services include performance monitoring, Google Analytics, crash reports, and a test laboratory to run automated tests.
Growth: Firebase integrates with a service called Ad Mob that will let you run in-app advertisements. The other growth tools Firebase provides are A/B testing, messaging, and dynamic links.

The advantages of using Firebase are the following:

 

Realtime database: This feature will allow creating, for example, messaging apps like WhatsApp that will update data across devices almost instantly.
Machine Learning: ML is a cool feature available in Firebase and not available in other backends as a service platform. It will provide a set of ready to use API with standard machine learning use cases like face recognition, scanning, and recognizing texts.
Ad Mob: This feature will allow you to monetize your app and integrate it into a global ad network managed by Google.

4. Cloudkit

CloudKit it’s Apple’s closed-source backend platform. It’s used to develop iOS applications and has native SDK for it. The service is available since 2015, and it’s easy to integrate with iOS apps. The structure provides database, auth, file storage services letting developers concentrate on client-side development.

CloudKit is primarily a data store with essential iCloud identification authentication support and an API in front of it. It has fewer features in comparison to other services listed here. Pricing increases pretty fast and costs $100 for every ten req/s.

The main advantage of using CloudKit is the native SDK for iOS. Native applications run on the iPhone operating system and have complete access to the device and functionally. So, it will lead to the best performance possible, user experience, and design.

5. Kinvey

It’s an enterprise-focused backend as a service, and Progress Software acquired Kinvey in 2017. Allow you to operate enterprise apps using a serverless design, and the features are similar to other backend providers. It covers database, authentication, push-notifications, and location services.

All plans include hosting and operation. There is a Free Trial available, and the pricing is pretty expensive, and the entry-level version starts at $2,500/year.

The advantages of using Kinvey are the following:

Popular Enterprise Integrations: As I mentioned, this backend platform is suited for enterprises. The service covers integrations like Salesforce, SAP, Workday, Microsoft Active Directory, and Oracle.
Operational Intelligence Tools: Compliance and analytics reports. It provides HIPAA compliant apps for healthcare.
Support: 24/7 available.

6. Backendless

Backendless is one of the first players in this market and runs the platform for a long time without venture funding. This vendor provides two types of hosting. You can use the online service or run the framework locally.

Pricing wise, there is a limited free tier for online hosting and paid plans to start at $25/mo.

The advantages of using Backendless are the following:

Visual Programming: UI builder to create apps without coding.
Standalone Version: You can run this version locally on your server or in any cloud platform.
Cache Feature: This feature is convenient and available in standalone and cloud hosting.
Support: They provide 24/7 support to the users.

7. AWS Amplify

It’s an open-source library that works together with Amazon Web Services. It supports developers to create scalable serverless applications and smoothly integrates with iOS, Android, React Native, and web frontends. The features available cover Analytics, Notifications, AR/VR, storage, and APIs.

The service has a small free tier and a Pay as you Go model for production environments.

The advantages of using AWS Amplify are the following:

CDN – Content Delivery Network: It’s super easy to integrate with CloudFront and deploy content globally.
GraphQL: Amplify provides a feature called GraphQL Transform that makes it easier for the process of developing.
Atomic Deployments: This feature will allow your app to keep working even if the construction process crashes on new releases.

8. Azure Mobile Apps

Microsoft could not be out of this game and also has a backend as a service solution. The backend platform integrates with Xaramim (frontend cross-platform) and Azure.

The advantages of using Azure Mobile Apps are the following:

Security Protocols: Microsoft provides enterprise-level security to create apps, and they are good at it.
Off-Line Sync: This feature is handy and allows users to sync data automatically.
AD Integrations: That is another enterprise feature that will allow corporate sign-on.

9. Kii

It’s a backend development platform for games, IoT, and apps in general. It works in public, private, and local clouds. The features contain push notifications, data and user management, A/B testing, geolocation, and analytics.

The advantages of using Kii are the following:

Multiple deployment options: You can run the solution in any cloud and on premisses.
IoT: The platform has ready to use features for IoT interactions.
Niche Solutions: They have specific solutions for Agriculture, Asset Management, Beacons, etc.

10. Kumulos

It is a backend platform created for mobile app development companies and mobile digital agencies. It helps these companies to develop applications for their customers.

The feature list includes push notifications, reporting and analytics, and app store optimization. It has three pricing tiers covering Startups, Digital Agencies, and Enterprises.

The advantages of using Kumulos are the following:

Crash Reports & Diagnostics: Helps developers to find issues faster and take action to solve.
App Store Optimization: This is a unique feature among all backend as service companies and only available in Kumulos.
Agency Console: This is convenient and allows a software development company to manage multiple apps under a corporate account.

11. GameSparks

It’s a backend service entirely focused on games. It was founded in 2013 and acquired by Amazon in 2017. The features include social multi-players, meta-game economies, live game operations, scalable hosting, and several integrations.

Price divides into three main tiers detailed below:

• Free tier for development
• Standard Plan starting at $299 per month
• Enterprise Plan under quotation

The advantages of GameSparks include:

• Ready to use game related features
• Scalable backend
• Backed by Amazon

New accounts and game creation were disabled on Game Sparks. AWS announced on GDC 2021 that it would develop AWS Game Tech Service, a more contemporary and improved version of Game Sparks.

12. 8Base

It’s a GraphQL powered backend service ideal for mobile and web applications. The features list include a serverless architecture, business logic, authentication, notifications, and more.

The advantages of the platform are:

• Works with new technologies like GraphQL.
• It offers self-hosting options.
• Custom software development is available.

13. NHost

NHost is a new player in the backend as a service market. NHost positions itself as the Firebase alternative with GrapQL. The list of features includes Database, API, Authentication, Storage, and Serverless Functions.

The main advantages of the platform are:

• It works with a SQL database
• It provides a GraphQL API
• User-friendly dashboard

14. Supabase

The company started in 2020 and is an open-source alternative to Firebase. Core features comprise Database, instant API, real-time subscriptions, and storage.

The main advantages are:

• It is open-source
• Works with Postgres database
• Easy to use

15. appwrite

It is an open-source backend server for web and mobile developers. It provides a self-hosting solution, and it is downloadable at GitHub. The core features include database, storage, user management, localization, functions, and security.

Main benefits are:

• Simplicity
• Verbose documentation
• Consistency

There is no pricing information on the website.

16. Kuzzle

It’s an open-source backend as a service for IoT and mobile apps. The list of features includes Authentication and Security, Realtime Database, Geofencing, and Administration Console.

Pricing wise, the open-source framework is available to download at no cost, and the hosting services start at $1,200 per month.

The benefits of this platform are:

• It’s open-source.
• On-premisses option available for Free.
• Managed private clouds are available for paid clients.
• Other BaaS Platforms
• Below you can see a list with some other backend providers.
• Playfab (backend for games)
• Appcelerator (will be retired in 2022)
• Oracle Mobile Hub
• IBM Mobile Foundation
• Baqend (retired)
• Convertigo
• BaasBox
• Hoodie (self-hosted backend)

BaaS Providers Comparison

Below is a table aggregation the backend services providers.

Provider	Core Features	Pricing	Plans
Back4app	Scalable Realtime Database              REST and GraphQL APIs       CloudCode Functions	Free Tier	Starts $ 5/mo
Parse	Spreadsheet like database      Push-Notifications        Downloadable	Free to Download	Download Only
Firebase	Realtime Databases          Analytics Machine Learning	Free Tier	Pay as you go
CloudKit	Database APIs File Sharing	Free Tier	Pay as you go
Backendless	Visual Programming                 Realtime database                     User Management	Free Tier	Starts at $ 25/mo
Kinvey	Serverless backend                Enterprise connectors                Data pipeline	Free Trial	Starts at $2,500/year
AWS Amplify	Datastore                    Authentication GraphQL APIs	Free Tier	Pay as you go
Azure Mobile Apps	Corporate Sign In                Offline Sync                         Scalable hosting	Free Tier	Pay as you go
Kii	Data Managament                      User Management              Geolocation	Free Trial	–
Kumulos	In-App Messaging                                 Analytics App Store Optimization	Free Trial	Pay as you go
Gamesparks	Social Multiplayer                Scalable hosting               Analytics	Free Tier	Starts at $ 299/mo
8Base	Serverless Functions             GraphQL API                  Relational Database	Free Tier	Starts at $ 25/mo
appwrite	Database Storage Security	N/A	N/A
Kuzzle	Realtime Pub/Sub                      User Authentication           Geofencing	Free to Download	Starts at $ 1,200/mo

Conclusion

Applications have a frontend, a backend, and APIs connecting both sides. A backend as a service or Baas (mBaaS for mobile apps) will help automate developing backend code. The backend service providers will also have the responsibility to deploy, manage, and scale applications.

The main reasons to use the backend as a service platform are reducing the time to launch an app, lower development costs, and outsourcing infrastructure management. The most common features of a BaaS are scalable databases, APIs, cloud code functions, notifications, and authentication.

The leading players of the market include Back4App, Parse, and Firebase.

So, what do you think about the results we accomplished? Has it helped you figure out what a backend as a service is?

If you would like to add information to this tutorial, contact me, and I will be glad to enter your observations.

General FAQ

What is a BaaS – Backend as a Service?
A BaaS or mBaaS or Backend as a Service is a platform that automates backend side development, provides ready to use APIs, and manages the cloud infrastructure. A BaaS will allow you to connect your app frontend to the backend via APIs and SDKs.

What are the benefits of using a BaaS?

Using a BaaS you will be able to speed up backend side development, reduce the time to time of a software project, and outsource the responsibilities of managing the cloud infrastructure. Here are all BaaS Benefits.

What features have a backend as a service?

The most common BaaS features are scalable databases, APIs, cloud code functions, notifications, and authentication. Here are all BaaS Features.

What are the best BaaS providers?
– Back4app
– Parse
– Firebase
– CloudKit
– Backendless
– Kinvey
– AWS Amplify
– Azure Mobile Apps
– Kii
– Kumulos
– GameSparks
– 8Base
– NHost
– Supabase
– appwrite
– Kuzzle